Shillong, May 2: Revealing that India was running short of 50 per cent of nuclear fuel that might severely affect its power projects, Union Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh appealed to the anti-uranium mining lobby in Meghalaya to allow mining of the precious ore to help overcome the shortage.

Speaking to mediapersons on Friday, Ramesh said, “The shortage has become a life and death issue for India as most of the nuclear reactors are running short of fuel by 50 per cent and the power projects cannot expand.” He said if uranium is mined in Meghalaya it would help the country to fight this shortage.

The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has estimated that it can extract about 3,75,000 tonnes of high grade uranium ore from Domasiat in West Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. However, the DAE and the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) have been facing stiff opposition from some NGOs and political parties for the last one-and-a-half decade. They claim that mining of the ore will endanger the health of the local population as they will be exposed to radiation.

“Nuclear fuel is the key to the country's future power need and that is why the Indo-US nuclear deal was being taken forward.”

Recently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also sounded the importance of mining uranium to Meghalaya Chief Minister Donkupar Roy on the sidelines of the Planning Commission meeting in New Delhi. The DAE has formulated a detailed mining plan and forwarded it to the state Government but the latter is apprehensive that the Government might face massive protest from the anti-mining groups.

Deputy Chief Minister and Hills State People's Democratic Party president Hopingstone Lyngdoh is also opposed to mining. During his recent trip to Delhi, Roy has reportedly told the PMO and the DAE to initiate massive public awareness campaigning before undertaking mining in Meghalaya.