Lok Sabha Question No. 1574 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-07-29
Subject: Tapping Uranium Reserves
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: GAURAV GOGOI, JYOTIRADITYA MADHAVRAO SCINDIA, SUKENDER REDDY GUTHA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1574

TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.07.2015

## TAPPING URANIUM RESERVES

1574.  SHRI GAURAV GOGOI: SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA: SHRI GUTHA SUKENDER REDDY:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  Nuclear  Power  Plants  are  presently  starved  because  of  nonavailability of uranium and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether there are large quantities of untapped reserves of uranium, estimated over  one  lakh  tonnes  in  the  States  of  Jharkhand,  Meghalaya,  Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Bihar;
- (c) if  so,  the  reasons  for  these  reserves  remained  untapped  and  instead  the Government is pursuing foreign sources;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  steps  to  tap/extract  the  uranium deposits of the above States; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) No, Sir.
- (b) Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) a constituent  unit  of  Department  of  Atomic  Energy(DAE),  has  established uranium  resources,  majority  of  which  are  located  in  the  states  of  Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Meghalaya and Rajasthan.  As of now, AMD has not established any substantial reserves in the States of Tamil Nadu and Bihar.
- (c) Mining technology and economics are the important criteria which decide the exploitation status of a deposit.  Based on these criteria, many of the small deposits are not amenable to mining at present.  In  addition,  constraints due

to  logistics,  present  status  of  technology,  socio-economic  considerations, environmental aspects, scarcity of water-resources etc., hinder the process of initiation of mining of some  of the deposits at Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana.

There  is  no  slackening  of  efforts  to  fully  tap  all  potentially  viable  uranium resources, Indian uranium resources alone, however, are not sufficient to meet the  requirements  of  all  the  current  reactors  and  those  planned  in  future.The Indian  reactors  under  International  Atomic  Energy  Agency  (IAEA)  safeguards are, therefore, been fuelled with imported uranium.

- (d)    Yes, Sir.
- (e)    Uranium  Corporation  of  India  Ltd.  (UCIL)  a  Public  Sector  Enterprise  under Department of Atomic Energy is engaged in mining and processing of uranium ore in the country.

The  Company  is  operating  seven  uranium  mines  and  two  process  plants  in Jharkhand.  Some  of  these  units  are  under  capacity  augmentation.  A  large underground mine and process plant at Tummalapalle in Andhra Pradesh has been  constructed  and  expected  to  start  production  soon.  In  addition,  a  new underground  mine  and  plant  at  Gogi  in  Karnataka,  open  pit  mine  at  Kylleng Pymdengsohiong  Mawathabah  (KPM)  in  Meghalaya,  one  open  pit  and  three underground mines at Lambapur in Telangana, and one uranium mining project in Sikar district of Rajasthan are in different stages of implementation.

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