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Location | |
---|---|
Location | Jaduguda, Purbi Singhbhum district |
State | Jharkhand |
Country | India |
Coordinates | 22°39′12″N86°20′48″E / 22.653273°N 86.346639°E |
Production | |
Products | Uranium |
History | |
Opened | 1967 |
Owner | |
Company | Uranium Corporation of India |
Website | www.ucil.gov.in |
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. [1] The deposits at this mine were discovered in 1951. As of March 2012, India possesses eight functional uranium mines, including this Jaduguda Mine. [2] A new mine, Tummalapalle uranium mine is discovered and mining is going to start from it.
Mining activities were suspended in 2014 following an inquiry into the diversion of forest land of the mine. Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) expects mining activity to resume at Jaduguda in 2017. [3] [4] The Jaduguda mine produces up to 25% of the raw materials needed to fuel India's nuclear reactors. [5]
The Jaduguda uranium mine is an underground mining mine located in the Purbi Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. [6] The mine is located at least 640 meters below the Earth's surface and is accessible by a 5-meter diameter vertical shaft. [7]
A uranium purification plant is usually located close to the mine as uranium ore is converted here to yellowcake. According to Department of Atomic Energy, the ore extracted from this mine is of 0.065 grade, which means that the plant needs to process 1000 kg of ore to extract 65 grams of usable uranium. [8]
After the ore is crushed and ground in the Mill House, it goes to the Chemical House for mineral extraction and purification. The plant processes 2,190 tonnes of uranium ore per day. [9]
After purification of the ore, yellow cake is shipped by heavy-duty vehicles to the Nuclear Fuel Complex in Hyderabad, Telangana, which is over 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) away from plant. [10]
On February 18, 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 Rs. 5 crore on the international market. [11] [12]
When uranium ore is extracted from the ground, 99.28% of the mined ore is treated as waste as the uranium isotopes used in nuclear power plants mainly is uranium-235 leaving behind the major portion of the ore which consists of uranium-236 and uranium-238 as well as some other components. This waste (also referred to as tailings) is then neutralised with lime and carried through pipelines to a tailing pond. This transport is ossible through the provision of clean water (in the pipelines) out of decantation wells which is then taken through a closed channel to an effluent treatment plant for the removal of radium and manganese. The solid tailings are then retained in the ponds (tailing ponds).
In a report in CSE-Down to Earth Feature Service, entitled "A deformed existence" and dated 4 June 1999, Manish Tiwari quoted Biruli as saying, "Many women in the area complain of disrupted menstrual cycles. This area also has a high rate of either miscarriages or still-born babies. Biruli claims that nearly 30,000 people living in 15 villages in the five-km radius of the tailings ponds are exposed to radiation. 'Earlier, children were still-born. Now, they die within few days of their birth,' he says. He also claims that nearly one-third of the women living in these areas are suffering from loss of fertility. Even animals such as cows and buffaloes are suffering from rare diseases. [13]
The committee concluded: "The consensus of all the doctors was that the cases examined had congenital anomalies, diseases due to genetic abnormalities like thalassaemia, major and retinitis pigmentosa, moderate to gross splenomegaly due to chronic malaria l infection (as this is hyperendemic area), malnutrition, post encephalitis, post head injury sequelae and certain habits (alcohol) and have no relation to radiation." Its report adds: "The team was convinced and unanimously agreed that the diseases' pattern cannot be ascribed to radiation exposure in any of these cases." [13]
The mine itself is still prone to some controversies as the introduction of the mine resulted in the loss of land for many villagers surrounding its location, as well as some issues regarding protective gear :
"A population of around 35,000 people living within a 5-kilometer radius of the mines are adversely affected by radiation from the tailing ponds. Many villagers lost land and jobs when they were displaced by the mining operations, and many now work in the uranium mines as daily wage labourers. They often do not get proper protective gear to handle radioactive materials and work with bare hands, exposing themselves to heavy doses of radiation. UCIL, the company responsible for the health of its workers, on the other hand, always refutes any allegations of violations of labour laws and human rights. The company is outright defensive about its protective measures and refuses to acknowledge the problems faced by the labourers." [14]
Yellowcake is a type of powdered uranium concentrate obtained from leach solutions, in an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores. It is a step in the processing of uranium after it has been mined but before fuel fabrication or uranium enrichment. Yellowcake concentrates are prepared by various extraction and refining methods, depending on the types of ores. Typically, yellowcakes are obtained through the milling and chemical processing of uranium ore, forming a coarse powder that has a pungent odor, is insoluble in water, and contains about 80% uranium oxide, which melts at approximately 2880 °C.
The Ranger Uranium Mine was a uranium mine in the Northern Territory of Australia. The site is surrounded by, but separate from Kakadu National Park, 230 km east of Darwin. The orebody was discovered in late 1969, and the mine commenced operation in 1980, reaching full production of uranium oxide in 1981 and ceased stockpile processing on 8 January 2021. Mining activities had ceased in 2012. It was owned and operated by Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), a public company 86.33% owned by Rio Tinto Group, the remainder held by the public. Uranium mined at Ranger was sold for use in nuclear power stations in Japan, South Korea, China, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the United States.
Rum Jungle or Unrungkoolpum is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 105 kilometres south of Darwin on the East Branch of the Finniss River and it shares a boundary with Litchfield National Park. It is 10 kilometres west of Batchelor.
Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Over 50,000 tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account for 68% of world production. Other countries producing more than 1,000 tons per year included Namibia, Niger, Russia, Uzbekistan and China. Nearly all of the world's mined uranium is used to power nuclear power plants. Historically uranium was also used in applications such as uranium glass or ferrouranium but those applications have declined due to the radioactivity and toxicity of uranium and are nowadays mostly supplied with a plentiful cheap supply of depleted uranium which is also used in uranium ammunition. In addition to being cheaper, depleted uranium is also less radioactive due to a lower content of short-lived 234
U and 235
U than natural uranium.
Jadugora is a census town in the Musabani CD block in the Ghatshila subdivision of the East Singhbhum district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Musabani, also spelt as Mosabani or Mushabani, is a census town in the Musabani CD block in the Ghatshila subdivision of the East Singhbhum district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Uranium mining in the United States produced 224,331 pounds (101.8 tonnes) of U3O8 in 2023, 15% of the 2018 production of 1,447,945 pounds (656.8 tonnes) of U3O8. The 2023 production represents 0.4% of the uranium fuel requirements of the US's nuclear power reactors for the year. Production came from five in-situ leaching plants, four in Wyoming (Nichols Ranch ISR Project, Lance Project, Lost Creek Project, and Smith Ranch-Highland Operation) and one in Nebraska (Crowe Butte Operation); and from the White Mesa conventional mill in Utah.
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The Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) was established in 1971 as a major industrial unit of India's Department of Atomic Energy, as a nuclear plant also specializing in supply of nuclear fuel bundles and reactor core components. It is a unique facility where natural and enriched uranium fuel, zirconium alloy cladding and reactor core components are manufactured under one roof.
The Church Rock uranium mill spill occurred in the U.S. state of New Mexico on July 16, 1979, when United Nuclear Corporation's tailings disposal pond at its uranium mill in Church Rock breached its dam. The spill remains the largest release of radioactive material in U.S. history, having released more radioactivity than the Three Mile Island accident four months earlier.
Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) is a public sector undertaking (PSU), under the Department of Atomic Energy for uranium mining and processing. The corporation was founded in 1967 and is responsible for the mining and milling of uranium ore in India. The firm operates mines at Jadugora, Bhatin, Narwapahar, Turamdih and Banduhurang
The relationship between uranium mining and the Navajo people began in 1944 in northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah.
The uranium mining debate covers the political and environmental controversies of uranium mining for use in either nuclear power or nuclear weapons.
The Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project was created by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to monitor the cleanup of uranium mill tailings, a by-product of the uranium concentration process that poses risks to the public health and environment. The Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act passed by Congress in 1978 gave the DOE the authority to regulate tailings disposal sites and shifted disposal practices to more engineered designs.
The Tummalapalle Mine is a uranium mine in Tumalapalli village located in Kadapa of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Results from research conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission of India, in 2011, led the analysts to conclude that this mine might have one of the largest reserves of uranium in the world.
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Tailing Pond is a documentary film that highlights how tribal families in Jadugora, Jharkhand are experiencing harmful effects of uranium radiation exposure. The documentary is produced & directed by Saurav Vishnu and narrated by Cynthia Nixon. Tailing Pond is officially in consideration for the 93rd Academy Awards in the Documentary – Short category.
Saurav Vishnu is an Indian director and producer, known for his works on films like Tailing Pond and Guilty Not Guilty. Tailing pond qualified for consideration for the 93rd Academy Awards in the Documentary – Short category.