Council continues concerns with uranium study funding

Officials with the National Research Council have concerns about Virginia Uranium Inc.’s proposal to provide “incremental funding” for the study to determine whether uranium can be mined and milled safely in the commonwealth.

Anthony R. de Souza, director of the NRC’s Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, alluded to the NRC’s Governing Board Executive Committee’s concerns in a Nov. 23 letter to Michael E. Karmis, director of the Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research at Virginia Tech.

But VUI Chairman Walter Coles Sr. said Friday the company would do whatever it takes to get the study going and would propose setting up an escrow account to pay for the $1.4 million study.

“Virginia Tech would draw on it as they need it,” Coles said, adding that VUI is able to pay for the study.

VUI seeks to mine and mill a 119-million pound uranium ore deposit at Coles Hill, about six miles northeast of Chatham. Virginia has had a moratorium on uranium mining since 1982.

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. The Center for Coal and Energy Research would handle the money and contract with the NAS for the study, while the General Assembly’s Coal and Energy Commission would be the study’s sponsor.

Messages left for Karmis on Thursday and Friday were not returned. Attempts to contact Delegate Terry Kilgore, head of the commission, have been unsuccessful.

Coles said he was pleased at the NRC’s approval of the study.

“We welcome it and we’re certainly excited about it,” he said.

However, the NRC said several issues must be addressed before the study proceeds, including “the requirement for independence of the NRC in carrying out the study” and “full transparency regarding the study’s funding.”

VUI would be transparent during the study process and respect the NRC’s independence, Coles said.

“We would take the high road and stay away from it,” he said. But if the NRC wants information from VUI, officials would be happy to participate, Coles added.
At least one uranium mining opponent says the study would not be fair.

“I seriously doubt it,” said Eloise Nenon, founding member of Southside Concerned Citizens, when asked if she believes the study would be objective.
The proposed study, Nenon said, “ignores the people, the communities, the traditions and our history. This is a very historic state.”

“You can do research to prove almost anything, if you want to,” Nenon said. “This would be paying for what VUI and the Canadians want, not what the people of Virginia want.”

The first part of the study, covering the technical aspects of uranium mining and milling, cannot be the final say on whether uranium mining and milling can take place, Nenon said. The second part, examining the socioeconomic factors, still must be worked out.

That study has not been funded or even finalized.

Katie Whitehead, chair of the Dan River Basin Association Mining Task Force, said the Virginia Coal and Energy Commission should ask the NRC to perform the socioeconomic study.

“The appropriate behavioral science division of the NRC may well be able to help us look at real-life examples of communities that have experienced the introduction of controversial and stigmatized industries and help us understand the socioeconomic implications of introducing uranium mining and milling in Virginia,” Whitehead said via e-mail Friday. 