India to build a 'strategic uranium reserve'.

After a record production this year, India is working on creating a 'strategic uranium reserve' to ensure its atomic power reactors do not face shortage of the crucial nuclear fuel.

'The reserve pool could be anywhere between 5000 MT to 15,000 MT which can last for 5-10 years,' said a senior government official.

A proposal for stocking 5000 MT of uranium has been sent to the Cabinet for approval but the cap is likely to increase in the coming years.

Over the past one year, India has been pursuing its case to buy uranium from different countries including Australia and Canada. It is also procuring uranium from Russia for its indigenous reactors. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kazakhstan last week, India renewed a contract with the Central Asian country to procure 5000 MT of uranium.

After Hyderabad another Nuclear Fuel Complex is coming up in Kota in Rajasthan, sources said.

'For all these years, we could not think of having a reserve like other countries have due to the impending sanctions. But now we can think of working to build a reserve of nuclear fuel.


ET