A state panel voted today to study whether uranium can be safely mined in Virginia.

The Virginia Commission on Coal and Energy voted 12-0 for the study.

A state House of Delegates committee killed a study proposal in March. But the commission’s chairman, Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, said that panel is probably the best group to oversee a study.

Mining supporters say roughly $8 billion worth of uranium may lie underground in Pittsylvania County in south-central Virginia. They say mining it would help address America’s energy problems.

Opponents say mining could pollute waters, land and crops with radioactive waste.

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