Board still wrestling with possible uranium-mining study

By John Crane
Published: November 11, 2009

Staff with the National Research Council is continuing to try to determine how the agency will proceed with a possible uranium-mining study.

The National Research Council Governing Board’s Executive Committee met Tuesday in Washington to discuss the proposal for a study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in Virginia.

“Given the complexity with several institutions involved (Virginia Tech, the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission), our staff is continuing to work on how we will go about doing the study,” said Jennifer Walsh, spokeswoman for the National Academy of Sciences. “So far, our standard statement of task and approval process is not yet complete.”

The NRC is an arm of the NAS.

Walsh did not comment further when asked about details regarding the study and when the next executive committee meeting will be held.

Virginia Uranium Inc. seeks to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham. VUI, through Virginia Tech’s Center for Coal and Energy Research, would pay for the study’s first phase focusing on the technical and public-safety aspects of mining.

That first phase would cost as much as $1.4 million. Virginia Tech’s Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research would handle the money and contract with the NAS for the study. The second part of the study, dealing with the socioeconomic aspects of mining, still needs to be developed by the Virginia Coal & Energy Commission. VUI would not fund the second part.

If the governing board approves the study request, the next step would be the NRC negotiating and entering into a contract with Virginia Tech’s Center for Coal and Energy Research. The board would then appoint a provisional committee of about a dozen scientific experts to perform the study and write its report.

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/board_still_wrestling_with_possible_uranium-mining_study/15446/

NRC committee to meet to discuss uranium study

The National Research Council governing board’s executive committee will meet next month to discuss the study that would determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in Virginia.

The meeting will take place Nov. 10 in Washington and will be closed to the public, said Jennifer Walsh, spokeswoman for the National Academy of Sciences.

Walsh said she does not know if the committee will decide during next month’s meeting whether to approve the study.

Virginia Uranium Inc. seeks to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham. VUI, through Virginia Tech’s Center for Coal and Energy Research, would pay for the study’s first phase focusing on the technical and public-safety aspects of mining.

That first phase would cost as much as $1.4 million. Virginia Tech’s Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research would handle the money and contract with the NAS for the study. The second part of the study, dealing with the socioeconomic aspects of mining, still needs to be developed by the Virginia Coal & Energy Commission. VUI would not fund the second part.

If the governing board approves the study request, the next step would be the NRC negotiating and entering into a contract with Virginia Tech’s Center for Coal and Energy Research. The board would then appoint a provisional committee of about a dozen scientific experts to perform the study and write its report.

There will be public comment regarding the makeup of the committee, William Kearney, NRC spokesman, said last month.

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/nrc_committee_to_meet_to_discus_uranium_study/15011/

Virginia Energy Resources Inc. Corporate (Investor) Presentation

You really need to read this. There are lots of pictures and graphs...it's not a difficult read. But it sure is an interesting one. Everything is falling into place just like dominoes, for Santoy/VERI, VUI, Va Tech, and all investors. There's plenty of space for tailings and a uranium mill. Tech is offering all sorts of student work experiences. It's amazing, actually, to read just how well, and how quickly, things are moving toward mining. It's as though nothing can possibly get in the way. We are fighting a HUGE machine here...one that's well-organized, well-oiled, and well-funded. When will the rest of the state wake up? It's imperative that Southside have the rest of the Commonwealth behind it in this fight. It's enormity has never been better presented than it is here:

http://www.santoy.ca/i/pdf/CorporatePresentation.pdf

Uranium-Coles Hill

Interesting letter, Mr. Motley, especially the dairy farm part. Do you know how far away a grazing pasture must be from a uranium mining and milling operation so that the radon doesn't poison the milk or the beef or kill the animals outright? I'd consider it an example of your letter's apparent sincerity if you could answer that question for us. It's an excellent question! I'm sure lots of folks would like to know the answer. And maybe the people who know that answer will be more willing to share that info with you than with us. Thank you so much!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Letter to editor:

I have lived in the Sheva community all of my life except time in the Merchant Marines during World War II.

I would like to relate some of my experiences.

I was raised on a tobacco farm in the Mill Creek community.

My three sons operate the dairy on my home place.

I now live in the old Sheva Church of Christ building at Sheva.

Much of the land that is used by the dairy is within a three mile radius of Coles Hill where the deposit of uranium is located.

My family owns stock in Virginia Uranium. This gives us some voice in future developments.

We are now directly involved in the nuclear industry. We have members of our family that work at B&W, a nuclear facility in the Lynchburg area, and the energy used to operate the dairy comes from a nuclear power plant.

There is no place that I would rather live than in the Sheva community.

I have taken no position for or against the mining.

As I recently celebrated my 84th birthday I realize that I know less and less about more and more things.

I don't have answers to the many problems facing our community and nation. I will try to meet the challenges in a positive way.

If and when the uranium is mined, I would like to see the money used to replace the tobacco money.

The issue of growing tobacco has been an issue for most of my life. All of my family including myself have raised tobacco.

My parents and grandparents that I knew raised tobacco. They thought it was all right to grow but wrong to use it.

I have heard my parents pray for rain for the tobacco crop and also pray for the Lord to heal people suffering from the use of tobacco. I also heard similar prayers at church.

There are some questions that I would like to have answered.

What other sources of energy on the large scale provided by nuclear energy are available to us in the area?

How much damage would other sources do to the environment. I know solar energy and wind power are available but are they available to this area in the quantity now provided by nuclear energy.

There are contradictions in my own life. I used money from tobacco to develop the dairy. We have been producing Grade A milk at the homeplace since 1947.

What kind of an example are we setting for our young people?

I have never heard a person encourage their young people to use tobacco.

How do we want people to remember us?

Our record of how we used resources will follow us beyond the grave.

I have misused resources. I have asked the Lord to forgive me.

J. Fuller Motley

Chatham

http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2009/10/07/chatham/opinion/opinion02.txt

Conflict of Interest [re: study funding]

Caswell Messenger
Oct 06, 2009 - 06:25:03 pm CDT

To the editor:

I think it's a bit disingenuous for Dr. Karmis, the Director of the Virginia Center for Coal & Energy Research at Virginia Tech and a professor in its Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering to say Tech's nuclear engineering program has "nothing to do with Coles Hill."

Professors and graduate students of Virginia Tech's Departments of Geosciences and Hydrogeosciences have already been on-site at Coles Hill performing various studies and tests on the unmined uranium ore body. According to Dr. Robert J. Bodnar, a professor with Tech's Geosciences Department: "All of these studies are telling us something about the subsurface - the rocks, when the rock type changes, where the major faults are. All those pieces of information are critical to understanding the ore deposit as it exists today, and that will be very useful information as the company [VUI] starts to develop the deposit in the future." ("Beneath the Surface, Virginia Tech conducts research at Coles Hill" by T. Davis, Star-Tribune, Sept. 10, 2008. Online source: www.virginiauranium.com/pdf/Beneath_the_Surface.pdf )

Clearly Virginia Tech's studies at Coles Hill are contributing to the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle, the mining and milling of uranium.

Dr. Karmis is also well aware of the ongoing "nuclear renaissance" where the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear power production, is being promoted by nuclear power companies like Areva to have more nuclear power plants built. This, according to nuclear power proponents, is to offset the country's growing energy needs and dependence on fossil fuels. Areva, Dominion Power and Oakridge National Laboratories are working with southeastern universities like Virginia Tech to help meet the goal of training more nuclear engineers to run the planned nuclear power plants.

Let's not forget a "nuclear renaissance" would also benefit VUI in creating the need for more uranium. Increasing the "need" will raise the price of uranium and make it profitable to mine the ore body at Coles Hill.

Finally, Dr. Karmis' statement that nuclear engineers "don't care where uranium comes from" may be true, but Tech's having a domestic supply of uranium ore in its back yard, would complement its nuclear engineering program in no small measure. The waste management aspect (tailings, holding ponds and long-term storage, e.g., Superfund planning), I suspect, would turn up in Virginia Tech's curriculum.

As much as I admire Virginia Tech, for it is a fine institution of learning, I see a clear conflict of interest in its "implementing" the money VUI will pay to the NAS to perform a "research study."

Anne Cockrell
Danville, Virginia

http://www.caswellmessenger.com/articles/2009/10/06/opinion/opinion02.txt

Funding the study

Money-laundering and political incest...

Danville Register & Bee

To the editor:

OK, let’s get this straight. Virginia Uranium Inc. wants studies that might indicate uranium mining and milling is good business and is safe for Virginia’s citizens. It also wants the National Academy of Sciences to conduct at least one of the studies.

The Virginia General Assembly voted not to fund such a study two years ago. Virginia Uranium Inc. persisted and apparently convinced the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission to do its bidding. The VCEC formed a uranium mining subpanel.

With the aid of Michael Karmis of Virginia Tech’s Mining and Minerals Engineering Department/Director of Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research Center, a study’s scope was determined and Karmis began communication with the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council. At present, no one can or will fund the NAS study but VUI.

The National Academy of Sciences will not accept VUI’s offer to pay because it does not perform its services for private industry. So Virginia Tech will take VUI’s money and give it to the NAS. The National Academy of Sciences will do the study for private industry as long as the industry does not pass the money directly to them? A “blind eye” kind of thing, I suppose.

Does this seem akin to money laundering? If NAS gets “besmirched,” they will have done it to themselves. Virginia Tech appears to be an accomplice. At this point, if the state offers to pay for a study, it looks like a disingenuous offer with those supporting it seemingly subjects of tampering. If citizens question the process, the get called “silly!” VUI has managed to make everyone look bad.

Without mining the first shovel of uranium Virginia Uranium, Inc. is already tearing at the fabric of Virginia and polluting our government institutions and causing deep divisions in the citzenry. If for no other reason than to protect the Commonwealth's integrity, uranium mining should be banned. Unfortunately, we stand to lose more if we mine and mill uranium. Why risk Virginians’ health, heritage, agricultural and tourism industry, future economic opportunities, clean air and water for a boom-bust uranium mine? To allow this, as Karmis might opine, would be “silly.”

KAREN B. MAUTE

Mount Cross

Note: The R&B chose to omit the follwing from Ms. Maute's original letter: "Without mining the first shovel of uranium Virginia Uranium, Inc. is already tearing at the fabric of Virginia and polluting our government institutions and causing deep divisions in the citzenry. If for no other reason than to protect the Commonwealth's integrity, uranium mining should be banned."

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/danville_letters/article/funding_the_study/14385/

This is the editorial that prompted Ms. Maute's letter:

Editorial: No conflict at Tech

A nuclear engineering program at Virginia Tech shouldn't impact its involvement in uranium study.

There is ample reason to be disappointed in, and wary of, the planned study of uranium mining safety in Virginia -- most notably the fact that the corporation wanting to do that mining is paying for the study.

But it is wrong to allege, as some critics of the study have, that Virginia Tech has a conflict of interest in its assigned role of managing the money and coordinating with the National Academy of Sciences on the study.

Anne Cockrell, a Danville resident and member of the mining opposition group Southside Concerned Citizens, said Tech's nuclear engineering program poses a conflict of interest.

"Tech's having a domestic supply of uranium ore in its back yard would complement its nuclear engineering program in no small measure," she wrote in a recent e-mail. She repeated the charge in a commentary in the Chatham Star Tribune.

In an interview with the Danville News, Michael Karmis, director of Tech's Center for Coal and Energy Research, called that argument "silly."

Tech is not revitalizing its nuclear engineering program because of the possibility that there may be a local source of uranium available. Rather, the move is in response to a growing demand for nuclear energy and the upcoming retirement of a generation of nuclear engineers.

There are serious reasons to doubt the safety and feasibility of mining and processing uranium in Virginia's damp climate and in a location near population centers.

For appearances' sake, it would have been far better for the state to have paid for the study. The corporation that could mine as much as $10 billion worth of uranium from the Coles Hill site has a clear vested interest in the outcome of the study, and should not be involved.

But no one else stepped up with the money, and the state isn't exactly flush with cash.

The safeguards in place -- including Tech's management of the funds -- seem sufficient to ensure that the study is not biased by its funding.

Certainly, the National Academy of Sciences will not trade its reputation in exchange for a $1.2 million study.

Based on the available evidence, Tech doesn't deserve to have its reputation besmirched, either.

http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/221135

Uranium study faces premature doubts [hunh?]

Let's review:

Nowhere on this earth has uranium mining been done safely.

The entity with the most to gain is paying for the study; the state of Virginia hasn't ante'd up one dime.

VUI and Virginia Energy are contributing to every conceivable politician and cause to further their position that Coles Hill should be mined.

Big-name pols are advertising Virginia as being "nuclear friendly" and are touting VA's "nuclear renaissance".

The relationships between politicians, lobbyists, company officials, some Va Tech faculty, and investors are so intertwined that they would appear as a big spider web if reduced to a chart.

So why is expecting that the study will favor mining in Virginia such a leap as to be called "premature"?

The Virginian-Pilot
© September 30, 2009

The respected National Research Council hasn't yet voted on whether to take on a study of uranium mining in Virginia, but the second-guessing has already started.

Some mining opponents in Pittsylvania County dismiss the results - which won't be available for nearly two years - because the study would be underwritten by Virginia Uranium Inc. The company stands to make billions if state officials allow it to tap the estimated 119 million pounds of ore in the county.

Residents are right to feel protective of their community. That's equally true of Virginia Beach leaders, who are concerned that mining could contaminate the city's water supply in Lake Gaston.

But no one has legitimately questioned the integrity of the NRC, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences, or suggested a better alternative.

It would be preferable for the state to pay the $1.2 million to $1.4 million for the study, but that's not a realistic option this year. Gov. Tim Kaine recently announced budget cuts that will cost nearly 600 salaried state workers their jobs. Core public safety and mental health services face funding reductions.

The only way to determine whether uranium can be safely mined in Virginia's rainy climate is to allow Virginia Uranium to pay for that assessment. It's an uncomfortable arrangement but one that can work with appropriate safeguards.

The mining company should be required to pay the full amount for the study up front, eliminating any temptation to retract its support if preliminary findings aren't favorable. It should also disclose the source of its money, identifying the investors who are fronting the funds for the study. That's important because no scientists should be permitted to participate in the study if they are employed by a mining company with a financial interest in the project.

William Kearney, a spokesman for the National Academy of Sciences, noted that the organization has a strict conflict-of-interest policy for participating scientists. But state officials must be full partners in preserving the integrity of the study, and they should require VUI to publicly identify its investors before work begins.

The governing board of the NRC is expected to vote on the study proposal in October or November. If it agrees to the project, it will then begin contract negotiations with Virginia Tech's Center for Coal and Energy Research, chosen by state lawmakers to coordinate the study.

The details of that contract, particularly its financial provisions, must be made public. Further, state legislators should hold a meeting to explain the contract and take comments. They should ensure that the scope of the assessment includes an examination of claims by Pittsylvania residents that exploratory drilling at the site has contaminated local wells. Equally important, the state should guarantee that a separate study on the mine's economic impact does not begin until questions of safety are fully addressed.

Opponents who repudiate a study before it even exists risk marginalizing themselves before the real debate begins. But that doesn't negate the fact that many thousands of Virginians who have been less vocal still want and deserve an open, transparent process that puts their health and safety above all other interests.

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/09/uranium-study-faces-premature-doubts

Virginia Tech rejects conflict of interest allegations in uranium study

What did we expect Va Tech to say? "Oh, snap...how did we miss that"?

By John Crane

Published: September 30, 2009

The director of Virginia Tech’s Center for Coal and Energy Research says its role to administer funding for a uranium mining study poses no conflict of interest.

At least one mining opponent contends Virginia Tech stands to benefit from the excavation of uranium at Coles Hill by expanding its nuclear engineering program.

“… (Virginia) Tech’s having a domestic supply of uranium ore in its backyard would complement its nu-clear engineering program in no small measure,” said Anne Cockrell, a Danville resident and member of Southside Concerned Citizens, a group that opposes uranium mining, via e-mail Wednesday.

During an interview Wednesday, Michael Karmis, director of Virginia Tech’s Center for Coal and Energy Research, called Cockrell’s allegations “a very silly argument.” The nuclear engineering program at the school has nothing to do with Coles Hill, Karmis said.

A lack of engineering capabilities in the work force to run nuclear power plants and nuclear programs at military bases is prompting schools like Virginia Tech to revive their engineering departments, Karmis said. Industries did not hire engineers in the 80s and 90s, leaving a generation gap among nuclear and other types of engineers, Karmis said. Nuclear engineering has become almost extinct and engineers about to retire need to be replaced, he said. In addition, demand for nuclear power is increasing, he said.

“That’s what the universities are responding to,” Karmis said.

Virginia Uranium Inc. seeks to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham. Virginia currently has a moratorium on uranium mining. Delegate Terry Kilgore, head of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission, sent a written request in August to the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, to conduct the study. NRC officials say the proposed study is worth pursuing.

Mining supporters say an operation at Coles Hill would bring economic benefits to Southside and supply hundreds of jobs. Opponents believe the project would destroy the environment and threaten public health in Pittsylvania County.

Cockrell said the nuclear-power industry, including Areva, Dominion Power and Oakridge National Laboratories, is working with schools like Virginia Tech to help train more nuclear engineers to run planned nuclear-power plants. Also, Cockrell said professor and graduate students of Virginia Tech’s departments of geosciences and hydrogeosciences have conducted on-site studies and tests of unmined uranium at Coles Hill.

“Clearly Virginia Tech’s studies at Coles Hill are contributing to the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle, the mining and milling of uranium,” Cockrell said in her e-mail.

William Kearney, a spokesman for the NRC, said the organization operates independently of sponsors, who have no role in the study’s results

“Nobody knows the outcome of the study which hasn’t even started,” Kearney said of opponents’ allega-tions. “The study still needs to be approved by our governing board.”

Kearney said the NRC’s governing board will likely discuss the study request at the board’s regular meeting this month or in November. In the meantime, NRC staff will prepare a prospectus, or study proposal, that will include a scope, timeline, likely costs and sponsorship, Kearney said. The board would review the prospectus before deciding whether to approve the request.

The study’s first portion would cost $1.2-$1.4 million. Virginia Tech’s Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research will handle the money and work with the NAS for the study. The second part of the study, dealing with the socioeconomic aspects of mining, still needs to be worked out by the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission. VUI will not fund the second part.

Katie Whitehead, a member of the Dan River Basin Association, said a detailed draft contract should be open to the public.

“A draft contract with details regarding such things as financial provisions, public hearings, interim reports, and release of information needed for the socioeconomic study should be made available for public comment,” Whitehead said in a statement. “For transparency, a meeting to explain the draft contract and take comments is essential.”

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/virginia_tech_rejects_conflict_of_interest_allegations_in_uranium_study/14270/

Nuclear grant has more to it

VA Tech Collegiate Times

by Letter to the editor

Monday, September 28, 2009; 7:41 PM

Are there really no conflicts of interests here?

According to the article "Tech receives nuclear grant" (CT, Sept. 15), Virginia Tech is slated to "implement" the money Virginia Uranium, Inc. will pay to the National Academy of Sciences for its services in performing a research study, which is to determine if uranium mining and milling can be done safely in Virginia.

Tech's newspaper, Collegiate Times, recently featured a picture of a mushroom-shaped atomic bomb blast cloud with the title "Virginia Tech's History of Nuclear Energy" with the chronological dates of the program's inception (1953), its disbanding (1990s) and its revival (2007). Strangely included are the dates of the Three Mile Island disaster in Pennsylvania (1979) and the Chernobyl disaster in Russia (1986). It also lists the $850,000 nuclear grant money (2009) received from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The article by Liana Bayne relates the NRC nuclear grant money, $850,000, which will go toward hiring new professors to "revitalize" Tech's nuclear engineering program.

Now, I shudder to think what the school's newspaper was thinking to post such a photograph, but it should cause more than an uneasy pause for the members of the NAS governing board, which is currently deliberating whether its prestigious institution should contract with Tech to do a study when the school, as the above article states, is clearly enjoying "a taste of the nuclear renaissance."

Let's recap: VUI wants to excavate an $8 billion to $10 billion uranium ore body at Coles Hill in Chatham, Va., and is the only entity that has offered to pay for the proposed NAS study. Tech wants to revitalize its nuclear engineering program and is well on track in doing so by receiving nuclear grant money ($850,000) from the NRC. (This is on top of a $300,000 grant it received last year for this program.) Tech will utilize VUI's north and south mines at Coles Hill, and its milling facility, as field laboratories for its students, which will be part of the curriculum of the nuclear engineering program. (In the past, Tech graduate students have already been on the site doing various studies on the un-mined uranium ore body at Coles Hill.) Tech will be the conduit to "implement" the estimated $1.2 million to $1.4 million VUI plans to pay NAS for doing the research study - a study it needs in order to overturn Virginia's moratorium on the mining and milling of uranium.

I have to ask, are there really no conflicts of interest here? And what does a mushroom-shaped atomic bomb blast cloud have to do with Tech's revival of its nuclear engineering program? Will NAS disregard the obvious connection between the revival of Tech's nuclear engineering program and its role to "implement" the money VUI will pay the NAS to do a research study?

Does NAS have blinders on?

Anne Cocknell [sic]
Danville, Va.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/14276

VOTE! "Is It OK for VUI to Indirectly Fund a $2 Million

state study on the benefits and dangers of uranium mining?" Click here and register your answer.

http://www.wpcva.com/chatham/

From Virginia Tech's college newspaper, The Collegiate Times

Naaa...there's no conflict of interest with Va Tech, VUI, NAS, the NRC and the upcoming study. They're all one big happy family!

National Research Council Agrees to [Consider] Uranium Study

By John Crane

Danville Register & Bee
Published: September 23, 2009

A National Research Council official says a formal request for a study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in Virginia is worth pursuing.

Delegate Terry Kilgore, head of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission, sent a written request to the NRC on Aug. 20. The NRC responded Sept. 8, saying the proposed study merits consideration.

“The fact that the request comes from a body created by the Virginia General Assembly … is a strong indication to us of the importance of this study to the commonwealth and one that deserves our serious attention,” wrote E. William Colglazier, chief operating officer of the NRC, in a letter to Kilgore.

The NRC is an arm of the National Academy of Sciences.

Virginia Uranium Inc. seeks to mine and mill a 119-million-pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham. Virginia currently has a moratorium on uranium mining.

Mining supporters say an operation at Coles Hill would bring economic benefits to Southside and supply hundreds of jobs. Opponents believe the project would destroy the environment and threaten public health, turning Pittsylvania County into a sacrifice zone.

As for the NRC’s response, Kilgore said he thinks the study will happen.

“I get a good feeling they’re going to do it,” Kilgore said Tuesday. “I think we can expect a positive outcome.”

VUI, through Virginia Tech’s Center for Coal and Energy Research, will pay for the study’s first phase focusing on the technical and public-safety aspects of mining.

The study’s first portion will cost $1.2 to $1.4 million. Virginia Tech’s Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research will implement funding and will contract with the NAS for the study. Kilgore said the second part of the study, dealing with the socioeconomic aspects of mining, still needs to be worked out by the commission. VUI will not fund the second part.

William Kearney, an NRC spokesman, said the group’s Governing Board has not approved the study request, and will likely discuss it at the board’s regular meeting in October or November. In the meantime, NRC staff will prepare a prospectus, or study proposal, that will include a scope, timeline, likely costs and sponsorship, Kearney said. The board would review the prospectus before deciding whether to approve the request.

If the board approves the request, the next step would be the NRC negotiating and entering into a contract with Virginia Tech’s Center for Coal and Energy Research. The board would then appoint a provisional committee of about a dozen scientific experts to perform the study and write its report, Kearney said. There will be public comment regarding the makeup of the committee, Kearny said.

The committee’s members would make a site visit to Coles Hill and possibly hold a public meeting, Kearney said.

Eloise Nenon, a founding member of Southside Concerned Citizens, which opposes mining, said there needs to be citizen input during the study.

“To ignore the people makes no sense at all,” Nenon said Tuesday. The study needs local viewpoint, which is different than that of scientists from outside the area, she said.

VUI spokesman Patrick Wales praised the NRC’s response to Kilgore’s request.

“I think this is another important step in getting the nation’s preeminent independent scientific institution to evaluate this energy resource in Pittsylvania County,” Wales, a geologist with VUI, said.

http://www2.wsls.com/sls/news/local/southside/article/national_research_council_agrees_to_uranium_study/49146/

VUI cares nothing about us

Amen, Jesse...amen.

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: September 22, 2009

To the editor:

The announcement that Virginia Uranium Inc. will be paying for the “study” of the feasibility of mining and milling uranium in Virginia only goes to point out how ridiculous this process has been up to this point. Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, sounded almost giddy with delight that this boondoggle has found a backer, even though having VUI pay for its own study is an obvious conflict of interest.

A look at the events leading up to this announcement is a textbook example of how big business controls government. In 2007, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors caved into Walter Coles’ request that they do nothing and ask no questions about his uranium-mining plan. Only Hank Davis and Marshall Ecker had the courage to raise doubts about what this might mean to the county. The rest of them bowed down and agreed to do nothing. They passed on their responsibility to the citizens of Pittsylvania County.

They and the county administrator sold us down the river to Richmond.

Then Chatham Town Council agreed to do nothing as well. Even though Mayor George Haley tried valiantly to persuade them to consider the consequences of acceding to the uranium interests, they as well chose the head-in-the-sand option. They sucked up Coles’ fairy tale of “a glorious new era for Southside” and were blinded by his promises of billions of dollars being thrown around like free candy at the Christmas parade.

As soon as the local politicians were dealt with, VUI focused its attention on the “study.” The Uranium Mining Subcommittee, appointed by the Coal and Energy Commission, set off on its own trip to Oz, with Del. Kilgore in the role of Dorothy. And that meant that we were not in Kansas anymore. The push for uranium mining had moved to Richmond and the bigger arena of the state legislature, where politics as usual dictates that what is done or not done is directly proportionate to the amount of lobbying dollars being thrown at the legislators.

So now we are at the mercy of the Coal and Energy Commission, the entity that has overseen the virtual destruction of much of Southwestern Virginia with mountain top removal coal mining, including in Del. Kilgore’s own Scott County. Now they are looking at Southside and licking their chops over the proposed uranium mine and mill. They finally have the money they need to set in motion a “study” of that mining that can only reach one logical conclusion, that uranium can in fact be mined safely with certain regulations in place — regulations that would be written with a large portion of help from the mining industry itself.

We don’t have to look far to see what a dismal record the mining conglomerates have regarding the environment and public safety. If they will allow the mountains of Southwest Virginia to be destroyed and the toxic waste products bulldozed into the streams and rivers of that part of the state, why would they care about what happens to Southside?

VUI paying for this “study” and the uranium industry crafting the regulations is akin to handing a 3-year-old a shotgun at the family reunion. Someone is likely to get hurt. In this case, what VUI is planning (“away from everything”) as Del. Kilgore claims in his ignorance of geography, a great many people stand to suffer, both near the proposed mine site and as far away as Virginia Beach. Obviously no one is paying much attention to the folks living within a mile, or five miles or 50 miles of Coles Hill.

If Coles is willing to destroy his own home and the land his family has owned for hundreds of years, it is foolishness to imagine that he or the Canadian mining conglomerate he sold out to would give even a passing thought to what might happen to the rest of us. This will not be the hometown business VUI has claimed it would be.

The Canadian speculators who would destroy Pittsylvania County do not care one way or another. To them, the people on the periphery are simply expendable.

And so it will be interesting indeed to see how this greatly anticipated and heavily burdened “study” will turn out now that we know who is putting up the big bucks. It is also interesting that the National Academy of Sciences has yet to agree to anything concerning uranium mining in Virginia.

But as Del. Kilgore said, “We’re hoping to get everything signed, sealed and delivered on the scientific, technical study.” That is exactly right — signed, sealed and delivered straight to VUI’s mailbox.

JESSE PYRANT ANDREWS

Halifax

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/danville_letters/article/writer_vui_cares_nothing_about_us/14040/

State study? State money

By Katie Whitehead
Published: September 20, 2009

The Virginia General Assembly’s failure to secure state and other non-industry funding is jeopardizing the credibility — and perhaps the execution — of its proposed uranium mining studies. A study paid for by Virginia Uranium Inc. does nothing to avoid the appearance of influence.

After a uranium mining study bill failed in the General Assembly last year, the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission, chaired by Del. Terry Kilgore, voted in November to initiate its own uranium studies. The commission enlisted the assistance of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research, headed by Dr. Michael Karmis, a mining engineer. Kilgore appointed a Uranium Mining Subcommittee with Del. Lee Ware as chairman.

The subcommittee should question not just whether uranium mining and milling might be done safely, but also whether introducing this stigmatized industry into our communities is a good idea. Even if uranium can be mined safely under certain conditions, it still might not be an industry we want in Virginia.

In spring meetings, the subcommittee focused on defining a technical study that it wants the National Research Council of The National Academies to undertake. (The National Research Council is the staffing organization for the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine.)

The subcommittee postponed discussion of a separate socioeconomic study, arguably the more important of the two studies. Kilgore recently wrote to NRC to request the technical study.

As proposed, the technical study will attempt to address the safety question by gathering available evidence regarding whether uranium mining, milling and tailings storage are being done safely elsewhere under conditions comparable to those in Virginia. The socioeconomic study has yet to be defined, funded or negotiated with any research organization. It should address the desirability question by providing real-life evidence about how introducing the uranium industry affects the long-term health, economic well-being and quality of life in communities. Currently, the commission’s failure to secure state and other non-industry funding is jeopardizing both studies.

In the absence of other funding, VUI has offered to pay the entire cost of the technical study (estimated $1.2 million to $1.4 million). The funds would be contributed to the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research, which would then pass them on to NRC. This indirectness may conform to the written policy of NRC and reduce the appearance of influence to some eyes, but it does nothing to change the fact that an interested party — a private, for-profit corporation with something to gain from the results of the study — is paying NRC for it. It’s not a pretty picture.

Many people have assumed that NRC will definitely do the technical study. NRC has expressed interest in the study and, according to its policy, may accept the proposed funding. Will NRC in fact accept?

The group that will decide is the National Research Council Governing Board, which is responsible for safeguarding the unique reputation of NRC for independent, unbiased scientific research. The members of the governing board will have to determine whether accepting 100 percent of the funding — however indirectly — from a uranium mining company is consistent with that responsibility. We don’t know how they will weigh the fact that no one other than a uranium company has demonstrated support for the study by offering funding.

No one knows how the governing board will ultimately respond to Kilgore’s request. They’ve not officially discussed it, much less made a decision.

One might argue that the National Research Council is beyond reproach and that one needn’t care who pays NRC to do a study — that one can be sure NRC will be objective and independent regardless. NRC has a hard-earned reputation for thoughtful, thorough, independent, unbiased research. This reputation depends not only on avoiding actual influence by parties that might profit from NRC study results, but also on avoiding even the appearance of such influence.

If an unbiased assessment of the safety and the desirability of uranium mining is of value to the commonwealth, then the commonwealth should be willing to pay for it, at least in significant part. The commission should request funding from the legislature to pay the majority — if not all — of the cost of both the technical study and the socioeconomic study. Securing public financial support would confirm that Virginians want this research, ensure that both studies go forward and increase confidence that the studies will fairly evaluate all available evidence.

* Whitehead lives in Pittsylvania County and chairs the Dan River Basin Association Mining Task Force. Contact her at mkwhitehead@yahoo.com

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/opinion/community_voices/article/state_study_state_money/13996/

It’s No Big Deal Who Pays For Uranium Mining Study [HUH??]

Apparently the News & Advance has not seen the report on the rampant conflicts of interest within the NAS. We'll be sending it to the editor. Apparently the News & Advance doesn't care about neutrality, even when it comes tosomething as dangerous as uranium mining, something that's never been done safely anywhere in the world to date. Apparently the uranium industry owns Lynchburg and the News & Advance. In our opinion, the News & Advance has done a great disservice to its readers and to everyone who will be adversely affected by uranium mining throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Please know that Coles Hill, in Pittsylvania Co., will not be Virginia's only uranium mine...it will just be the first. A map of the uranium deposits in VA is at the top of this post. The link to the report about the lack of neutrality within the NAS is here: http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/nasreport.pdf and here: http://sccagainsturanium.blogspot.com/2009/09/ensuring-independence-and-objectivity.html

The News & Advance
Published: September 13, 2009

The story from Danville last week about Virginia Uranium Inc. agreeing to pay for a state study on the safety of mining uranium near Chatham has raised some questions. And rightly so.

Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Gate Ctiy and chairman of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission, said Virginia Uranium will pay for the study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to determine whether uranium can be mined safely in Virginia.

But doesn’t that create the potential for a conflict of interest — even the perception of a conflict? Can the firm that wants to mine uranium get the best safety study that money will buy?

The answer to the first question is yes. The answer to the second question is not really.

Kilgore himself acknowledged the concerns about VUI backing the study financially, but he quickly added that the National Academy of Science’s research abilities are “great.”

While it would be more appropriate for the coal and energy commission or some other state agency that doesn’t have a vested interest in the outcome of the study to put up the money for it, a Virginia Tech department will coordinate funding and will contract with NAS for the study. Virginia Tech’s Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research will coordinate the study’s first phase on the technical and public safety aspects of mining uranium.

The study is expected to cost between $1.2 million and $1.4 million and could begin by the end of this year.

VUI seeks to mine and mill a 119 million pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham. Walter Coles Sr., VUI chairman, has said he expressed willingness to provide funding for the study since the beginning of the mining proposal.

Mining opponents have questioned the credibility of a study paid for with VUI money and one even went so far last week as to brand NAS as being pro-nuclear.

A spokeswoman for NAS responded that the agency is perfectly capable of performing unbiased studies without regard to who is paying for them. Jennifer Walsh said the academy has performed unbiased, federal level studies in the past involving the tobacco and cell phone industries.

When an industry pays for a study, she said, the NAS usually works with a third organization that provides funding on behalf of a company or industry.

“We would not work directly with them (VUI),” Walsh said. “We would only got to them with questions and concerns. They would have no say-so in the study.”

Walsh added that information-gathering meetings involved in the study would be open to the public and posted on the NAS Web site ahead of time.

The public, then, can follow the progress of the uranium mining safety study, just as it can any other studies being conducted by the agency.

The National Academy of Sciences is a well-respected agency whose expert scientific studies have held up as being as solid as they come. That reputation outweighs the concerns raised about where the money is coming from for the study. And that reputation is not for sale to the highest bidder — not even the owner of Virginia Uranium Inc.

http://www2.newsadvance.com/lna/news/opinion/editorials/article/its_no_big_deal_who_pays_for_uranium_mining_study/19413/

A comment on outrageous doings

Bless you, Mr. Dixon...and thanks!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Chatham Star-Tribune

With the news that Virginia Uranium will pay for a study to determine the future of uranium mining in Virginia, this very major issue now moves into the realm of the absurd.

The acquiescence of the government of the commonwealth to this situation is stunning in its stupidity and bald-faced corruption.

Our elected officials have shown little judgment and even less common sense in this decision. The fate of their careers as elected officials must be in doubt.

Every state-wide representative who did not stand up to oppose this corrupt bargain has abrogated his responsibility as a guardian of the people's interest. They are unworthy of our votes and have earned our collective disdain.

I am sure the National Academy of Science is indeed a "neutral" organization through which to conduct this study, bought and paid (quiet literally) by our Canadian friends and their cadre of wealthy local and foreign investors.

The scientists at Virginia Tech would never think of the opportunity to use Pittsylvania County as a laboratory and its citizens as guinea pigs in their investigations of the affects of uranium mining on the environment east of the Mississippi.

They are responsible individuals first, and scientists second. In fact, this new relationship could be the beginning of several new National Academy/Virginia Tech studies.

Let's see what else they could do. Here's one: "The Feasibility of Bank Bailouts as a Means of Helping the Economy."

That one would be paid for by Wachovia and Bank of America. I wonder what the National Academy of Science would find?

Here's another: "The Positive or Negative Effects of Socialism in America."

That one would be funded by the American Communist Party. I am sure the folks at Virginia Tech will come up with a fair and balanced conclusion.

Finally, in the area of sports we have, "Steroids: Good or Bad for Baseball?" This one has the financial backing of Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds.

I am on tenterhooks awaiting that conclusion.

Pardon my sarcasm, but I fear the deck is stacked against Pittsylvania County. Is this the sad fate that must play out over the next two decades?

The "study" will conclude that uranium mining is safe "under certain circumstances."

The fine print of the extreme conditional approval will be ignored by the uranium industry and they will embrace the study as definite "scientific" proof that all is well.

Mining regulations will move swiftly through the hapless House of Delegates; mining will begin with a flourish of heady pronouncements about employment and the economic prosperity that is headed our way.

Blasting activity will begin; tailing ponds will be dug; all will move quickly forward. Then, somewhere down the line, there will be an economic (price of uranium falls) or environmental (water ruined) catastrophe.

Government and uranium industry officials will throw up their hands and declare that no one could have foreseen this (remember Katrina?), and they are not to blame.

The mines will close; the investors will go silent and Virginia Uranium will creep back to its Canadian homeland.

By that time, the people of Virginia will be left to tend the mess that Virginia Uranium began: the two 800-foot holes in the ground; the ruined landscape, poisoned water and contaminated air.

Unemployment will rise, now that tobacco and non-mining businesses have long left the area. Taxes will rise; land values will fall.

The National Academy will assert the fine print of its study (i.e. that mining probably could not be done successfully) and the scientists at Virginia Tech will have their laboratory and guinea pigs just down the road from them in Pittsylvania County.

My father used to say that if you can't pay for something, you can't buy it. If the Commonwealth of Virginia cannot pay for a study, they should not have one.

Virginia Uranium is a biased funder; the conflict of interest is so apparent that it is embarrassing for a private citizen to have to point this out to officials who should know better.

If Virginia cannot pay now for a study of this sort, how are they going to pay for the regulation and upkeep of the area once mining begins? Where will that money come from?

Until these basic questions are answered completely, all citizens of good faith must remain opposed to any study of any kind paid for by the very people who profit from its slanted outcome.

We shall and must regard the findings of this tainted study, and the people who support it, with a cynical and suspicious eye.

Richard Dixon

Chatham

http://www.wpcva.com/articles/2009/09/09/chatham/opinion/opinion05.txt

Richmond drops the ball, not the cash

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: September 8, 2009

Virginia’s study of uranium mining finally has the funding it needs to move forward, thanks to the only entity that ever offered to pay for it.

Virginia Uranium Inc. Chairman Walter Coles Sr. long ago said his company would pay for the state study. With the commonwealth unwilling to fund the study and no one else waving their checkbook around, VUI money was the only way to move this issue forward.

In a better world, the state government should have paid for the study. The state’s moratorium keeps VUI from mining what’s believed to be the largest untapped uranium deposit in the United States. If the study sways the General Assembly to lift the moratorium, it will be state agencies that will assume part of the responsibility for writing mining and milling regulations and ensuring that they’re enforced.

But most of all, it was in the state’s interest to allow the National Academy of Sciences to do its work without mining opponents from accusing the NAS of somehow being in the pocket of Virginia Uranium Inc.

That argument is a slap in the face of the scientists, researchers and others who will be involved in this project. It will no doubt plan a fertile seed of future debate, doubt and consternation. The state has done a cheap and foolish thing.

Compounding the problem is the NAS study probably won’t be a slam-dunk for either side. Both camps are likely to complain that certain things weren’t checked out by the National Academy of Sciences or that certain people weren’t interviewed or that certain places weren’t visited.

Even conditional conclusions — if this is done, then that will happen — are likely to be scrutinized right down to the syllable.

Given the stakes for both sides, we could be looking at years of argument that doesn’t convince anybody of anything — including majorities of the House of Delegates and state Senate.

Additionally, many local people supported an outside study of uranium mining and milling and are counting on the study’s results to inform their final choice on the matter.

For its part, an NAS spokeswoman said her agency doesn’t have direct contact with the companies it studies.

“We would not work directly with them (VUI),” Jennifer Walsh said. “We would only go to them with questions and concerns. They would have no say-so in the study.”

Is that the end of it? Probably not. Should it be the end of it? Probably so. But the problem could have been avoided if the state of Virginia didn’t saddle the National Academy of Sciences with this controversy.

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/opinion/editorials/danville_editorials/article/richmond_drops_the_ball_not_the_cash/13689/

National Academy of Sciences responds to uranium criticism

By John Crane

Published: September 3, 2009

A spokeswoman for the National Academy of Sciences responded Thursday to criticism from uranium-mining opponents that the academy is pro-nuclear.

Mining foes also say that a study performed by the NAS and paid for by Virginia Uranium Inc. would tilt in favor of uranium-mining.

The NAS has not received a formal request to conduct a study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in the commonwealth, said Jennifer Walsh, spokeswoman for the NAS.

But Walsh said the academy has performed unbiased, federal-level studies in the past involving the tobacco and cell-phone industries. When an industry pays for a study, the NAS usually works with a third organization that provides funding on behalf of a company or industry, she said.

"We would not work directly with them (VUI)," Walsh said Thursday. "We would only go to them with questions and concerns. They would have no say-so in the study."

VUI seeks to mine and mill a 119-million pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chat-ham.

Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-1st District and chairman of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission, said Wednesday VUI will pay for the state study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in the state. Kilgore said he will send a letter to the NAS to let offi-cials there know VUI will fund the study. So far, VUI is the sole entity that has expressed interest in paying for the study.

Virginia Tech's Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research will imple me nt funding and will contract with the NAS for the study.

Attempts to contact Michael Karmis, head of the VCCER, were unsuccessful Thursday.

The study's first portion, which will examine the technical and public-safety aspects of mining and milling, will cost between $1.2-$1.4 million, Kilgore said. The study's first phase should begin by the end of the year.

Mining opponents say a study paid for with VUI money will not be objective.

Walsh said an executive committee of the NAS governing board would review a study proposal, its budget and work plan — a process that could take weeks or months. If a study is approved, staff from the NAS and the National Research Council would assemble a committee of scientific experts who will hold information-gathering meetings on the study. The meetings are open to the public and posted on the NAS Web site ahead of time at http://www.national -academies. org.

Members of the public can follow the progress of the academy's studies by going to the Web site and clicking on the "current projects" link. To learn more about the NAS study process, go to the "National Academies study process" link.

The study's second part would focus on mining's socio-economic impact, including effects on real-estate values and businesses. The VCEC will seek another institution, such as George Mason University or James Madison University , to perform the second portion of the study. Kilgore said he is looking at foundations to pay for the second phase, which would not be funded by VUI. The study's second portion would probably begin in early 2010.

http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/national_academy_of_sciences_responds_to_uranium_criticism/13662/

NRC supports nuclear engineering at Virginia Tech

How conVEEE nyent...Va Tech's getting money from the NRC for nuclear engineering while supplying faculty and students to do who-knows-what-all at Coles Hill. It's also going to handle the money from VUI to the NAS in some odd effort to effect some semblance of integrity in the conflict-ridden study and payer system that's been worked out. I'm not sure I've seen anything quite this incestuous in a long, long time. Virginia, it's past time to wake the hell up!

Blacksburg, Va. -- Virginia Tech's nuclear engineering program will receive $450,000 for faculty development and $399,948 for fellowships from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

The NRC awarded nearly $20 million to 70 institutions to boost nuclear education and expand the workforce in nuclear and nuclear-related disciplines. Congress provided the NRC funding for a $5 million educational curriculum program and an additional $15 million to supplement the NRC's grant program for scholarships and fellowships, faculty development, trade schools, and community colleges.

"As directed by the Congress, this funding provides broad benefits to the nuclear sector rather than solely benefitting the NRC. These grants help develop a workforce capable of the design, construction, operation and regulation of nuclear facilities and the safe handling of nuclear materials," said NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko. "This year the agency expanded the number of institutions receiving grants from 60 to 70, and increased the number of grants to minority serving institutions by 67 percent."

Virginia Tech revived its nuclear engineering program in 2007, offering graduate coursework that leads to a graduate certificate in nuclear engineering. Final approval of the graduate certificate is pending. Development of a master's and Ph.D. in nuclear engineering is in progress. In addition, an undergraduate certificate in nuclear engineering is currently available and a minor in nuclear engineering is in preparation.

"With the critical demand for energy by our nation and the world, we were pleased to revive our concentration on nuclear engineering," said Richard C. Benson, dean of Virginia Tech's College of Engineering. "We have strong relationships with a number of industrial and government entities, including AREVA, NP, Inc., the Babcock and Wilcox Company, Dominion Resources, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the American Nuclear Society, and the Department of Energy, that have shown support for our nuclear engineering program. I believe educating our very bright students in this area will be beneficial to them and to society."

Leading the effort in ME are two faculty members, Mark Pierson and Eugene Brown. Pierson was formerly on the staff of the director of naval reactors, a joint Department of Defense/Department of Energy organization founded by Admiral Hyman Rickover. Pierson was responsible for operational and maintenance input for all SW5 naval nuclear reactors and shipboard radiological controls. In 1992 he was named executive officer, second-in-command, of the USS Indianapolis SSN 697, a fast attack submarine.

From 1994 until 1997 Pierson served as the submarine maintenance program officer for the director of submarine warfare on the chief of naval operations staff at the Pentagon. In 1998 he was named deputy department head of the engineering, materials, and physical sciences department, and program officer for nuclear ballistic missile submarine security, for the Office of Naval Research. He retired from the U.S. Navy in 2001 and enrolled at Virginia Tech to earn his doctoral degree in mathematics. http://www.me.vt.edu/people/faculty/pierson.html

"Our long term vision is to create an interdisciplinary program in nuclear science and engineering," said Ken Ball, head of the ME department, who also has expertise in nuclear materials and engineering. "Our program would encompass the nuclear sciences and medicine as well as nuclear engineering and reach across three Virginia Tech colleges."

###

The NRC announcement is here: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2009/09-140.html

Flag this message Virginia Uranium Inc. will pay for mining study

What a sad day this is! Virginia has been sold down the river by a handful of greedy bastards. I hope someone will involve the Union of Concerned Scientists to provide oversight and report on any irregularity, no matter how small, to the people as proof positive of the folly of letting the foxes mingle with they call the chickens but which have no feathers.

By John Crane

Published: September 2, 2009

The chairman of the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission says Virginia Uranium Inc. will pay for the state study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in the commonwealth.

Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-1st District and chairman of the VCEC, said he will send a letter to the National Academy of Sciences to let officials there know VUI will fund the study.

Kilgore said he understands concerns about VUI financially backing the study, but the NAS’s research abilities are “great.”

“I think they will come out with a good study, a thorough study,” Kilgore said Wednes-day.

So far, the sole entity that has expressed willingness to pay for the study is VUI.

“It looks like that’s our only option,” Kilgore said.

The study’s first portion, which will examine the technical and public-safety aspects of mining and milling, will cost between $1.2-$1.4 million, Kilgore said. Virginia Tech’s Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research will implement funding and will contract with the NAS for the study. The study’s first phase should begin by the end of the year, Kilgore said.

VUI seeks to mine and mill a 119-million pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham. Walter Coles Sr., VUI chairman, said he has expressed willingness to provide funding for the study since the beginning, but has not spoken to Kilgore.

“We’ve had this offer on the table since day one,” Coles said, adding that he hopes the VCEC will continue to look for other funding sources.

Mining opponents say a study paid for with VUI money will not be objective.

“It certainly reduces the credibility of the study in a hurry,” said Eloise Nenon, a founding member of Southside Concerned Citizens. Nenon said the NAS is known to be pro-nuclear.

“The study is going to be tainted by the money,” said Jack Dunavant, SCC chairman. “We know [sic] this would happen all along.”

The study’s second part would focus on mining’s socio-economic impact, including effects on real-estate values and businesses, Kilgore said. The VCEC will seek another institution, such as George Mason University or James Madison University, to perform the second portion of the study. Kilgore said the second phase would probably begin in early 2010.

The scope of the study’s first phase includes, among additional items, examination of public-safety and health impact of uranium mining and milling; review of the geologic, environmental, geographic, climatic and cultural settings and exploration status of uranium resources in Virginia; identification and description of the main types of uranium deposits worldwide, including, for example, geologic characteristics, mining opera-tions and best practices; a review of global and national uranium market trends; a review of the state and federal regulatory framework for uranium mining, milling, processing and reclamation; identification of the issues that may need to be considered regarding the quality and quantity of groundwater and surface water and the quality of soil and air from uranium mining, milling, processing and reclamation; as relevant, water and waste management and severe weather effects or other stochastic events may also be considered.

http://www2.godanriver.com:80/gdr/news/local/danville_news/article/virginia_uranium_inc._will_pay_for_mining_study/13632/