NEW DELHI: Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) plans to commission a comprehensive study next year to assess the health impact of uranium mining on communities living around its Jharkhand operations.
In a conversation with TNIE, K Ananda Rao, CMD, UCIL, said the study aims to address long-standing concerns and claims linking mining to radiation-related health risks. UCIL is in talks with institutions such as Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital (TMH), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), with expertise in radiation and public health, to undertake the assessment.
"There is a myth that the areas surrounding people are affected by cancer or skin disease, which will be busted," said K Ananda Rao, Chairman and Managing Director, UCIL. He cited a previous study done by TISS and other scientific studies which do not show any connection between uranium mining and disease among communities.
UCIL is currently handling 8 uranium mines in the country. Seven are in Jharkhand's East Singhbhum district, and one UCIL mine is in Andhra Pradesh.
UCIL's target is to double the production of uranium by 2036. However, UCIL has not released figures, citing strategic constraints.
Currently, India produces 8.78 GW of electricity with the help of uranium; out of this, 2.4 GW is produced through indigenous uranium.
"The upcoming mine in Rohil (Rajasthan), which is a greenfield mine, recycling of copper waste to extract uranium in Mosabani in Jharkhand, and expansions of existing mines will lead to double production," said Rao. UCIL has been celebrating 60 years of its establishment with the theme: Uranium - Leading the Way and launched a new logo.
India's uranium reserves are too low in comparison to Canada, Australia, and Kazakhstan. So India has achieved this year a technology: a prototype fast breeder reactor where thorium is being used as fuel, which is abundant in India.
"We reached the criticality stage this year, and this is the beginning of the second-phase reactor where thorium will be used, and our dependency on scarce material uranium will be reduced," said Rao.
Rao expressed gratitude to the father of Nuclear Energy, Homi J. Bhabha, who laid out the master plan for the three-stage nuclear energy programme. At the third stage, India will be free of the requirement of uranium for energy.
