UCIL to inaugurate new mine and processing plant in AP

KOLKATA: Uranium Corporation of India’s new 3,000 tonne per day uranium mine & and processing plant will be inaugurated at Tummalapalle in Andhra Pradesh on Friday by Dr Srikumar Banerjee, secretary, department of atomic energy & chairman Atomic Energy Commission.

With confirmed reserves of over 49,000 tonnes of uranium and indications of much larger reserves in the area, Tummalapalle could become one of the world’s largest uranium deposits. The new facility will provide a major fillip to the country’s much needed uranium fuel for nuclear programme.

Built at a cost of Rs 1,106 crores and spread over 900 hectares, the mine and plant has adopted the latest systems and equipment. The hydro-metallurgical uranium purification plant has a capacity to treat 3,000 tonnes of uranium ore per day which is mined from underground mine located close to the plant.

The plant will treat the dolomite limestone based uraniferous ore and is the first in the country to adopt an alkali leaching processing method. The final product shall be sodium di uranate.