The nuclear material that is running the power plants right this very second… Was it produced at that time by people like your father and then stockpiled for future use?
Meaning, would we have to go back to those methods to get more of it, if we expanded nuclear energy?
To say it another way, are we currently producing nuclear material or simply using up supply that was created at great sacrifice to many?
Most of that was weapons grade uranium or it was destined for the nuclear reactor ships that were being developed (Uranium was stockpiled, IIRC) but weapons grade uranium is being reprocessed into fuel for reactors:
Weapons-grade uranium and plutonium is being made available for use as civil fuel. Highly-enriched uranium from weapons stockpiles met about 13% of world reactor requirements through to 2013.
world-nuclear.org
Fuel from dismantled nuclear bombs, including Russian ones, generates about 10 percent of America’s electricity.
www.nytimes.com
It's different for plutonium, that's just being mothballed as old systems come off line. So effectively, the sacrifice was made for nill - at least until they can figure out what to do with it:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ld-plutonium-with-nowhere-to-go-idUSKBN1HR1KC
As
@WesternWyoming said, the current mining practices still cause issues with waste and how it's treated.
I would love to know the last US mining project you supported or thought was a good project that should move forward? Your last sentence here is interesting. The folks I work with have the exact same sentiment every time some "elite" makes a decision that shuts down or limits their way of life.
I know the man you speak of. Influence peddler in Prada? Not the man I know. Think he still lives in Cheyenne last I heard. Everything said was true. Those PRB mines, some CPE some other producers, would be suppling more coal to South Korea if not for the decision of some "elites" in Washington State to deny a simple shoreline permit for a terminal. Why? Because it was meant to handle coal. South Korea is still burning the same amount of coal, they just get it from somewhere else. That somewhere else more than likely has significantly lower environmental standards that any US mine will ever face.
I'm defiantly crabby. Largely because I am tired of seeing my family and my co-workers be the socially acceptable cost of a national strategy that elevates NIMBY and delay over rational decision making for the good of our nation.
FTR - I'm on the fence with Black Butte. If the water issue gets resolved for the feeder trib of the Smith, then it seems like a good project relative to economic sustainability in Meagher County. I'm certainly not on the pitchfork brigade for that mine. I'm sure this will generate some hate mail from friends.
Stillwater expansion - would have helped my family as my cousins worked there. Until he died on the job (equipment operator, heart attack).
I've said or done nothing on the boundary waters issue because I don't know enough about it.
Listening to both
@Bambistew and the locals who were for or against, I was again on the fence, but tended towards protecting a species (salmon) that is in desperate need of conservation in order to simply ensure that there are spaces available for them in this world.
I've supported new coal mines, expanding coal mines in NE WY, especially as my cousins or their spouses worked there as well. Uncles too. I spend months researching the Two Elk Power Plant fiasco - it was one of my very first forrays into this world. Enough BS to make me want to work on wolf policy instead of regulatory issues.
There's been expansions and other new mines that have been fine in my mind, but forgive me for not having a detailed list.
So tell which mineral withdraws you've supported in favor of conservation outcomes in the mining world? Easy to point to the Wyoming Range. Harder to point to the withdrawls for grouse, right? Which environmental regulations that have been added are you in support of?
It's not a binary question, is it. It's a question about location, etc. Especially when you live in a state that has dealt with the continued impacts from past mining practices - like Opportunity/Anaconda, The Berkley Pit, Libby, Zortman/Landusky, etc.
And the guy I was referring too is not the Cheyenne guy, I don't know who that is at the moment. (Marion Loomis was a great advocate for mining when he ran the WMA - and he had a solid conservation ethic. He was incredibly helpful in passing the wildlife trust in 2005, and securing funds moving forward). The guy I'm talking about is currently working for the MT Chamber of Commerce.
The WA terminal wasn't just the elites of Washington shutting down a proposed construction project - it was locals who didn't want the pollution that comes along with those kinds of facilities. There's a mountain of evidence that shows industrial facilities like that create health issues, especially for lower economic folks and minorities. I don't know enough of the placement of the terminal in that regard, but from some of the reading I saw, there was enough concern by local physicians, clergy, etc in terms of their air and soil quality that they exercise their franchise as Americans and stood up for the air they breathe and the land the live on. Dastardly, I know.
MT & WY went to court on behalf of the private coal companies to force another state to live by their economic plan, and not that states. Seems anti-American to me to have one state try and force another to do something they don't like, right?
Meanwhile, the actual people who live with those developments are left swinging in the wind while the big boys play politics. I don't give two shits about the corporate overlords, but I do care about ensuring that miners have good paying jobs in their communities. Economies and fuel sources change. We can either be fossils, or change with that. Ensuring that workers have the tools to move into different jobs once an industry pulls out has been the goal since the last bust of the 80's, but it doesn't happen because energy/mining companies sell snake oil in state capitals and at the ballot box to keep their hold on power. No different than Ag lobby, County Commissioners, etc.
I get confused by folks in the industry who will gleefully throw out the canard of "mine it here where we have the best environmental standards" and then the immediate flip to "F'in' democrats and enviros have made these regulations and standards too hard to get anything permitted, so we need to streamline everything," and then let the sycophants and lobbyists write the new rules that would totally undermine those exact standards folks were previously cheering for.
Meanwhile, the mining companies are enjoying record profits even during pandemics:
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/energy-utilities-resources/publications/mine.html
100% agree that there are elites on both sides of this issue that don't give a rip about the causalities they create. The balance on the scale tips on the industry side still. US Steel shut down outside of South Pass, and I remember Jeffery City when it had an open school. My uncle worked at all of those mines, and lived in Jeffery City for years until - the jobs went away. That wasn't enviros, that was Reaganomics. Vividly remember this as my uncle had to come live with us in Casper while my parents floated their rent in Lander to ensure that the kids had a home, and my uncle would be able to work at a Toyota dealership until he could find better work. That was US Steel selling off the mine to venture capitalists who sold off the pieces and screwed the whole community, while trying to blame the workers.
The oil crash of the 80's wasn't enviros, none of them have been - it was another bust that came because of the industries inability to reign it in. We lost our house in Casper because of that - defaulted on the loan and it took 10 years for my folks to get back to a spot where they could own a house again.
So I sympathize and agree with you - families shouldn't be the cost of doing business. Mine or yours.
Apologies to all for being crabby yesterday. I'm obviously still not over dad passing the way he did. I walked away from the computer, took the dogs for a walk and got my teeth cleaned. Feeling much better today.
@Bambistew,
@wllm,
@mulecreek,
@MTGomer,
@VikingsGuy - I have noting but respect for you all, and think so very highly of all of you. Had a bad day, and for that you have my apologies.
but you’re one of the better ones around here.
