China has 2 million tonnes of uranium deposits: Official

BEIJING: China's uranium deposits have doubled in the last 15 years with new discoveries pointing to two million tonnes of the yellow cake as the country rapidly expanded its nuclear programme, an official said today.

The country's uranium reserves have doubled in the recent 15 years with new uranium deposits, especially some large-scale ones, being discovered taking the total to more than 350 uranium deposits, Du Yunbin, head of the China Nuclear Geology (CNG) said at a forum marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the administration and the start of the country's nuclear geological search.

Du said the CNG has finished an evaluation of China's uranium reserve potential and experts have predicted a total of two million tonnes of uranium resources in China, state-run Xinhua quoted him as saying.

China has formed a multi-dimensional search system for uranium mines, which includes space remote sensing as well as airborne, ground-based and deep-mining exploration, Du said.

Besides being a nuclear weapons state, China has the largest nuclear power generation with 22 nuclear power generating units in operation and another 26 units under construction.