Uranium resurfaces at seminar

By John Crane

Published: April 30, 2008

A local geologist contends mining uranium without causing pollution is impossible and the wastewater cannot evaporate like it does in the West.
“If we get four feet of rain (per year), we won’t get four feet of evaporation,” Jeffrey Johnston, geologist and founding president of the Dan River Basin Association, said Wednesday at the Uranium Mining Educational Seminar.
Southside Concerned Citizens sponsored the seminar that took place at the North Theatre on North Main Street in Danville. About 75 people attended the event.
SCC has held similar events in Dry Fork, Halifax and Chase City.
Johnston said it is impossible to mine uranium without causing pollution. The question is how much pollution the endeavor would be worth, he said.
However, Norm Reynolds, president of Virginia Uranium Inc., said in a phone interview Wednesday that a moist climate can be an advantage for mining because containment of dust and radon is an issue in dry conditions.
In addition, you don’t have to have wet tailings, he said.
Moisture can be filtered out of the tailings, eliminating the need for evaporation, Reynolds said, adding climate conditions determine how mining facilities are built.
“The facilities are designed for the specific environment they’re in,” he said.
Jack Dunavant, an engineer and the president of SCC, pointed out during the presentation that just half a pound of uranium is extracted from a ton of rock.
The waste, called tailings, amounts to 99.97 percent of what is extracted, he said.
Uranium is radioactive and radiation exposure is cumulative, Dunavant added, noting people are already exposed to bits of radiation in their daily lives.
“I don’t want anyone speeding up my process,” he said.
Virginia Uranium Inc. has proposed a uranium mining and milling operation for about 110 million pounds of uranium ore on Coles Hill about six miles outside Chatham, and sought a study from the National Academy of Science or other independent institution to determine whether mining can be done safely in the commonwealth.
A bill that would have authorized a study died in the Senate earlier this year.
Opponents of the mining are afraid of its environmental effects, but proponents, including Virginia Uranium, say it could revamp the local economy.
The potential for mining uranium in Virginia was proposed in both Pittsylvania and Orange counties in the early 1980s, but only Pittsylvania County has seen any serious interest in getting the statewide moratorium lifted.
The educational seminar addressed Virginia’s climate compared to that of other areas where uranium has been mined, the issue of new technologies in mining, and effects on water, wildlife, crops, livestock and residents’ health.
• Contact John R. Crane at or (434) 791-7987.