Yellow Cake Hunting

Nuke eye on Meghalaya:

Guwahati, May 3: With its rich reserves of uranium, Meghalaya could well be the next venue for a nuclear power plant in the country.

Union minister of state for power Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said the department of atomic energy would set up a study group to examine the techno-economic feasibility of setting up a nuclear power plant in the Northeast.

The minister’s announcement came following his meeting with Meghalaya chief minister Donkupar Roy, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar (who joined in via a teleconference) and other officials in Shillong on Friday evening.

“Meghalaya has proven reserves of uranium. Most of our nuclear power plants are running at 50 per cent capacity and the setting up of a nuclear power plant here could well solve the shortage problem,” Ramesh told reporters today.

He said uranium mining in Meghalaya was important for the country’s nuclear programme. The department of atomic energy will prepare a detailed white paper on uranium mining in Meghalaya by the end of this month to put all apprehensions to rest. The paper will be tabled in the Assembly and discussed in public, he added.

The department will also facilitate a visit of Meghalaya legislators to Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh where a uranium-mining project is being set up.

The minister, however, said the Centre would not go against the Meghalaya government on uranium mining.

Ramesh also attended the inaugural ceremony of the civil work at the 750-MW NTPC thermal power plant in Bongaigaon. He was accompanied by Assam power minister Pradyut Bordoloi and transport minister Chandan Brahma. The coal for the power plant will come from Rani coalfields in Bihar and Margherita in Assam.

“This will be the first power plant in the country where desulpherisation technology will be used to make coal free of sulphur,” Ramesh added.

Bordoloi, however, expressed his displeasure over the engagement of migrant labourers for the plant, our correspondent from Kokrajhar adds. He demanded the engagement of locals for the project.

Ramesh had held a review meeting on the power situation of the Northeast in Shillong on Friday.

Another Story:
Source: The Telegraph

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