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Experts from around the world spoke at a daylong conference in Richmond about the many health, economic and environmental impacts of mining uranium, a heavy metal that is toxic both chemically and radiologically in minute amounts. The conference, co-sponsored by SELC, was attended by about 175 people, many of whom are concerned about the uranium mining project proposed for Pittsylvania County.

Doug Brugge, professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, said the body of evidence of health impacts of exposure to uranium continues to grow. Uranium is known to cause kidney damage and birth defects in animals, while other contaminants in uranium ore can cause cancer, he said. Brugge discussed recent studies from around the world showing even low levels of uranium have health impacts, and that, aided by new genetic technology, researchers are learning more about how uranium changes genetic processes.

Paul Robinson, research director of the Southwest Research & Information Center in New Mexico, said that most open-pit uranium mines generate five to 10 times the amount of waste rock as uranium ore, and that the milling process to separate the usable uranium from the waste rock also generates massive amounts of waste, called “tailings.” Uranium waste is contaminated with both toxic chemicals as well as radiation, and can spread through the air, surface water or groundwater to nearby communities.

 

See the press release for more.