Tummalapalle in Andhra Pradesh could have one of the largest uranium reserves in the world. Recent studies have indicated that it could have a reserve of 1.5 lakh tonnes of the scarce material, said Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Srikumar Banerjee here on Monday.

“Studies have already shown that the area had a confirmed reserve of 49,000 tonnes and recent surveys indicate that this figure could go up even threefold,” he disclosed.

He was here to inaugurate construction work on two more units of 700 MW each at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) by making “the first pour of concrete”.

He said uranium deposits in Tummalapalle appeared to be spread over 35 km. Exploratory works are under way. At present, the country is estimated to have a total reserve of about 1,75,000 tonnes of uranium, apart from this.

Terming the new findings a major development, Dr. Banerjee, however, pointed out that the indigenous reserves would still not be sufficient to meet the entire demand of the country's nuclear programme. “The new findings would only augment the indigenous supply of uranium. There would still be a significant gap. We would still have to import.”

Dr. Banerjee sought to allay any misapprehension that the government was keener on importing nuclear technology than promoting indigenously developed technology and said the Centre was seeking to import nuclear technology only to ensure faster development of nuclear power.

He asserted that setting up of plants based on indigenous and imported technologies would proceed alongside. “Nuclear power is absolutely essential to meet the growing energy needs of the country. If the economy has to grow by 9 per cent per annum, we need a 10 per cent growth in electricity production. We cannot do without nuclear power.”

The two new units at Rawatbhata are being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 12,000 crore and are scheduled to be ready in five years from “the first pour of concrete.”

The reactors are on the lines of the two 700 MW reactors under construction at Kakrapar in Gujarat.

They have been designed by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited by scaling up the 540 MW reactors operating at Tarapur in Maharashtra since 2005.

The reactors have advanced safety features, including passive safety systems that work on natural principles such as gravity, and natural convection and do not need operator intervention or motive power to ensure reactor safety under any state of operations.

According to an NPCIL note, there would be two independent and diverse systems to shut down the reactor, a passive decay heat removal system to ensure cooling of the reactor core even in case of total loss of power and steel-lined containment to contain the entire radioactivity within the reactor building even in a severe accident scenario.