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About the author

JR Hoeft

Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.

Comments

5 Responses to "Keep our nuclear option open"

1. 

   HisRoc March 8, 2011 22:40 pm

   JR,

   You really want to trust uranium mining, with its Radon 222 exposure and other hazards, to the same crowd that gave us the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster?

   We have a secure and dependable source of uranium in Canada. Lets leave the remaining Virginia mountains unspoiled from the open pit mining, mountaintop removal mining, and dangerous deep shaft mining that our coal industry has used to destroy the natural beauty of our western counties and their streams. Really.

2. 

   James "turbo" Cohen March 9, 2011 07:43 am

   Great article JR. I think there is some national security concern that if there are other sources of uranium in the unstable regions of the world that maybe we should deplete them before tapping our own.

3. 

   HST March 9, 2011 09:46 am

   Great insight, Jim. Harnessing Virginia’s uranium resources will make a huge dent in U.S. overreliance on imported uranium. Dependence on foreign countries – especially those with state-run nuclear companies – for 86% of our nuclear fuel is a precarious and untenable situation. China and Russia are feverishly buying up huge stakes in uranium mining operations around the world to meet their rapidly growing demand. China already controls roughly 95% of all the rare earth metals in the world, and has aggressively wielded their monopoly to cause shortages and price shocks in Japan, Europe and even the U.S. They aim to exert the same dominance over the global uranium market. Forecasters are predicting shortages and price spikes in the coming decades as China and Russia control a larger share of the market. The only way for the U.S. to hedge against these trends is to develop more of our own domestic supply.

   From a recent column in Forbes by Jonathan Sherman:

   “Over one hundred new nuclear reactors are expected to come on line over the next decade worldwide, half of them in China alone, with India and Russia having aggressive build-out plans as well. According to the publication China Daily, the former director of China’s National Energy Administration says that China may expand its 10-year nuclear plant ambitions even more from 80 gigawatts currently planned to 86 gigawatts. The World Nuclear Association says China’s demand for uranium is expected to reach 44 million pounds annually by 2020, but domestic supply will only reach 5 million pounds by that time.

   From all this new demand, industry consultants expect the global uranium market to grow from about 190 millions pounds currently to 247 million pounds by 2020. Secondary uranium sources, like governments’ conversion of explosives-grade uranium to electricity-grade uranium, are expected to decline from about 48 million pounds today to 24 million pounds by 2020. In combination, the growing demand with declining secondary sources suggests 5-6%% annual demand growth for uranium from mined sources over the next decade.

   It is well known that existing supply from uranium mines cannot meet the anticipated demand. Afraid of the upcoming supply shortage, China has been aggressively pursuing long-term contracts for uranium. Industry participants believe it is largely China that is responsible for driving spot uranium prices from $40.75 in May 2010 to $72.25 today…

   With their 80 to 86 gigawatts production targets, the Chinese will pull out all stops to lock in their long-term supply of uranium. Inevitably, India and Russia will be forced to enter the bidding war to get their share of supply as well. In 2007, uranium prices spiked to $136 per pound, reportedly helped along by speculators. With the current supply shortage, another price spike over $100 may be in the cards for 2011 and prices may stay elevated for some time.”

4. 

   Mike Barrett March 9, 2011 11:43 am

   I do not pose any objection to extracting uranium if it can be done safely and with minimal environmental damage. Safety first, and since my drinking water may be at risk, before this proceeds, that risk needs to be measured and evaluated. Studies are underway by the City of Virginia Beach, and I understand other municipalites downstream of the site have joined a coalition as well.

5. 

   Steve Vaughan March 10, 2011 10:00 am

   Do we need the uranium in Virginia yet? Before we worry about nuclear fuel, I think we need to do a much better job of green lighting plants so we can get more of our electricity from nuclear. As HR said, for the time being we have secure source in Canada. If, once we begin to rely more on nuclear, we need the fuel, then by all means mine it, with appropriate safeguards.