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to tht fundamental question: Can uranium be mined and milled in Virginia with adequate assurances of safety?
And why is an answer so elusive? The health effects associated with radioactivity have engaged the scientific community for generations, and any discussion of radioactivity is marked by disagreement among reasonable people, indeed among the experts. But that level of uncertainty is only part of the problem.
The domain of the uraniuaa business in the U.S. has been a handftil of Western states — arid and scarcely populated areas. While other industries felt the impact of environmental laws enacted in the seventies, the isolated ur anium industry, handler of vast amounts of toxic materials, somehow escaped significant reform. Massive spills and slow leaks from disposal sites continue to threaten the health, the water supplies and the livelihoods of the industry*sneighborB.
Now, an industry which has evaded conservation measures and failed to demonstrate the reliability of its technologies is seeking residence in Virginia. The setting in which it would operate differs significantly from its home base in the West, which differs markedly in climate, terrain and in precipitation from the East. Hie Virginia operation is one in which water pollution will be extremely difficult to control and where large numbers of people and businesses stand to lose in the event of pollution.
Policy makers and ultimately the voters are thus freed with the review of a unique, highly technical and controversial proposal. They
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