STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: In response to a question in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a consequent unit of Department of Atomic Energy, has established sizeable reserves/resources of Uranium and Thorium in the country. He further informed that as on date, AMD has established 2,14,158 tons of in-situ resources of uranium Oxide and 11.93 million tons of in-situ resources of monazite which contains about 1.07 million tons of thorium oxide.
In a detailed reply supported by figures and data, Dr Jitendra Singh said that as per Section-4 of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 (AEA), every person who discovers Uranium or Thorium at any place in India is bound to report about it to the Central Government or any other government authority within a period of three months of the discovery. He further informed that as per Rule-3 of the Atomic Energy Rules, 1984 (AER), no person shall do, without obtaining a license, mining or milling or processing and/or handling of any core mineral or other material from which any of the prescribed substances like Uranium or Thorium can be extracted.
Dr Jitendra also shared information that in the last one decade, Uranium resources across the world have increased by 25% because of the improved mineral exploration technology. He further informed that one of the most recent technologies used is called ‘Hallibourn Geo Physical Survey Technology’, in addition to exploratory instruments.
As for the different States of India where uranium and monazite reserves have been identified, Dr. Jitendra Singh said Andhra Pradesh tops the list with 93,232 tons of uranium oxide with Tummalapalle-Rachakuntapalle area in the State having the single largest deposit ever discovered so far in India. Next to Andhra Pradesh, the highest uranium reserves have been found in Telangana followed by Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh, and to a lesser extent in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra, he added.
He further said that the commercial use of these mineral deposits is controlled by the government and only two public sector units namely, Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. (UCIL) and Indian Rare-Earth Ltd. (IREL) are authorized to carry it out.
Dr Singh also informed the House that “Advance Heavy Water Reactor” made purely from indigenous means, in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” concept will be ready by 2016 and when it becomes functional, it will use thorium as core fuel.
Striking an optimistic note, Dr. Jitendra Singh informed the House that there may be more reserves of these materials waiting to be explored, but there are constraints in carrying out the work, which include problems of logistics, status of technology, local socio-economic situations, environmental aspects, scarcity of water, etc.
Dr. Singh also informed that India has signed with certain countries Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreements for peaceful use of nuclear energy. Notable among these are France, Russian Federation and Kazakhstan, he added.
