Opened 1967 | Country India | |
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The Jaduguda Mine (also spelt as Jadugoda or Jadugora) is a uranium mine in Jaduguda village in the Purbi Singhbhum district of the Indian state of Jharkhand. It commenced operation in 1967 and was the first uranium mine in India. The deposits at this mine were discovered in 1951. As of March 2012 India only possesses two functional uranium mines, including this Jaduguda Mine. A new mine, Tummalapalle uranium mine is discovered and mining is going to start from it.
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Mining activities were suspended in 2014 following an inquiry into the lease renewal of the mine. Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) expects mining activity to resume at Jaduguda in 2017.
The Jaduguda mine produces up to 25% of the raw materials needed to fuel India’s nuclear reactors.
Geography
The Jaduguda uranium mine is an underground mining mine located in the Purbi Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. The mine is located at least 640 meters below the earth’s surface and is accessible by a 5-meter diameter vertical shaft.
Uranium purification plant
A uranium purification plant is located close to the mine. The final product of this plant is Yellow cake. According to Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), the ore extracted from this mine is of 0.065 grade, which means that the plant needs to process 1,000 kg of ore to extract 65 grams of usable uranium. The plant processes 2,190 tonnes uranium ore per day.
After purification of the ore, Yellow cake is shipped by heavy-duty vehicles to the Nuclear Fuel Complex in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, which is over 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) away from plant.
Smuggling of uranium
On 18 February 2008 police of Supaul district in the eastern Indian state of Bihar seized 4 kg of low-quality uranium and arrested one Indian and five Nepali smugglers. According to media reports the uranium was smuggled out of the Jaduguda mines and the smugglers were trying to sell it to Nepal. The market value of the seized uranium was estimated at ₹50,000,000 (US$740,000) on the international market.
Pollution
In Jaduguda, there is a constant exposure to low and toxic level emission. Children are born with swollen heads, blood disorders and skeletal distortions. Contamination is present in lot of places. Animals such as cows and buffaloes are suffering from rare diseases. Reports indicate that radioactive waste is not properly disposed of at the mine and is the cause of dozens of deaths, diseases and birth defects in the local population.