Virginia Is Sitting on the Energy Mother Lode

[red states rule]

What the hell are we waiting for? The US has massive oil and natural gas reserves, and now this

Virginia Is Sitting on the Energy Mother Lode
By MAX SCHULZ
July 26, 2008; Page A7

Amid the rolling hills and verdant pastures of south central Virginia an unlikely new front in the battle over nuclear energy is opening up. How it is decided will tell us a lot about whether this country is willing to get serious about addressing its energy needs.

In Pittsylvania County, just north of the North Carolina border, the largest undeveloped uranium deposit in the United States -- and the seventh largest in the world, according to industry monitor UX Consulting -- sits on land owned by neighbors Henry Bowen and Walter Coles. Large uranium deposits close to the surface are virtually unknown in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. And that may be the problem.

Virginia is one of just four states that ban uranium mining. The ban was put in place in 1984, to calm fears that had been sparked by the partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island outside of Harrisburg, Pa. in 1979.

Messrs. Bowen and Coles, who last year formed a company called Virginia Uranium, are asking the state to determine whether mining uranium really is a hazard and, if not, to lift the ban. But they've run into a brick wall of environmental activists who raise the specter of nuclear contamination and who are determined to prevent scientific studies of the issue.

The Piedmont Environmental Council is one of the leading opponents. It warns of the "enormous quantities of radioactive waste" produced by uranium mining.

Jack Dunavant, head of the Southside Concerned Citizens in nearby Halifax County, is another outspoken critic. He paints a picture of environmental apocalypse. "There will be a dead zone within a 30 mile radius of the mine," he says with a courtly drawl. "Nothing will grow. Animals will die. The radiation genetically alters tissue. Animals will not be able to reproduce. We'll see malformed fetuses."

Yet it is not as if we have no experience with uranium mining, which is in fact relatively harmless. Handled properly, the yellowcake that is extracted is no more hazardous than regular household chemicals (and unlike coal, it won't smolder and combust).

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121702806468386311.html

[-Cp]

Of course you know the libs will step in the way and prevent us from tapping this..

[red states rule]

Of course you know the libs will step in the way and prevent us from tapping this..

Of course I do. the LAST thing Dems want is to solve the energy issue. They would much rather have the issue for the election

Besides, the more miserable people are, the happier libs are. They think by blocking any action to increase our domestic energy production, it helps them win elections

[retiredman]

I am all for developing fail safe nuclear reactors that produce electricity for America... as soon as they figure out what to do with the spent fuel.

[DragonStryk72]

as a virginian, it doesn't surprise me. They're also looking at off shore drilling 50 miles off the beach, which I am looking at somewhat favorably, especially since the Ford Motor plant in Norfolk was closed, and could easily be rolled over to a refinery.

As for the ban, it likely was put in during the panic stage, since we're rather a might close to PA, kind of like Californians pay a bit more heed to whether or not buildings are quake-proof. As it is though, we already have nuclear power here, at the Surry plant in Portsmouth, as well as the majority US Nuclear Navy.

From what I've seen though, Virginians are generally willing to work with this sort of stuff, so, while I do anticipate that the environmentalists will jump on this like starving wolves on a lame deer, I don't think that many will be from the state. More than likely, the majority of the opposition will come from without, rather than within.

Now, there is one concern in this: The properties that this area is on. I wouldn't want to see Eminant Domain get used, but if these people are willing to sell (Likely, the deposits would make them a slight ancy anyhow), then I see no other real problems with this, as long as its done responsible, and without stepping on peoples' necks.


What the hell are we waiting for? The US has massive oil and natural gas reserves, and now this

Virginia Is Sitting on the Energy Mother Lode
By MAX SCHULZ
July 26, 2008; Page A7

Amid the rolling hills and verdant pastures of south central Virginia an unlikely new front in the battle over nuclear energy is opening up. How it is decided will tell us a lot about whether this country is willing to get serious about addressing its energy needs.

In Pittsylvania County, just north of the North Carolina border, the largest undeveloped uranium deposit in the United States -- and the seventh largest in the world, according to industry monitor UX Consulting -- sits on land owned by neighbors Henry Bowen and Walter Coles. Large uranium deposits close to the surface are virtually unknown in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. And that may be the problem.

Virginia is one of just four states that ban uranium mining. The ban was put in place in 1984, to calm fears that had been sparked by the partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island outside of Harrisburg, Pa. in 1979.

Messrs. Bowen and Coles, who last year formed a company called Virginia Uranium, are asking the state to determine whether mining uranium really is a hazard and, if not, to lift the ban. But they've run into a brick wall of environmental activists who raise the specter of nuclear contamination and who are determined to prevent scientific studies of the issue.

The Piedmont Environmental Council is one of the leading opponents. It warns of the "enormous quantities of radioactive waste" produced by uranium mining.

Jack Dunavant, head of the Southside Concerned Citizens in nearby Halifax County, is another outspoken critic. He paints a picture of environmental apocalypse. "There will be a dead zone within a 30 mile radius of the mine," he says with a courtly drawl. "Nothing will grow. Animals will die. The radiation genetically alters tissue. Animals will not be able to reproduce. We'll see malformed fetuses."

Yet it is not as if we have no experience with uranium mining, which is in fact relatively harmless. Handled properly, the yellowcake that is extracted is no more hazardous than regular household chemicals (and unlike coal, it won't smolder and combust).

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121702806468386311.html