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Virginia Coal and Energy Commission wasting $200,000 on hasty, meaningless, uranium study

It will not consider the findings of the National Academy of Sciences regarding uranium mining, milling and tailings disposal in Virginia or the volatile price of uranium. It will be a waste of $200,000.

Use NAS data to evaluate health, economic impacts | GoDanRiver.com, 18 Jan 2011, The uranium socioeconomic study initiated by the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission cannot, on its current timeline, produce meaningful results. It will not consider the findings of the National Academy of Sciences regarding uranium mining, milling and tailings disposal in Virginia or the volatile price of uranium.It will be a waste of $200,000.
At a Dec. 8 meeting in Richmond, the commission’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee listened to five-minute study proposal presentations, asked no questions of the six presenters, allowed no public comment — and voted unanimously to award the study contract to Chmura Economics and Analytics. There was no evidence that the subcommittee members had read the proposals or given careful thought to the objectives of a proper study; one commented that legislators know the Richmond firm.

The commission’s request for proposals asked for a report by Dec. 1 at a cost of no more than $200,000. In its request, the commission provided no boundaries for the region to be studied and no scientific basis for estimating potential health and environmental costs. The commission did not require evaluation of the range of outcomes that could occur, depending on uncertainties such as the price of uranium or the effects of severe weather events. The commission did ask for “a statement of any major assumptions.”

Chmura, in its proposal, stated at least two invalid assumptions. Chmura incorrectly assumed “a collaborative connection between the Chmura Team and NAS,” which is not possible due to the NAS standard policy of disclosing only final findings. Second, they assumed “sufficient sustained market demand for uranium so that the ongoing operations of the mine can sustain the demand as long as it is technically feasible.”

Not only is future demand highly uncertain, starting with the assumption that uranium mining in Virginia will automatically be continuously profitable seems to state a conclusion before doing the study. The purpose of the socioeconomic study is to ground speculation about the social and economic implications of lifting Virginia’s ban on uranium operations in reality — the facts and uncertainties under investigation by the NAS, including a volatile uranium market which may not need uranium from Virginia……

If the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission wants to do a comprehensive study of uranium mining, milling, and tailings management in Virginia, it will allow sufficient time for people, including the Chmura research team, to read and learn from the NAS report.

Virginia Uranium Inc. claims that waiting for the NAS results would cause a “delay,” as though its corporate interest in rushing legislation to lift the uranium-mining ban should outweigh public interest in a truly comprehensive study. The problem is not delay, but haste — haste that is irresponsible and an insult to the many people who want to learn from credible sources.

Use NAS data to evaluate health, economic impacts | GoDanRiver.com

January 18, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster, USA