Word: uranium
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...Iran Another Step Toward Nuclear Capabilities Iran successfully tested its first nuclear reactor in the southwestern port city of Bushehr on Feb. 25, amid increasing international concern over its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons. A recent International Atomic Energy Agency report said Iran has enough uranium--albeit not weapons grade--to eventually make a bomb. The Bushehr test, which did not use fissile material, was overseen by Russian officials. Moscow will supply the Russian-built plant with nuclear fuel under a U.N. arrangement meant to avoid its potential misuse. The plant should be operational by the end of the year...
Today, most Virginians seem unaware that the fate of the state's uranium mining moratorium is being discussed anew. The state coal and energy commission's study that might persuade the state's General Assembly to lift the moratorium could still take up to two years to complete. But already in rural Pittsylvania, which has one of the state's highest unemployment rates, debate is fierce. Supporters say new mining technology will allow miners to get the uranium safely, the mine would offer much-needed jobs to 300 people, and the uranium would fuel new reactors and help the nation...
...population greater than 600,000 that get part of their water from Pittsylvania streams, are alarmed at talk of lifting the moratorium. Virginia Beach opposes the mining plan outright, while Chesapeake has expressed grave concerns to state officials. Opponents are also skeptical of the job claims: in all the uranium mines out west, which produced 4.5 million pounds of uranium in 2007, there are fewer than 400 miners employed, according to statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration...
Only the moratorium stands in the way. The history of the ban begins in 1977, when the Marline Uranium Corp., a subsidiary of the Marline Oil Co., began looking for the ore around the state. (The U.S. Geological Survey has concluded that vast swaths of the Piedmont, between the low-lying Tidewater to the east and the Blue Ridge to the west, potentially hold uranium.) In two years Marline had found the monster deposits in Pittsylvania. The discovery touched off a hunt for uranium statewide, alarming communities along the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge that didn't want...
...settle the issue, the state commission hopes to enlist the help of the National Academy of Sciences to conduct the study. Meanwhile, opponents have organized and circulated petitions and enlisted the help of environmental groups, including the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville. Virginia Uranium for its part has agreed to merge with a Canadian mining company, Santoy Resources of British Columbia, to ensure it has the capital to press forward with its mining plans. In the end, insists Walter Coles, head of Virginia Uranium, there will be no mining if it puts the environment at risk...