The Roanoke Times | File 2008

Workers perform exploratory drilling above the uranium deposit at Coles Hill near Chatham.

Residents near what is believed to be the nation's largest uranium deposit will be asked their views on what issues should be addressed in a study of the impact of mining the ore in Virginia.

A large turnout is expected Tuesday at Chatham High School at a 6 p.m. hearing scheduled by a subcommittee of the Virginia Commission on Coal and Energy. Chatham, a historic Southside town, is the Pittsylvania County seat.

"I would anticipate there would be hundreds of people," said Nancy Pool, president of the Chamber of Commerce in adjacent Halifax County.

The formation of a company called Virginia Uranium Inc. to explore the possibility of mining the ore on a 3,000-acre tract amid rolling farmland has sparked both support and opposition in the community.

Supporters of mining the deposit, worth an estimated $10 billion, see an opportunity to boost an economy ailing from the loss of tobacco and textile jobs.

Foes worry about dangers to health from air and water pollution.

Del. Lee Ware the Powhatan County Republican who chairs the subcommittee, stressed that the hearing won't be a forum on whether uranium should be mined. Comments will be limited to what should be included in the study that likely will be conducted by the National Academy of Sciences.

The Halifax chamber conducted its own research into uranium mining, and its recommendations mirror those of environmental and citizens groups who question whether the ore can be extracted and processed without contaminating the environment.

Pool said the chamber's board doesn't oppose a study of whether uranium can be mined safely in Virginia, but wants evidence that it has been done successfully in similar terrain and climate.

Uranium has never been mined on the East Coast, which has much more rainfall than the arid western states that have mine sites.

State Sen. John Watkins, a member of the subcommittee, said it would be nearly impossible to find mine sites that have geology and climate similar to Virginia's.

"Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean that it can't be," said Watkins, a Chesterfield County Republican who supports the use of nuclear energy and would like to see uranium mined in the state.

"We cannot continue to stick our heads in the sand and assume that the rest of the world is going to forever supply us with the natural resources to fuel our economy," he said.

The United States produces little of the 65 million pounds of uranium ore processed to produce nuclear power in the country each year. Most of the ore is mined in Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan.

Watkins and others who support mining agree with opponents that the environment and residents' health must be safeguarded. They believe that is possible.