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WHAT JUST HAPPENED
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2019.
VIBRANT GUJARAT GLOBAL SUMMIT 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 9th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Summit. On the occasion, the Prime Minister also set the target for breaching into top 50 rankings of the ease of doing business.
The World Bank released its latest Doing Business Report(DBR, 2019)
India’s latest rank – 77 (Pakistan – 136th and China 46th)
DURING THE SUMMIT
The three-day Vibrant Gujarat Summit will witness the participation of the heads of five countries Uzbekistan, Rwanda, Denmark, Czech Republic and Malta
IMPORTANT OUTCOMES OF THE BILATERAL MEET INDIAN PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI AND UZBEK PRESIDENT SHAVKAT MIRZIYOYEV
An agreement for importing uranium from Uzbekistan was signed.
An agreement for a line of credit of $200 million from India for financing housing and social infrastructure projects in Uzbekistan.
NOTES
The agreement for the supply of Uranium was signed between the Department of Atomic Energy of India and the Novoi Minerals and Metallurgical Company of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the long-term supply of uranium ore concentrate for India’s energy requirements.
INDIA WILL NEED TO DO ENRICHMENT ON URANIUM ORE
URANIUM ENRICHMENT PLANT
The Uranium Enrichment Plant was developed in Trombay during the early 1980s while India was acquiring centrifuge technology. The facility was completed in 1985 as a pilot-scale ultracentrifuge plant. Enriched uranium from this facility was later fabricated into fuel for the CIRUS and Dhruva nuclear reactors. In 1990, a larger uranium enrichment facility, the Rare Materials Project, began operating at Mysore.
The Rattehalli Rare Materials Plant (RMP) is one of two uranium enrichment facilities in India; the other is located at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center’s (BARC) Trombay complex.
INDIA IS HUNGRY FOR URANIUM
A stockpile of 15,000 tonnes of uranium is required for achieving supply security of fuel for nuclear plants in the country, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which manages atomic energy installations, has told a parliamentary panel
India currently imports uranium from Kazakhstan, Canada and Russia. (Some samples were bought from Australia too)
URANIUM IN INDIA
Presently, a major portion of uranium for domestic production comes from the Jaduguda mines in Jharkhand. These are “old”, and the ore is found at “great depths”, the recommendations note.
Further, the high extraction cost makes it “unviable” as compared to imported uranium, the panel noted. Uranium is also extracted from the Tummalapalle mines in Andhra Pradesh, and uranium reserves are also available in Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the panel noted.
NOTES
Presently, eight of India’s 22 operational nuclear reactors, with an aggregate capacity of 2,400 MW, are fuelled by locally mined uranium, while the other 14 reactors, with an aggregate capacity of 4,380 MW, are under the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) safeguards and use imported uranium.
URANIUM IN UZBEKISTAN
- Uzbekistan has considerable mineral deposits, including uranium.
- It is the world’s seventh-ranking uranium supplier, and is expanding production.
- Japanese and Chinese joint ventures are active in uranium development, especially focused on black shales.
- Construction of two large Russian reactors is planned.
INTERNATIONAL VENTURES IN UZBEKISTAN
China: In August 2009 Goscomgeo and China Guangdong Nuclear Uranium Corp. (CGN-URC) set up a 50-50 uranium exploration joint venture, UzChina Uran, to focus on the black shale deposits in the Boztau-skaya area in the central Kyzylkum desert of the Navoi region
Russia: In January 2006 Techsnabexport (ARMZ subsidiary) signed a memorandum of understanding with NMMC and Goskomgeo (State Committee for Geology and Mineral Resources of Uzbekistan) to set up a uranium mining joint venture based on the Aktau deposit.
Uzbekistan signed a seven-year contract for the supply of uranium to the U.S. for $ 300 million in 2017. In addition, Uzbekistan supplies its uranium to Japan.
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