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Report Identifies Health, Environmental Issues, … if Virginia Lifts Ban on Uranium Mining
http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=13266[font face=Times, Serif]
Date: Dec. 19, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[font size=5]Report Identifies Health, Environmental Issues, and Best Practices To Mitigate Some Risks if Virginia Lifts Ban on Uranium Mining[/font]
[font size=3]WASHINGTON — A number of health and environmental issues and related risks need to be addressed when considering whether to lift the almost 30-year moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia, says a new report from the National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering.
"Internationally accepted best practices, which include timely and meaningful public participation, are available to mitigate some of the risks involved," said Paul Locke, chair of the committee that wrote the report and associate professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. "However, there are still many unknowns."
The committee concluded that if Virginia lifts its moratorium, there are "steep hurdles to be surmounted" before mining and processing could take place within a regulatory setting that appropriately protects workers, the public, and the environment, especially given that the state has no experience regulating mining and processing of the radioactive element.
The study was requested by the Commonwealth of Virginia after owners of a large uranium deposit at Coles Hill in southern Virginia and other groups began in recent years to call for an end to the moratorium. The committee was asked to assess the physical and social context in which uranium mining and processing might occur; national and global uranium markets; technical options and best practices for uranium mining, processing, and reclamation; and potential impacts on public health, worker safety, and the environment. It was also requested to review the state and federal regulatory framework for uranium mining, milling, processing, and reclamation.
…[/font][/font]
Date: Dec. 19, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[font size=5]Report Identifies Health, Environmental Issues, and Best Practices To Mitigate Some Risks if Virginia Lifts Ban on Uranium Mining[/font]
[font size=3]WASHINGTON — A number of health and environmental issues and related risks need to be addressed when considering whether to lift the almost 30-year moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia, says a new report from the National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering.
"Internationally accepted best practices, which include timely and meaningful public participation, are available to mitigate some of the risks involved," said Paul Locke, chair of the committee that wrote the report and associate professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. "However, there are still many unknowns."
The committee concluded that if Virginia lifts its moratorium, there are "steep hurdles to be surmounted" before mining and processing could take place within a regulatory setting that appropriately protects workers, the public, and the environment, especially given that the state has no experience regulating mining and processing of the radioactive element.
The study was requested by the Commonwealth of Virginia after owners of a large uranium deposit at Coles Hill in southern Virginia and other groups began in recent years to call for an end to the moratorium. The committee was asked to assess the physical and social context in which uranium mining and processing might occur; national and global uranium markets; technical options and best practices for uranium mining, processing, and reclamation; and potential impacts on public health, worker safety, and the environment. It was also requested to review the state and federal regulatory framework for uranium mining, milling, processing, and reclamation.
…[/font][/font]
