According to reports in India’s Economic Times, First Post and other sources, the country is about to commission a new uranium mine and processing plant in the next few weeks to provide fuel to its nuclear power plants. The Mouldih mine, when operational, is expected to deliver uranium ore up to 500 t/d. This ore will be processed at the Turamdih mill, which has the capacity to process 3,000 t of uranium ore per day. Mouldih is an underground mine 3 km west of of the existing Turamdih mine.

Diwakar Acharya, Chairman and Managing Director of the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) said that the capacity of the Turamdih mill was also being enhanced to 4,500 t/d, with the company in the process of getting the necessary regulatory clearances. Progress is also being made on the Tummalapalle uranium deposits, where estimated deposits of uranium are now in the region of 60,000 t, making it one of the world’s largest. The Tummalapalle mill will have a capacity of 3,000 t/d which will be increased “progressively” to 6,000 t/d. Tummalapalle is also an underground mine and is permitted to a depth of 300 m with a processing plant based on pressure alkali leaching technology.

Mouldih and Tummalapalle and their associated plant facilities are located in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, respectively. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India is currently building four 700 MW nuclear reactors – two in Rawatbhata in Rajasthan and two in Kakrapar in Gujarat. It plans to construct ten additional similar reactors over the next ten years. At present, India operates 20 nuclear power plants at six sites across the country which have the capacity to generate 4,780 MW of electricity.