In the heart of the lush green forests of East Singhbhum district lies a sprawling mining complex at Narwapahad, home to one of India’s largest and deepest uranium mines.
After passing through several security gates, visitors enter a metal cage whose door shuts with a heavy thud. The descent lasts about two minutes before the lift stops 315 metres below the surface, within a shaft approximately 600 metres deep. The journey opens into a labyrinth of dimly lit tunnels, where miners work round the clock to extract uranium, a strategic mineral crucial to India’s nuclear energy ambitions.
The floors are wet, narrow rail tracks run through the tunnels, and pipelines carry water and air to support mining operations. Safety messages cover the walls, while lime markings guide visitors through the underground network. Further inside, the tunnels grow darker, and the physical exertion of walking through them becomes increasingly apparent. At an active mining site, a jumbo drill operates against a rough rock face. Workers wear protective equipment, while dosimeters measure their radiation exposure. Markings on the tunnel walls indicate where uranium ore may be present and where the rock is considered waste.
“Safety is our top priority,” says Manoj Singh, a seasoned employee of Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), who guides visitors through the safety procedures followed in uranium mining.
After walking more than a kilometre through the tunnels, visitors reach a site where a jumbo drill is in operation. Using water pressure, the machine marks out multiple square areas on a rough, chessboard-like rock face. Vivek Kumar Singh, a vehicle driver at the mine, wears a dosimeter — a small cylindrical device that measures radiation exposure — attached to his waist like an ID card. He also wears a surgical mask to protect himself from dust. The visit was among the first instances of members of the public, outside the government, being allowed into the tunnels to witness uranium mining and processing operations. It was part of the government’s initiative to allay public fears about radiation and convey the message that uranium can be mined and processed safely.
The aim is to help UCIL double uranium production by 2036 while building public confidence that mining operations do not pose unacceptable health risks to surrounding communities.
Sai Prasad Das, a 47-year-old engineer who has worked inside the mine for 18 years, reassures visitors about the measures in place to limit radiation exposure.
“I spend around eight to 10 hours a day inside the mine and undergo periodic check-ups every six months to a year. So far, my body has not shown any signs of radiation,” Das says.
After his shift, he takes a pithead bath, leaves his work clothes behind and changes into fresh clothes before going home. Drivers also undergo regular medical check-ups.
Dr Kacham Anand Rao, chairman and managing director of UCIL, has been working to dispel fears associated with uranium mining and processing.
“We follow world-class safety standards and protocols in both mining and processing,” he says.
To address public concerns, UCIL is also undertaking a study to determine whether uranium mining is associated with diseases such as cancer and skin disorders.
“There has been a strong negative public perception of uranium mining, but so far, there is no evidence,” Dr Rao says, rejecting claims that mining has exposed surrounding communities to radiation and caused related health problems.
While there have been local reports of cancer and skin diseases, he attributes these to other local conditions and lifestyle factors rather than UCIL’s mining activities.
UCIL plans to commission a comprehensive study on the impact of uranium mining on local communities, water and food sources. The study is expected to be entrusted to institutions with expertise in radiation research, such as the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital or the Indian Institutes of Technology.
At a nearby processing facility, visitors are shown how mined ore undergoes grinding, filtration and other treatment processes to produce a concentrated uranium compound resembling turmeric powder. The demonstration is intended to explain the process and familiarise visitors with a mineral whose strategic importance is often overshadowed by fears surrounding radioactivity.
Public acceptance holds the key
India currently operates eight uranium mines, seven in Jharkhand and one in Andhra Pradesh. The country plans to double uranium production by 2036, including through proposed mining operations at Rohil in Rajasthan and the recovery of uranium from copper-related waste at Mosabani in Jharkhand.
The expansion is driven partly by the relatively low concentration of uranium in domestic ore. Indian uranium ore generally contains between 0.03 and 0.1 per cent uranium, significantly lower than the concentrations found in uranium-rich deposits in countries such as Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan, where grades can be substantially higher.
India currently has 24 operational nuclear power reactors, with an installed capacity of about 8.78 GW. It has set a target of achieving 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047, making an expansion of fuel supplies and supporting infrastructure essential to its plans.
Yet some proposed mining projects have encountered sustained local opposition. Uranium deposits have been identified in Gogi in Karnataka and in Meghalaya, but concerns over radiation, environmental damage and public health have complicated efforts to move ahead.
On August 26, 2026, the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution opposing uranium mining and the establishment of processing facilities in the state. Residents of Gogi village in Karnataka’s Yadgir district have also protested against mining proposals.
Resistance is not confined to uranium extraction. In Madhya Pradesh, villagers in Rojhauhi and Sarai Kala reportedly halted site investigations for a proposed nuclear power project backed by Tata Power in October 2026, raising concerns about the environment, radioactive waste management, public consultation and local consent procedures.
Senior officials from the Department of Atomic Energy and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) have also identified community resistance as a significant barrier to the expansion of nuclear power.
Prasenjit Pal, senior adviser for nuclear energy at Bajaj Energy, said community support was essential for nuclear projects to proceed. “Regardless of the technology or exclusion zones established for nuclear units, without some form of local support and addressing community concerns, projects will falter,” he said at the 20th India Energy Summit.
Pal cited the extensive public outreach undertaken for a joint venture project in Banswara, Rajasthan, involving NTPC and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), as an example of efforts to reassure communities about safety.
The energy imperative
As the West Asian crisis shows no signs of easing, India is urgently seeking alternative energy sources. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited several uranium-rich countries to secure the nuclear fuel needed to strengthen the country’s energy security.
Nuclear energy is also crucial to India’s efforts to meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By increasing nuclear power capacity to 100 GW by 2047, India could potentially avoid an additional 300 million to 400 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, assuming nuclear power directly replaces coal-fired generation. In 2023 alone, India’s operational nuclear fleet prevented approximately 45 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
(The writer was at Jaduguda at the invitation of the Department of Atomic Energy)