Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Aug 04, 2006
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Aug 04, 2006 |
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Non-conventional Energy Industry & Economy - Mining & Quarrying Government - Policy Pvt role likely in uranium mining Anil Sasi
Elusive element Centre planning nuclear capacity of 24,000 MW by 2020 1,00,000 tonnes needed to sustain nuclear energy programme New mining sites identified in Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh Possibility of tapping high-grade ore being envisaged Atomic Energy Act can allow pvt cos in peripheral activities
New Delhi , Aug. 3 The private sector could soon be allowed into the strategic area of uranium exploration work and mining. The Centre is planning to outsource these activities to private players with a view to stepping up uranium exploration in the country and finding larger, high-grade deposits. Initiated by the Department of Atomic Energy, the move to involve the private sector could initially be limited to areas such as data collection, utilisation of modern techniques and processing of uranium. Eventually, the private sector's role could be expanded to full-fledged exploration and mining, and even nuclear generation, Government sources said. The proposal to rope in the private sector comes in the wake of plans by the Centre to step up nuclear generating capacity to around 24,000 MW by 2020 from the existing installed capacity of 3,360 MW. So far, prospecting of uranium and other minerals required for the nuclear power programme is carried out by the Atomic Minerals Division (AMD), a unit of the Department of Atomic Energy, while uranium is mined and processed by Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL). According to official sources, the Atomic Energy Act, in its existing form, could allow private sector involvement in peripheral activities that supplement mining and exploration of uranium. India is estimated to have around 80,000 tonnes of uranium reserves. An estimated 1,00,000 tonnes of uranium would be required to sustain the nuclear energy programme in the near future. "It is possible that with the opening up of the sector, the required reserves could be explored within 4-5 years," said a Government official involved in the exercise. Also, the possibility of tapping high-grade ore with 10-12 per cent uranium, generally found at a depth of more than 1,000 m, is being envisaged if more players are allowed into the field, officials said. India currently extracts uranium from ores that contain less than one per cent of the element. Identification of a number of new uranium mining sites in States such as Meghalaya and Andhra Pradesh - including the Chitrial site in Nalgonda district where radioactivity is spread over an area of 50 sq km - has sparked off efforts to search for more such sites. Though the fructification of the Indo-US deal could make way for uranium imports, stepping up of domestic uranium exploration is likely to be a hedge in case of disruption in possible foreign supplies if and when foreign supplies commence, according to officials.
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