Q: Is it true that there has been an increase in uranium mining in the U.S. because of a renewed interest in nuclear energy? What are the health and environmental ramifications of this?

A: The big boom for American uranium mining was in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and the U.S. remained the world's leading producer of the radioactive element for many years until 1980, when U.S. production fell off dramatically due to dropping uranium prices as other countries stepped up mining of their own sources. Today American miners turn out only about 10 percent of what they were producing in 1980.

But that may all change as several deep-pocketed mining interests have turned up the heat on lawmakers to allow them to explore and open up new sources of uranium across the American West and elsewhere.

The Natural Resources Defense Council reports that the timing is no coincidence, since the program that has been supplying a large portion of U.S. uranium needs in recent years - Russia's surplus weapons uranium stockpile - is ending this year. This restriction of supply is predicted to drive prices up.

The dark sides of uranium mining are well documented by now. Miners have experienced high rates of cancer, heart disease and birth defects. Stronger regulations have been put in place to protect mineworkers, but increased cancer rates still remain an issue.

In addition to its direct human health impacts, uranium mining can jeopardize the health of ecosystems. Radioactive materials can pollute air, water and the soils near a mine. And the waste products produced from uranium mining, known as tailings, remain potentially hazardous for thousands of years.

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