Justin Joseph
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Nuclear fuel situation has improved in India - Dr Banerjee
According to Dr Srikumar Banerjee chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, availability of fuel for India's nuclear power plants has improved.
The plants that are running on imported fuel (Tarapore) are operating at over 90% capacity. Plants that use domestic fuel are operating at 70% load factor.
Availability of domestically produced uranium will improve, now that several mines are being opened, he said. At Tummalapalle project in Andhra Pradesh, work on opening a new mine has been going on. Dr Banerjee expects the mine to start producing sometime this financial year.
Dr Banerjee said that the original estimate of Tummalapalle reserves was 15,000 tonnes, but revised estimates show that the mine can hold 45,000 tonnes of uranium.
The official estimate of India's uranium reserves is 140,296 tonnes. Against this, the country produces 400 tonnes a year, from six mines in Jharkhand. However, production will increase in the coming years as new mines are being opened.
Lambapur and Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh and Hubli in Karnataka are other places where uranium is found, apart from Meghalaya, where mining is facing stiff opposition.
Dr Banerjee said that The Indian nuclear authorities are discussing with the Russians on the next two project of 1,000 MW each at Kudankulam.
In all, six units of identical capacity are to come up there. 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor at Kalpakkam would be generation ready by 2012.
Two more fast breeder reactors of 500 MW each would come up at the Kalpakkam site.
Steel Guru : Nuclear fuel situation has improved in India - Dr Banerjee - 160494 - 2010-08-16
According to Dr Srikumar Banerjee chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, availability of fuel for India's nuclear power plants has improved.
The plants that are running on imported fuel (Tarapore) are operating at over 90% capacity. Plants that use domestic fuel are operating at 70% load factor.
Availability of domestically produced uranium will improve, now that several mines are being opened, he said. At Tummalapalle project in Andhra Pradesh, work on opening a new mine has been going on. Dr Banerjee expects the mine to start producing sometime this financial year.
Dr Banerjee said that the original estimate of Tummalapalle reserves was 15,000 tonnes, but revised estimates show that the mine can hold 45,000 tonnes of uranium.
The official estimate of India's uranium reserves is 140,296 tonnes. Against this, the country produces 400 tonnes a year, from six mines in Jharkhand. However, production will increase in the coming years as new mines are being opened.
Lambapur and Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh and Hubli in Karnataka are other places where uranium is found, apart from Meghalaya, where mining is facing stiff opposition.
Dr Banerjee said that The Indian nuclear authorities are discussing with the Russians on the next two project of 1,000 MW each at Kudankulam.
In all, six units of identical capacity are to come up there. 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor at Kalpakkam would be generation ready by 2012.
Two more fast breeder reactors of 500 MW each would come up at the Kalpakkam site.
Steel Guru : Nuclear fuel situation has improved in India - Dr Banerjee - 160494 - 2010-08-16
