The uranium sub-committee of the Virginia Commission on Coal and Energy on Tuesday scheduled the meeting with the chairman of the National Academy of Sciences panel that will present the report. It will not include a recommended course of action for legislators.

Paul A. Locke, the chairman of the study, is an environmental health scientist, an attorney and an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University. He will discuss the report with committee members and take questions.

The $1.4 million report was financed by Virginia Uranium Inc., which wants to mine a 119-million-pound deposit in Pittsylvania County. It is believed to be the richest known uranium deposit in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world.

If Virginia ends the moratorium, it would be the first East Coast state to mine the ore, although some uranium has been mined as a byproduct of other mining.

The NAS study assessed the statewide consequences of uranium mining based on 12 lines of inquiry, including mining's impact on public health and the environment and the geological aspects of uranium deposits in Virginia. Members held public meetings and visited Colorado and Canada to get a first-hand look at uranium mining and milling.

The committee's membership reflects a wide range of experts, including mining, environmental studies, public health, geology and nuclear power.

Sen. John C. Watkins, R-Powhatan and a member of the uranium sub-committee, said he will particularly be interested in what the study says about public safety and uranium mining. "To me, that's the key," he said.

Watkins, who was a freshman delegate in the General Assembly when a 1982 moratorium was placed on uranium mining, said if he is satisfied it can be done safely, the General Assembly would have to end the ban then begin the process of having various state agencies draw up a regulatory framework.

"It will probably take a significant amount of time. I think you're talking about years," he said.

The NAS committee's report will not be the final say on the issue, nor is it the first. A state-commissioned study released in late November looked at the socio-economic impacts of mining and concluded the Chatham mine and milling operation could generate hundreds of jobs and billions of dollars over the life of the mine. At least two more studies will examine those aspects of uranium mining in an economically depressed region of the state.

Virginia Uranium has predicted a 35-year lifespan for the mine.

Mining opponents fear uranium mining and milling — the separation of ore from rock — will threaten water supplies as far away as Virginia Beach, approximately 200 miles east of the deposit.

Keep the Ban, a coalition of communities, environmental groups and the Virginia NAACP, wants to keep the ban in place.

Virginia Uranium contends the mining can be done safely.

While both sides have pointed to the NAS study as the most definitive, it is not likely to end the debate. Some critics have said Virginia Uranium's funding taints the report, and others stress its findings will not be site-specific to the so-called Coles Hill deposit.

Locke stressed earlier this year that all 15 members work without compensation and each is committed to providing "independent scientific advice."

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Online:

National Academy of Science: http://www.nationalacademies.org/

Virginia Uranium Inc.: http://www.nationalacademies.org/