To ensure that the country’s nuclear programme is not dependent on the implementation of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, the Government is investing heavily in uranium exploration, Anil Kakodkar, Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), said on Sunday.

“Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya and other regions are among those we are looking at for uranium exploration,” said Kakodkar.

Approximately Rs 700 crore is being invested in using the latest technology to explore multiple states for uranium, he said.

Kakodkar, who is also Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, refused to comment on the status of the nuclear deal, which is currently being debated by the UPA-Left Committee. The 15-member political panel, which met last week, will hold its next meeting on May 28.

“We have discussed this deal with other countries and with IAEA. Now the rest of the decision is not technical,” Kakodkar said at a function organised to commemorate National Technology Day at BARC here.

However, the deal would not be crucial if the investment in uranium exploration yielded returns, he said.
“We are making massive investment in uranium exploration and if we hit a huge find then the problem is over.” Kakodkar said currently the country has four uranium mines, all of which are located in Jharkhand.

However, nuclear power plants in the country have been reportedly functioning at half the capacity due to lack of uranium, a radioactive metallic chemical element used as a fuel in nuclear reactors.

Uranium plays a crucial role in India’s three-stage nuclear programme. Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) has proposed the setting up of mining and milling plants in two districts in Andhra Pradesh.
Further investments are also expected to be made in uranium processing in Jharkhand.


KALAM PRO-DEAL

Making a strong case for the Indo-US civil nuclear deal former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Sunday said the country is dependent heavily on nuclear power in the future for which it will need the uranium supplies that the pact will facilitate.

“We need the uranium supply and definitely the pact is important if we want to meet the target of nuclear energy’s contribution in the total energy production,” Kalam said at a function in the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Pokhran nuclear tests.