Andhra CM to flag off uranium plant

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy will lay the foundation stone for the Rs 1,106 crore uranium mining and processing plant in Tummalapalle in Kadapa district tomorrow.

Proposed to be set up with a capacity of 3,000 tonne a day, the plant is scheduled to be operational in 36 months.

Tummalapalle in the Chief Minister's home constituency, Pulivendula, is the first of the two mining and processing plants proposed in the state. The second project with an almost equal investment by Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) has been proposed in Nalgonda district. The plant has received in-principle clearance from the environment and forest ministry.

UCIL would undertake only underground mining in the area unlike in the country's first mine at Jaduguda in Chhattisgarh where uranium ore is extracted through open cast mining, according to a press release.

UCIL has acquired 1,122 acres of government land and 1,118 acres of private land for mining and processing operations in this area.