India has launched a major initiative to explore uranium, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Anil Kakodkar announced in Hyderabad on Monday.
A reserve of another 100,000 tonnes of uranium will be found in next four years, he said while addressing Indian Geophysical Union meeting. Existing reserves are estimated at 78,000 tonnes.
Kakodkar said much of the exploration work will be outsourced to public and private companies to bring quick results. "We have no time to lose".
Kokodkar said India should have accelerated the uranium exploration activity long ago with the rest of the world but he was hopeful India could find enough uranium to feed its reactors.
High grade ores with 10-12 per cent uranium content are likely to be found at a depth of 1,000 metres he said and added that a consortium is formed to indigenously build systems that will detect "deep concealed deposits". He said the system will be developed in two years.
At present India is extracting uranium from ores that contain less then 0.1 per cent he said.
The Atomic Minerals Division of the Department of Atomic Energy, the Electronic Corporation of India and the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research have formed the consortium.
{{/usCountry}}The Atomic Minerals Division of the Department of Atomic Energy, the Electronic Corporation of India and the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research have formed the consortium.
{{/usCountry}}The AEC chairman said lack of uranium is not the main reason why India signed the deal with the United States. "We need the international cooperation in civilian nuclear programme for meeting our short term energy needs.