‘Uranium mining vital for country’s power needs’

Shillong, August 23 (PTI): In a bid to meet the target of generating 20,000 MW of power from uranium by 2020, India is making a serious effort to roll out mining projects in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka at a rapid pace.
"To achieve the target, we need more uranium. Mining is on in Jharkhand, construction works have started in Andhra Pradesh and we are moving as scheduled in Karnataka," Cabinet Secretary and Chairman of Centre's Committee on Uranium Mining K M Chandrashekhar said on Saturday.
Experts fail to convince Meghalaya parties
He said there could be some problems in the proposed project in Meghalaya in the wake of apprehensions about health and environmental hazards and land issues but these would be addressed in due course of time.
"Meghalaya has the best quality of uranium in the country, and it could be a major source of the ore. We hope, we can start the project in the state, once we address the apprehensions," Chandrashekhar said.
The Cabinet Secretary and Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar yesterday made presentations to the all party committee on uranium mining, Chief Minister Donkupar Roy, opposing NGOs and other government officials about the benefits of the mining project and sought to allay the fears.
In the past one and a half decades since the explorator survey, done by Atomic Energy Department, confirmed high quality uranium deposits in West Khasi Hills region in Meghalaya, uncertainty still prevails over its mining.
According to estimates, Meghalaya's uranium can meet 16 per cent of the country's demand.
The Centre also plans to set up a nuclear power plant in Meghalaya, at a time when all the existing nuclear power plants in the country continue to run on low plant load factor of 50 per cent or below due to shortage of uranium, official sources said.

Experts fail to convince Meghalaya parties

The Telegraph
Shillong |  August 23
Union cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrashekar and Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar today failed to convince the all-party committee on uranium mining and non-governmental organisations in Meghalaya on the need to carry out uranium mining in the state.
The emissaries of the Prime Minister’s Office and experts of the Atomic Energy Commission held separate meetings with the all-party committee and the NGOs on uranium mining in West Khasi Hills district.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, both Chandrashekar and Kakodkar said they had received a mixed response. “Some support uranium mining, some are neutral and some oppose the project,” Chandrashekar said.
He said the Centre did not want to force anyone. “Ultimately, it is upto the government and the people to take a final decision as uranium mining is needed for the country’s energy requirement,” he added.
Kakodkar said the meeting aimed at providing as much information as possible about the merits of uranium mining. “We made it clear that radiation because of uranium mining would be minimal and there would be no health hazards. The land used for mining would be as clean as it was before excavation.”
Kakodkar said the Centre would continue to convince the government and the NGOs in the state on the need to carry out uranium mining.
Chief minister Donkupar Roy, who is also the chairman of the all-party committee, said after the meeting that mining health hazards were still a cause for concern.
“The experts of Atomic Energy Commission explained all aspects of uranium mining to us, but we are waiting for their comprehensive report as the issue of health hazards needs to addressed,” Roy said.
Deputy chief minister H.S. Lyngdoh from the Hill State Peoples Democratic Party said the commission had not been able to allay fears of radiation. “Unless they can protect the people from radiation, we will not be ready to carry out uranium mining. We cannot see people dying.”
The Khasi Students Union, the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People and the Hynniewtrep National Youth Front opposed the project during the meeting.
KSU leader Samuel Jyrwa said a majority of the people had opposed the project during a public hearing held in West Khasi Hills on June 12 last year.
“We have conveyed our message of cancelling the project to the Prime Minister through the Union cabinet secretary,” he added.
The white paper prepared by the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) states that the uranium mined from Mawthabah in West Khasi Hills of Meghalaya would be used to expand the country’s nuclear power capacity upto 20,000 MW by 2020.
Though the initial project was limited to Domiasiat, the UCIL has renamed the project as Kylleng-Pyndeng Sohiong uranium project, considering the vast deposits of uranium in the entire stretch from Wahkaji to Mawthabah villages in West Khasi Hills.
The government has proposed a Rs 1,000-crore project for mining uranium ore at Kylleng-Pyndeng Sohiong and processing it at Mawthabah.
A processing plant will also be set up at Mawthabah for production of magnesium-di-uranate, also known as yellow cake. It would be used by the nuclear fuel complex in Hyderabad to make fuel for the country’s atomic reactors.