Lok Sabha Question No. 2494 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-01
Subject: Thorium Reserves
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: VEENA DEVI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2494

TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.08.2018

## THORIUM RESERVES

## 2494.  SHRIMATI VEENA DEVI:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether shifting over to the use of thorium as a nuclear fuel is likely to help end the dependence on imports of atomic fuel;
- (b) if  so,  the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard; and
- (c) the  quantum  of  thorium  reserves  estimated  to  be  present  in  the  country  at present, State/UT-wise along with the extraction potential of the same, State/UTwise?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES & PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (Dr. JITENDRA SINGH) :

- (a) No, Madam.  Shifting over to the use of thorium as a nuclear fuel would not end the dependence on imports of nuclear fuel.
- (b) Imported  fuel  (natural  uranium)  contains  fissile  isotope  (Uranium-235),  which undergoes  nuclear  fission  in  a  reactor  to  produce  energy.  It  is  not  possible  to build  a  nuclear  reactor  using  thorium  (Thorium-232)  alone  due  to  its  physics characteristics. Thorium has to be converted to Uranium-233 in a reactor before it can be used as fuel. With this in view, a three-stage nuclear power programme, based on a closed nuclear fuel cycle has been chalked out to use thorium as a viable  and  sustainable  option,  right  at  the  inception  of  India's  nuclear  power programme.  The  three  stage  nuclear  power  programme  aims  to  multiply  the domestically  available  fissile  resource  through  the  use  of  natural  uranium  in Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors, followed by use of plutonium obtained from the spent fuel of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors in Fast Breeder Reactors. Large scale use of Thorium will subsequently follow making use of the Uranium233 that will be bred in Reactors. Efforts towards technology development and demonstration are being made now, so that a mature technology is available in time.

Steps  taken  by  Department  of  Atomic  Energy  for  the  utilisation  of  Thorium  in different types of reactors. Some important activities are mentioned below:

- i) Thorium Oxide (Thoria) pellets contained in bundles have been used in the initial  cores  of  our  operating  Pressurised  Heavy  Water  Reactors  (PHWRs) and valuable experience has been generated in operation and re-use of this irradiated  thorium  fuel.  Thoria  based  fuels  have  also  been  irradiated  in  the research  reactors  of  Bhabha  Atomic  Research  Centre  (BARC).  After  such irradiation  these  fuel  elements  have  been  examined  in  the  laboratories  at BARC, yielding excellent results.
2. ii) The  irradiated  thoria  pins  of  research  reactors  have  been  reprocessed  to obtain Uranium-233. The recovered Uranium-233 has been fabricated as fuel for  the  30  kW  (thermal)  Kalpakkam  Mini  Reactor  (KAMINI),  which  is  in operation at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam. This is the only reactor in the world operating with Uranium- 233 fuel.

- iii) Technologies for fabrication  of  Thoria  based  fuel  pellets,  carrying  Uranium233, have been established.
- iv) A Critical Facility  for  Advanced Heavy Water Reactor was commissioned in 2008 at BARC and is being used since then for carrying out experiments to further  validate  the  physics  design  features  of  Advanced  Heavy  Water Reactor (AHWR).
- (c) Thorium-bearing mineral monazite occurs in association with other Beach Sand Minerals (BSM)  such  as  ilmenite, rutile, zircon, garnet and  sillimanite in unconsolidated form along the coastal and inland placer sands of the country. Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a constituent unit  of  Department  of  Atomic  Energy  (DAE)  has  identified  and  evaluated  128 BSM deposits in the coastal beach placer sands in parts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha,  Andhra  Pradesh,  Maharashtra  and  Gujarat  and  in  the  inland  riverine placer sands in parts of Jharkhand and West Bengal.

The total resource of monazite contained in these 128 deposits is 12.467 million tonne (Mt). State-wise details of in situ monazite resource established by AMD (as on June, 2018) are given below.

| State          |   No. of deposits |   Resource (Million tonne) |
|----------------|-------------------|----------------------------|
| Odisha         |                10 |                      3.06  |
| Andhra Pradesh |                26 |                      3.69  |
| Tamil Nadu     |                51 |                      2.46  |
| Kerala         |                35 |                      1.84  |
| West Bengal    |                 1 |                      1.2   |
| Jharkhand      |                 1 |                      0.21  |
| Maharashtra    |                 3 |                      0.004 |
| Gujarat        |                 1 |                      0.003 |
| Total          |               128 |                     12.467 |

Monazite in these placer sands contains about 9-10% thorium oxide (ThO2). The monazite resource (12.47 million tonne) contains approximately 0.98 million tonne thorium  metal  (Th)  or  approximately  1.12  million  tonne thorium oxide (ThO2).

In India, Monazite available in beach sand is the main source of Thorium. Indian Rare  Earths  Limited  (IREL),  Orissa  Sands  Complex (OSCOM),  Odisha  has installed a 10,000 tons/ year Monazite Processing plant for production of Nuclear Grade Ammonium Di-urante (NGADU), Trisodium Phosphate (TSP), Rare Earth Chloride (RECL3)  along with 2,000 tons/year capacity of Thorium Oxalate.

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