Virginia Tech is teaming with a company with Southwest Virginia ties on a project that could have far-reaching consequences in the field of nuclear energy.

The university and the Los Alamos, N.M.-based ADNA Corp. are expected to announce a memorandum of understanding today to construct a pilot facility to test technology to produce safer, less-costly and more-efficient nuclear energy.

The new design combines technology old and new -- but all proven to work -- including molten salt reactors tested in the 1960s and projects by ADNA founder and Roanoke native Charles Bowman that integrated accelerator technology into nuclear reactors in the 1990s.

"The components exist," Tech physics professor Bruce Vogelaar said. "What needs to happen is the integration of the systems and the demonstration that things work as anticipated. It's not a question of whether the technology, in principle, will work. The question is, 'Does it work as well as we anticipate?' "

If it does, the result will be nuclear power plants that produce more energy with less waste and don't result in the separation of plutonium from uranium during the process. Plutonium is a nuclear power byproduct that can be used to produce weapons. The production of it through the process of creating nuclear energy has been a point of contention in nuclear proliferation monitoring for years.

Virginia Tech has been involved with the Coles Hill project in Pittsylvania County for many years. I one graduate, Jim Jerden, completed his dissertation on the unique formation of the Coles Hill vein in 2001. This project shows that VT is intent on becoming the college that makes its mark with advances in nuclear technology.

This is a fine and commendable goal for this college. Colleges, just like businesses, must prove their worth before they can appeal to new students, federal funds and standing nationwide. And, this story also shows the importance of networking. Bowman, founder of ADNA (Accelerator Driven Neutron Applications) is a 1956 graduate from VT, and he's a native of Franklin County, Virginia.

The design phase of this new "demonstration" nuclear facility will take about two years - as long as it is supposed to take to test the drilling capacities at Coles Hill. Virginia is a "candidate for the location of the pilot plant." Other candidates include New Mexico, Tennessee and Nevada.

This group claims it has engineered the project to produce more energy with less waste in a process that does not separate plutonium from uranium during that process. Still, they do not address the dangers of uranium mining, nor does it address how to eliminate waste that now would include plutonium.

I'm open to hear any answers to those questions...