A former Canadian uranium regulator discussed safety strategies with state legislators during a brief tour through Virginia last week.
Kevin H. Scissons, a former director of the Uranium Mines and Minerals Division of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, visited Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Richmond, and Chatham.
Scissons, who retired in April and operates KHS Solutions, prepared a brief report — “Top Ten Challenges for Mining Uranium” — during his visit.
Capital Results, which handles public affairs for Virginia Uranium Inc., invited the former regulator.
Virginia Uranium hopes legislators lift a 30-year uranium mining moratorium this winter, paving the way for mining at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham.
Discovered in the late 1970s, Coles Hill is believed to be one of the largest uranium deposits in the United States.
Scissons visited Coles Hill, Virginia Uranium’s headquarters, and Henry Hurt’s bookshop in Chatham Thursday.
Scissons said the state’s challenges and concerns mirror his experiences in Canada, including water quality, decommissioning sites, financial benefits, air and ground water quality, financial guarantees, regulatory oversight, public health, worker’s health and safety, tailings management, and compliance to regulatory standards.
“These are the same real concerns I heard in the ’80s and ones I lived with in my regulatory life,” Scissons said. “I actually have answers and we have 30 years of answers.”
Scissons said Canada ensures environmental safety by enforcing modern mining standards.
“After 30 years of modern uranium mining in Saskatchewan, with modern facilities, these issues can be managed and addressed safely and effectively to world-class standards,” Scissons.
Canada, which has mined uranium 60 years, implemented environmental standards in the 1970s.
“I can spend time saying there were problems over 60 years, but what is important here — and what should be important to Virginia — is not how you build and operate a mine from 1950,” the former regulator said. “You are going to be looking at what is the best now.”
Scissons said Saskatchewan offers similar rainfall to Virginia and cold weather.
Engineers design modern water diversion systems to keep surface water safe and minimize contaminated groundwater, he said.
“I have a lot of faith in our modern-day engineers to tackle some pretty significant problems,” Scissons said.
Mining designs can also keep water run-off from contaminating nearby streams and wells, he said.
“This is not new rocket science,” Scissons said. “It’s a science that can be engineered and planned for. You design for the environment you want to protect.
“There is no doubt you want to protect any releases from the site,” Scissons continued. “Water intakes for communities small or large are paramount to be protected. You control that all at the source.”
Scissons said below-grade holding cells ensure tailings are not washed away during storms.
Canadian mills and mines must be designed to handle “probable maximum precipitation.”
“That’s the kind of rainfall when the animals pair up and a guy with a long beard and wooden ark is accommodating them,” Scissons said.
Designs include placing channels, ditches, and dikes around sites to divert water.
“You want to ensure if that event happens that it will be protected. You want to ensure it can withstand those high events and not cause any damage,” he said.
Scissons said families live near Canada’s potash mines.
“Any mine operation has to protect for its neighbors’ groundwater and surface water,” he said.
Scissons said uranium mining has not brought a negative stigma to Saskatchewan.
Elliot Lake, a decommissioned uranium site, is a thriving retirement community.
The site allows for “casual public access,” including hiking, walking, running, and snowmobiling, he said.
Northern Saskatchewan, an active mining site, maintains steady tourism, including a bustling fishing and trapping trade, Scissons said.
Mining companies, which employ local workers, also attract experts and consultants, Scissons said.
Uranium mines also generate spin-off and secondary companies, he said.
Saskatchewan, which includes low employment in many areas, retrained workers for mining positions.
“When they come in the door, you aren’t just going to give them a shovel,” Scissons said.
Hiring local workers serves as another level of checks and balances for environmental safety, he said.
“They are one of our biggest — what I call — on-the-job inspectors.”
Mining companies must invest in high design standards, Scissons said, adding Canada requires decommissioning funds up front.
“These high standards provide better assurances for them, better security for their workers,” Scissons said.
“You are going to address the issues of health, safety, and environment for the long-term even in the post decommissioned phase. That’s an expectation.”
Canadian officials work closely with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
“We have a successful oversight. Communities are protected; the wildlife is protected,” Scissons said.
Canada also boasts a strong worker safety record, Scissons said.
“Your first line of safety is the workers, and they are taking it serious,” he said. “I’m an environmentalist. I’m a health and safety person.”
Scissons said northern Saskatchewan mines 20 to 25 million pounds of uranium a year and demand will continue to increase.
“They are burning more fuel per year than is being mined,” Scissons said. “There is only going to be an increasing need for more fuel.”
Scissons, who is not a consultant for Virginia Uranium, spoke to local residents during a Virginia Uranium-sponsored trip to Canada last year.
Capital Results’ spokesman Julie Rautio said Scissons spent last week “spreading his wealth of knowledge around to various people that are interested in learning what they can about it (uranium mining) as it’s working its way through the political process in Richmond.”
“He’s done some good missionary work. People act like we are trying to mine uranium on Mars when actually it’s been done and it’s not so complicated,” Rautio said.
“We don’t need a spaceship. We just need to look at what’s been done and apply how it’s done.”
“It’s really nice to have a guy who actually regulated for 30 years say, ‘this is what we did. This is the outcomes we got.’ I think people are pretty receptive to having that information,” Rautio said. “Kevin’s not an advocate; he’s a regulator.”
Scissons said modern oversight and high standards can ensure health and environmental protection.
“You don’t need to reinvent something, but you can certainly look at lessons learned and what’s been successful,” he said.
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