U.S. top court takes up challenge to Virginia uranium mining ban
Source: Reuters
ENVIRONMENT MAY 21, 2018 / 9:53 AM / UPDATED 15 HOURS AGO
U.S. top court takes up challenge to Virginia uranium mining ban
Andrew Chung
3 MIN READ
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether states have the right to ban uranium mining for public health reasons in a dispute over a moratorium Virginia put in place on the radioactive metal in 1982.
The court will hear a bid by a Virginia Energy Resources Inc subsidiary and other owners of the largest U.S. uranium deposit to revive a lawsuit thrown out by a lower court that sought to invalidate Virginia’s ban because it conflicted with a federal law that regulates nuclear power generation.
Uranium, a main source of fuel for nuclear power plants and material in nuclear warheads, remains a strategic resource for electricity and national defense. The case could clarify how far states can go in regulating access to uranium resources.
The plaintiffs, Virginia Uranium Inc, a subsidiary of Vancouver, British Columbia-based Virginia Energy Resources, Cole Hill LLC and Bowen Minerals LLC, value the southern Virginia uranium deposit at up to $6 billion, according to court papers. Mining it could inject billions of dollars into the local economy, the plaintiffs said.
The dispute concerns whether the federal Atomic Energy Act of 1954 preempts Virginia’s mining ban under the U.S. Constitution’s so-called Supremacy Clause, which holds that federal law generally trumps state law.
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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-uranium/u-s-top-court-takes-up-challenge-to-virginia-uranium-mining-ban-idUSKCN1IM1EY
