URANIUM MINES IN INDIAN STATE OF JHARKHAND LACK PROPER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KOLKATA 000215 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENGR EMIN ELAB SENV TRGY ASEC IN SUBJECT: URANIUM MINES IN INDIAN STATE OF JHARKHAND LACK PROPER HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS ¶1. (SBU) Summary: As India seeks to develop its nuclear power industry, the GOI is expanding its uranium mines in India's eastern state of Jharkhand. The Jadugoda mines, located in East Singhbum district, are presently the sole fuel source for India's ten pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs). However, a December 2006 report of slurry leaking from a mine tailings pipe into a village stream and recent press reports of elevated radiation levels in areas around Jadugoda are the latest indicators, in a long series, pointing to lax safety measures that are exposing local tribal communities to radiation contamination. The GOI's Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) has repeatedly affirmed that it follows Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) regulations. However, Consulate personnel that have visited the Jadugoda area confirm many of the allegations made against the UCIL's management of the mines, such as transportation of ore by open trucks, lack of proper safety equipment for workers, and dried tailing ponds open to public encroachment. Enforcement of occupational safety rules is notoriously weak in India and the conditions around the Jadugoda mines demonstrate an apparent failure by UCIL to maintain basic health and safety standards at India's primary source of domestic nuclear fuel. UCIL's recent expansion of its operations in Jharkhand's uranium belt will likely result in further radioactive contamination. In addition, the apparent failure to maintain health and safety standards in the more visible Jadugoda mine area begs the question as to what standards are being maintained in India's nuclear facilities not visible to the public due to Official Secrets Act restrictions. End Summary. ¶2. (U) As a non-signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),India is reliant on its domestic uranium reserves, reported in the Reasonably Assured Resources category as 64,000 tons, to fuel its 17 operating nuclear reactors. However, India's uranium deposits are extremely low grade, generally less than .1 percent. Extracting a ton of uranium from so much ore requires high production costs and results in a disproportionately negative environmental impact. ¶3. (SBU) The negative environmental impact of uranium mining is especially evident in Jharkhand's East Singhbum district, where much of the uranium is mined and milled to support India's domestic nuclear industry. The Jadugoda three mine shafts are the oldest, having started operations in 1967, and produce ore grade in the .042 to .051 percent range, from depths of 500 to 900 meters. Approximately, 1,600 tons of ore are daily produced from these mines. However, because India's requirements for uranium ore have increased and the Jadugoda mines are becoming depleted, additional mines in East Singhbum are being opened or expanded. On June 25, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar inaugurated the Banduhurang open-cast mine and laid a foundation stone for UCIL's proposed Mohuldih uranium mine located in Jharkhand's Saraikela-Kharswan district. As UCIL's first open-cast mine, Banduhurang is projected to produce 2,400 tons of uranium ore per day, the Mohuldih underground mining project is expected to produce 410 tons per day. Other mines near Jadugoda are Turamdih, Bhatin and Narwapahar. In addition to the mines, UCIL also operates two uranium processing plants: its original plant in Jadugoda inaugurated in 1967, which process daily 2,090 tons of ore, and a new plant at Turamdih, also inaugurated by Kakodkar this past June. The Turamdih processing plant will have a capacity to process 3,000 tons per day. The processing plants produce yellow cake U308 that is then sent to the Hyderabad Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC),which manufactures the nuclear fuel rods. Waste from NFC's fuel rod production is then returned to Jadugoda where, according to local media and non-government organizations (NGOs),the waste is dumped in local fields. UCIL refutes that claim. ¶4. (SBU) Local communities and environmental groups have for several years expressed concern about possible high levels of radiation contamination around the older Jadugoda mines. KOLKATA 00000215 002 OF 003 Concerns have increased following the bursting of a tailings pipeline in December 2006, resulting in tailings from the Jadugoda mill entering a tributary of the Subranarekha River. According to media and NGO reports, the tailings flowed for nine hours into a neighboring stream used by local villages as a water source, killing frogs, fish and other stream life. On June 25, UCIL issued a letter to an independent film maker in response to a Right to Information Act request about the details of the leak, confirming there was a leak "through a small hole" but that the leak was stopped within a "few hours" and that the flow into the neighboring stream was blocked by a temporary earthen dam and the material recovered, returned to the tailings pond, and the stream "flushed with fresh water and its flow restored." A UCIL press release responded that locals do not use the affected stream as a water source and that after the remediation effort, no effluent reached the Subarnarekha River. ( Note: Pictures reportedly of the tailing leak, contamination and clean-up process can be seen at http://www.nuclear-free.com/english/jaduguda2 .htm. Those photos apparently show clean-up workers with no safety equipment and wading in the tailing sludge. End Note.) ¶5. (SBU) Jadugoda has three tailing ponds that are unlined and uncovered. Two are already full and abandoned and the remaining third is almost full. Land is being acquired for a fourth. During the dry season dust blows from the abandoned ponds and in the monsoons, heavy rains cause flooding and extensive runoff from the sites. Approximately, 35,000 people live within five kilometers of the tailing ponds. Media footage shows, and Consulate staff confirms from personal experience, that some homes are located within forty meters of the abandoned tailing ponds, animals graze and children play in the area. Villagers have used residue from the ponds to construct homes. UCIL counters in a press release that the ponds are well fenced and guarded by security personnel. In addition, other questionable safety practices include transport of the uranium ore from the mines to the processing mill in open trucks, with ore often falling from the trucks and mine workers riding on top of the ore. The miners are given limited safety equipment and they often take their uniforms home and wash them at home, exposing their relatives to the uranium residue. An award-winning documentary, "Buddha Weeps," details the issues regarding safety procedures and contamination and excerpts can be seen on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAb9UjzdixQ (Also, photos of the lax safety procedures and alleged affects of radiation exposure on the local community can be seen at http://www.jca.apc.org/~misatoya/jadugoda/eng lish/jadugodav ic.html.) UCIL counters that it has consistently won the President's Safety Award and ISO 9001:2000 certification for Quality Assurance and ISO 14001 certification for Environmental Management System. ¶6. (SBU) The spread of uranium ore from the mines has, according to two independent surveys, resulted in increased radiation exposure for the local tribal communities. In 2002, Hiroaki Koide of the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute published a research paper detailing elevated radiation levels around Jadugoda, especially in the area of the tailing ponds. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other international agencies require nuclear facilities to limit radiation exposure of the public to 1 HYPERLINK "http://www.answers.com/topic/sievert"millisi evert (mSv) (100 mrem) per year, and limit occupational radiation exposure to adults working with radioactive material to 50 mSv (5 rem) per year, and 100 mSv (10 rem) in 5 years. Koide found at tailing pond Number 2 air-gamma dose rates in excess of 10 mSv/year. (Koide's full report is available at http://www.jca.apc.org/~misatoya/jadugoda/eng lish/koide.html) A Greenpeace survey conducted in 2003 found a higher level of radiation at 1.8 Sv/hour near the tailing ponds. (available at http://firstpeoplesfirst.in/cutenews/publicat ions.php?subac tion=showfull&id=1110529992&archive=&start_fr om=&ucat=2&) KOLKATA 00000215 003 OF 003 ¶7. (SBU) The reported elevated radiation levels are believed to have resulted in increased illness and mutations among the neighboring villages. In 1998, The Jharkhandi Organization Against Radiation (JOAR) in conjunction with the Bindrai Institute for Research, Study and Action (BIRSA) conducted a survey of seven villages within 1 kilometer of the tailing dams. According to the survey, 47% of the women reported disruptions to their menstrual cycle, and 18% said they had suffered miscarriages or given birth to stillborn babies in the previous 5 years. 30% reported some sort of fertility problem. Nearly all women complained of fatigue, weakness and depression. Overall, the survey found a high incidence of chronic skin disease, cancers, TB, bone and brain damage, kidney damage, nervous system disorders, congenital deformities, nausea, blood disorders and other chronic diseases. UCIL has responded that the illnesses in the areas around the uranium mines are caused by malnutrition, alcoholism, malaria and genetic abnormalities in the population. ¶8. (SBU) Comment: Based on Consulate staff observations and numerous reports, lax safety and security measures at the uranium mines in East Singhbum expose the local community to mined uranium ore and waste. As noted, several reports indicate that radiation levels are sufficiently elevated to cause serious health issues and again, reports show higher incidents of illness and mutations among the local population. Given the existing conditions at India's uranium mines, increasing the exploitation of domestic reserves will likely result in increasing radiation exposure of local communities. In light of the fact that approximately 17 of Jharkand's 24 districts are infiltrated with Naxalites, the lack of fencing, alarms and guards -- basic security measures -- also causes concern. In addition, the apparent failure to maintain health and safety standards in the more visible Jadugoda mine area begs the question as to what standards are being maintained in India's nuclear facilities not visible to the public due to Official Secrets Act restrictions. As India opens its civilian nuclear program to Indian and global scrutiny, and UCIL seeks cutting-edge milling technology for its mines, the U.S. and other countries could have leverage in helping UCIL maintain international health, safety and security standards. ¶9. (U) This message was coordinated with AmEmbassy New Delhi. JARDINE