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Doubts on uranium market’s future add to environment fears in Virginia

Charles Ebinger, the director of the energy security initiative at the Brookings Institution, a research center in Washington. thinks, though, that the United States is moving away from nuclear energy as cheap natural gas and flat electricity demand make nuclear power less competitive. That makes it tougher to argue in favor of the mine, said Ebinger, who’s a supporter of nuclear energy

Proposed Coles Hill uranium mine: Buried treasure or hidden threat? By Sean Cockerham and John Murawski | McClatchy Newspapers
CHATHAM, Va. 23 Dec 12,  — “….. pitting neighbor against neighbor and North Carolinians against Virginians. North Carolina is only about 20 miles from the proposed uranium mine and residents, public officials and lawmakers there worry that a catastrophic release of radioactive waste could poison Kerr Lake, the drinking water source for more than 118,000 North Carolinians, as well as contaminate the fishing- and recreation-rich Roanoke River as far east as Pamlico Sound.

“My concern is the catastrophic impact it could have on North Carolina’s water, and it could be major,” said state Rep. Mitch Gillespie, a McDowell County Republican. “This is brand new for North Carolina.”

The city of Virginia Beach, which gets water from Lake Gaston, also is raising alarms about risk to its drinking water. Virginia dairy farmers who live near the mine site wonder who’ll want to buy milk that comes from pastures near a massive uranium mine. “It’s going to ruin this area,” said Bill Needy, a 57-year-old Chatham farmer……
The massive uranium deposit is shaping up to be among the most contentious issues for the Virginia General Assembly as it prepares to go into session and decide whether to approve Watkins’ proposal to end Virginia’s 30-year-old moratorium on uranium mining.

U.S. uranium mining typically happens in arid Western states. The proposed Coles operation would be the only full-blown uranium mine along the Eastern Seaboard, and critics contend that the wet, hurricane-prone climate of southern Virginia is a bad fit for the highly delicate business……

Charles Ebinger, the director of the energy security initiative at the Brookings Institution, a research center in Washington. thinks, though, that the United States is moving away from nuclear energy as cheap natural gas and flat electricity demand make nuclear power less competitive. That makes it tougher to argue in favor of the mine, said Ebinger, who’s a supporter of nuclear energy……
A 2011 National Academy of Sciences study found that “steep hurdles” need to be surmounted before Virginia can mine and process uranium safely…… The 443,000-population city of Virginia Beach did a study last year that found a devastating storm could lead to tailings contamination of Lake Gaston, which supplies drinking water to Virginia Beach and towns and counties along the border of Virginia and North Carolina.  http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/12/23/178033/proposed-coles-hill-uranium-mine.html#storylink=cpy

December 24, 2012 - Posted by Christina MacPherson | Uranium, USA, water