According to an estimate of Uranium Corporation of India Limited, there could be 3,75,000 tonnes of uranium deposits in West Khasi Hill district of Meghalaya.
In a move which could bring cheer to the country's nuclear establishment grappling with shortage of uranium, the Meghalaya government has said it has no problem in mining for the mineral in the state provided the Centre takes care of health and environmental hazards resulting from radioactive emission from mines.
"Our main concern is health hazards to the people which may arise due to the uranium mining. If the Centre takes care of that, we have no problem in allowing uranium mining in our state," Meghalaya chief minister Donkupar Roy said.
According to an estimate of Uranium Corporation of India Limited, there could be 3,75,000 tonnes of uranium deposits in West Khasi Hill district of Meghalaya.
While exploratory mining was done more than one-and-a-half decades ago by the Department of Atomic Energy, the Rs 1,000-crore mining project is yet to start due to opposition from various individuals and organisations apprehensive of health and environmental hazards.
"We know the importance of uranium. But people have lots of apprehension about the possible health and environmental hazards resulting from mining. The Central government must take necessary steps to allay all apprehensions of local people," Roy said.
During his visit to Shillong last week, prime minister Manmohan Singh had said the Centre would ensure that there were no adverse effects before it goes ahead with the project.
"We will take effective measures to see that there are no adverse effects. We will ensure the mining project would benefit the state of Meghalaya," he had said.
Asked whether he would like to see a nuclear power plant come up in Meghalaya, Roy said he would welcome such a move.
"We have already written a letter to the Central government requesting them to set up a nuclear power plant in Meghalaya. But we have been informed that Meghalaya falls under Seismic Zone V (quake prone) and, therefore, it is not possible to set up such a plant in the state.
"We would like to see a nuclear power plant in the North-east. If not Meghalaya, why not in Assam?" Roy asked.
According to estimates, Meghalaya's uranium can meet up to 16 per cent of the country's demand. All existing nuclear power plants in the country continue to run on low plant load factor of 50 per cent or below due to uranium shortage.
The current installed capacity of nuclear power plants is 4,120 MW which is roughly three per cent of the total power generation in the country.
Uranium ore in Domiasat in West Khasi Hills district is of a better quality (0.085 per cent) than Jharkhand's Jadhuguda (0.06 per cent). The ore from Domiasat is very important to meet the 10,000 MW target through pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) technology.
Despite the difficult terrain, UCIL has the technology for open cast mining in Domiasat spread over three km and is committed to carrying out its mining activity safely, sources said.
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