Radiation is All Around Us

I'm afraid, Mr. Enns, that this "alarmist rhetoric" as you call it is really "the facts" as you seek them. The reality of uranium mining is very, very ugly...and deadly. The only way to make it palatable is to sugar-coat it...which disguises it as "safe" when there's not a "safe" uranium mine anywhere in the world.

By Published by The Editorial Board
Danville Register & Bee

Published: February 12, 2009

To the editor:
The author of, “Let’s put uranium mining to a vote,” (Jan. 28, page A10), seemed outraged that uranium mining is being contemplated in Southside Virginia, writing, “Zero risk is the only acceptable risk regarding a radioactive substance.”

I can’t help but wonder if he has ever had to refer a patient for a CT or PET scan or MRI to identify possible cancer? I guess those against this facility are against life-saving diagnosis and treatment.

A few minutes spent searching the Internet produced information from multiple scientific sources indicating that the levels of radiation exposure to uranium miners, international airline crews and U.S. nuclear industry employees are all lower than that administered to patients by nuclear medical technology.

And for that matter, I challenge anyone to name one risk-free activity that we undertake, either as individuals on a daily basis or as a human race? The knowledge of an element of risk is no more enough to stop us from driving our cars than it was to prevent us from putting a man on the moon.

When Marie Curie and her counterparts discovered that uranium possessed the property of radioactivity, they were awarded the Nobel Prize for physics. This was more than 100 years ago, and science involving uranium has resulted in improvements in many areas of our daily lives, from forensics to medicine to agriculture and food safety.

Our region has an opportunity to combat this major economic shift our nation is experiencing. When was the last time we received exciting economic news? I guess physicians are immune to such downturns like the rest of us.

I have lived in Central Virginia for eight years and call it home, and I would never want to harm it or my neighbors.

I agree 20th century mining technology was faulty; however, we have moved into a new age of technology. I encourage all to seek out other states that have adopted uranium policies — and the positive benefits they have created.

I’m neither a doctor nor a physicist, but rather a concerned Virginian seeking education on the risks and benefits of mining uranium. The facts will serve us all better than alarmist rhetoric.

LUKE ENNS

Rustburg

http://www.godanriver.com/gdr/news/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/danville_letters/article/more_than_just_need_radiation_and_it_wont_work/8980/