Today, a member of the committee expressed his own views about mining the radioactive metal:”I don’t see how we can do it,” said Peter DeFur, a research associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. “I hope we don’t.”

DeFur made his comments during a symposium on uranium mining at Virginia Western Community College.

As a part of a 14-member committee that spent nearly two years researching the topic, DeFur stressed that he was speaking for himself and not the National Academy of Sciences. He said he became free to do that only after June 1, when the committee ended its service.

Uranium mining has been a hot topic in Virginia ever since a mining company announced plans three years ago to tap a huge deposit that lies below rolling cow pastures in Pittsylvania County.

While critics worry about water contamination from the mining and milling operation, supporters say that it will provide a major source of fuel for power-generating nuclear reactors while allowing the United States to become more energy independent.

Concerns about the safety of uranium mining prompted the General Assembly to impose the moratorium 30 years ago.

With lawmakers now being asked to revisit the issue, the National Academy of Sciences study is expected to play a key role in the debate.

In a report issued last December, the academy said Virginia would face “steep hurdles” in protecting the health of its people and environment if the moratorium was lifted.

But the report made no up-or-down recommendation to the General Assembly.

At today’s symposium, DeFur made his first public comments on the issue. His concerns, he said, are based in part on recent natural disasters in Virginia – an earthquake, tornadoes, a derecho – and how they might disturb radioactive waste that would be left behind at the mining operation.