After years, finally there appears to be some movement in operationalising the Domiasiat uranium mine in Meghalaya with Chief Minister D D Lapang setting up an all-party committee to find out an amicable solution to the controversial issue.
Second best reserve
The mine in the West Khasi Hills district is India’s second best uranium reserve after Jadugoda in Jharkhand. But the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd’s (UCIL) long-standing plan to mine the radioactive mineral in Domiasiat has not been successful so far due to stiff opposition from the voluntary organisations and Left minded activists.
All party committee
“We are for an amicable solution to the uranium mining issue. An all-party committee, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, is taking into account all aspects of the project,” Lapang said here on Friday. Since Domiasiat is an open cast mine, the opposition from political and student leaders stems from apprehensions about radioactivity though the department of atomic energy officials are trying to dispel the fears. Two months back, a Meghalaya minister has informed the assembly that according to a Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) report, the mining would not have any public health impact. 
BARC Report
The BARC report, received by the state government recently, indicated that at the estimated dose of 0.02 milli-Sievert radiation per year in the immediate vicinity, no undesirable health impact is expected.
Operationalisation
In its long term planning, the DAE depended heavily on the operationalisation of the mine to sustain the indigenous light water reactors. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) runs 17 nuclear reactors and indigenous uranium is the fuel source for 15.
Three more 220 MW reactors are expected to be connected to the grid within the next one year and the government plans to come up with eight nuclear reactors during the 11th plan. This will further fuel the uranium demand.
Though most of the nuclear power plants are running below their capacity level, the DAE hopes to tide over this problem when a second mine and a new processing mill in Jharkhand will become operational. According to DAE estimates, Indian uranium reserve is estimated to be approximately 78,000 tonnes, which can sustain only 10,000 MW of installed capacity.