Virginia Uranium, Inc. v. Warren

The U.S. Supreme Court resolved a decades-long dispute over Virginia's statutory ban on uranium mining. Virginia Uranium, Inc. owned rights to the Coles Hill deposit, the nation's largest unmined uranium body, but was blocked by a 1982 state moratorium. The company sued, arguing that the federal Atomic Energy Act preempted the ban because the Act comprehensively regulates the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium milling and tailings. Both the district court and the Fourth Circuit upheld Virginia's law, finding it addressed conventional mining rather than radiation safety. On June 17, 2019, the Supreme Court affirmed in a 6-3 decision. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority, holding that the Atomic Energy Act does not preempt state regulation of conventional mining activities that occur before uranium is milled. The ruling concluded that Virginia's moratorium targeted traditional environmental and land-use concerns, not radiation hazards, and therefore fell outside federal preemption. The ban was left intact.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Virginia uranium mining ban is not preempted by the Atomic Energy Act. The state's moratorium remains fully in effect, barring development of the Coles Hill deposit. The decision affirmed the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Whether the federal Atomic Energy Act preempts a Virginia state law that prohibits uranium mining, even though the Act governs the milling, processing, and tailings disposal of uranium but does not expressly address conventional mining operations.

The ruling reinforced state authority to regulate mining within their borders, even for minerals tied to federal nuclear oversight. It permanently blocked the Coles Hill uranium project, disappointing the nuclear industry. Environmental and community groups praised the outcome for upholding state-level land-use protections. The precedent clarified that federal preemption under the Atomic Energy Act does not reach traditional non-radiological mining regulations, giving states broad discretion to ban mining for environmental and economic reasons.