The DAE has planned to develop large deposits of uranium in Meghalaya that have the potential to generate substantial nuclear fuel for atomic power plants in the country, the government said today.
In written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), which looks after the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), said it has already made a plan to develop the mineral resources at Domiasiat under the name of "Kylleng- Phendengsohiong-Mawthabah (KPM) Uranium Mining Project".
"Uranium mineralisation in Meghalaya has been found over a large area around Domiasiat, Wahkyn, Lostoin.
"The project has the potential to generate substantial nuclear fuel for the atomic power plants of the country," Singh said, adding that a detailed project report (DPR) of the KPM project has been approved by the Atomic Energy Commission.
"Environmental clearance for this project has been obtained from the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in December 2007. An agreement has also been signed between UCIL and the land owners of the project site in May 2007 for acquisition of land on annual lease rent basis.
"Approval to execute land lease with land owners, grant of mining lease and consent for establishment has been taken up with the Meghalaya state government," Singh said.
At present, the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) has uranium mining projects in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh.
In response to another question, the minister said the government has accorded in-principle approval to setting up of six more reactors of 700 MW each in Haryana (2) and Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan (4).
It also plans to add two reactors in Chutka in Madhya Pradesh and two in Kaiga in Karnataka, all of 700 MW each.
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In response to another question, Singh said the DAE is putting up a seawater desalination plant in Odisha's coastal district of Ganjam with a capacity of 5,000 cubic meter per day (5.0 MLD).
The site in Ganjam district has been considered since it is located just 750 metres away from the shoreline of the Bay of Bengal and is a drought-prone zone facing acute water shortage.
The project is being implemented through an MoU between Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL), a public sector undertaking under DAE.
A 6,300 cubic meter per day (6.3 MLD) nuclear seawater desalination plant has already been commissioned and has been in operation at Kalpakkam in Chennai since 2002.
