Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Roca Honda Mine

Chapter 3. Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences
Irreversible and Irretrievable Commitments of Resources
NEPA Section 102(C) (v) requires a discussion of whether implementing the proposed action
would, for any reason, irreversibly commit resources that would no longer be available for other
purposes. Examples might include a commitment to consume resources that are then no longer
available for other purposes (such as fuel), or that cannot be recycled or reused in some way. This
would occur if a project used an enormous amount of resources, which are lost or consumed and
no longer available. Such a commitment is intended to be described and then compared with the
benefits of the project to compare those benefits to the irreversible commitment of such
resources.
Irreversible commitments of resources are those that cannot be regained, such as the extinction of
a species or the removal of mined ore. Irretrievable commitments are those that are lost for a
period of time such as the temporary loss of timber productivity in forested areas that are kept
clear for use as a power line rights-of-way or road.
Consequences of Proposed Action
The resources to be committed for this project involve typical amounts of steel, iron, concrete,
and fuel required to construct a mine to extract uranium ore. Project equipment and construction
commuters would use fossil fuels (diesel and gasoline derived from nonrenewable oil) during the
construction development phase of the mine. The amount of construction resources used for such
a mine (e.g., gravel, cement, iron, etc.) is expected to be minor and insignificant. No significant
impact on, or demand for, construction material resources is anticipated. During operation of the
mine, fuel resources would be consumed by trucks hauling ore to an offsite processing facility.
Considering the number of trucks per day involved in this transport, no significant impacts to
gasoline or diesel fuel resources would occur in the State or the region. Some materials such as
steel and concrete may be reclaimed/recycled when the project is completed and the site
reclaimed; fuel used during construction and operation is irretrievable. Water pumped out of the
mine, even though used for irrigating rangeland or pasture, is not renewable and represents an
irreversible use of resources, even though the aquifers that would be partially dewatered would
eventually replenish over a period of centuries.
Uranium ore is mined and processed at a uranium processing mill into a more concentrated form
of uranium for future uses such as conversion to fuel rods as a fuel to generate nuclear power.
Once used, at this present state of technology it cannot be used again and is, therefore, a
nonrenewable source of energy. While generating electricity, a nuclear power plant does not emit
the combustion pollutants of either natural gas or coal-fired generating stations, nor carbon
dioxide; thus, it does not contribute directly to increasing concentrations of CO2, the main
greenhouse gas, in the earth’s atmosphere. (Since fossil fuels are used at other stages in the
nuclear fuel cycle—such as mining and milling uranium ore—nuclear power it is not entirely free
of CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, one recent study estimates that it accounts for well under 10
percent of the CO2 emitted per kilowatt-hour of electricity than coal-fired plants (Kleiner, 2008).)
The use of uranium ore for nuclear power may displace the use of fossil fuel combustion for the
generation of electricity when it is provided to existing nuclear power plants or for new plants in
the future. This would help conserve such fossil fuel resources and potentially reduce overall
greenhouse gas emissions and levels in the atmosphere, with commensurately reduced levels of
radiative or climate forcing and, perhaps, less global warming and climate change.
446 DEIS for Roca Honda Mine, Cibola National Forest