Govt rubbishes reports of illegal export of thorium

The government on Wednesday rubbished reports that large quantities of thorium was being illegally exported threatening the nuclear power generation in the country.

"The information available in IAEA documents, about the national nuclear programme of different countries, does not give any indication that any country, other than India, is planning significant use of thorium either in the reactors currently under operations, or in those being considered for deployment in the near future. Hence it is unlikely that there is a demand overseas for a large quantities of thorium. The media reports, alleging illegal exports of huge quantities of thorium out of the country are not based on facts," said Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office (PMO), which looks after the Department of Atomic Energy, in a written response to Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

India practices a three-stage nuclear programme envisaged by Department of Atomic Energy's first chairman Dr Homi Bhabha. Since India does not have a high quality uranium, thorium could be used in the third stage, as India possess large reserves of the mineral.