Andhra Pradesh home to world’s largest uranium deposits?

Scientists have found massive uranium deposits at the mines in Tummalapalle in Andhra Pradesh, a site that has the potential to emerge as the largest reserve of the key nuclear fuel in the world.

“At today’s estimates, the uranium reserves are to the tune of 49,000 tonnes. We expect it to be three-fold of that,” atomic energy commission chairman Srikumar Banerjee said.

Earlier, the uranium reserves were estimated at around 15,000 tonnes before further exploration by the Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD), a department of the atomic energy entity.

“We expect the reserves to be much more and the site has the potential to become the world’s largest uranium reserve,” Banerjee said.

AMD scientists expect uranium deposits to occur over the entire length of the 160-km Tummalapalle belt with a depth consistency of 400 metres.