Uranium in Jaintapur mine: The prospects

Dr. SM Jahangir Alam :

In Haragacha of Juri Upazila of Moulvibazar and Jaintapur of Sylhet, precious mineral resources of uranium are lying unused under the ground.

No initiative was taken to extract uranium after independence in the country.

Earning of a lot of foreign exchange is possible by exporting uranium to satisfy the country’s demand by extracting uranium.

Japan, Germany and the United States are major consumers of uranium for nuclear power plants.

There was once an international ban on uranium mining, but there is no such ban now.

However, the conscious community is disappointed because no steps have been taken to extract uranium.

The quality of uranium obtained in our country in the world is also good.

Soils collected from Haragacha and Jaintapur were tested and showed uranium recovery rates of 500-1300 parts per million (ppm).

Uranium is collected from mines around the world. They contain 300 to 1000 ppm uranium.

In 1975, the country’s first uranium mine was found in Haragacha of Juri Upazila of Moulvibazar.

The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission at that time explored the Haragacha hills and confirmed the possibility of obtaining uranium.

Then the commission identified the mountain as a radioactive area. But due to the lack of permission to use and extract uranium in Bangladesh, the work of this project stopped until then.

After 10 years in 1985, while searching for mineral resources in Sylhet, Haragacha uranium came into discussion again.

At this time, the work of re-examination started to verify the feasibility of that project.

Along with this, the Atomic Energy Commission conducted uranium exploration in different places of Sylhet.

The Atomic Energy Commission found uranium in Sylhet’s Jaintapur by searching.

They were assisted by the Directorate of Geological Survey.

But despite the discovery of uranium in the border area, research on uranium mining in Jaintapur has not progressed much due to international restrictions.

At that time, the soil collected from Haragacha of Juri in Moulvibazar and Jaintapur in Sylhet was tested and found that there are 500-1300 uranium particles in every 1 million soil particles.

That is, the rate of obtaining uranium in the soil of the tested place is 500-1300 parts per million (ppm).

Once again, the process stalled because Bangladesh did not have permission to extract uranium.

Six years later, in 1991, the exploration work started again at Haragacha in Moulvibazar.

At that time, the uranium ore collected from Haragacha was sent to the Atomic Energy Commission of Japan’s Energy Research Laboratory.

In the test, the matter of obtaining high-quality uranium in Haragacha can be 100% confirmed.

Later, a few wells were dug in the area, but due to international restrictions, it was not possible to start uranium extraction.

However, with the approval of the nuclear power plant in Bangladesh, all restrictions on uranium mining were removed.

According to experts, nuclear power plants can be built using uranium which can play an important role in meeting the growing electricity demand of the country.

Uranium is used as a power generator in nuclear reactors, experts said.

In a seminar in December 2015 in the conference room of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, the then scientific officer Dr. AKM Fazle Kibria said, valuable nuclear fuel uranium was found in the hilly areas of Sylhet and Moulvibazar districts.

The concentration of this radioactive mineral is also very high in these regions.

Now if the government comes forward, it is possible to earn huge foreign exchange from this mineral.

On November 29, 2009, when visiting Moulvibazar, the then Minister of State for Energy and Mineral Resources, Brigadier General (retd.) Enamul said that experiments were going on with the uranium ore of Haragacha.

As there are no international restrictions, uranium mining will start soon from this project.

In addition, on April 3, 2010, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated a private power plant in Fenchuganj, Sylhet, and announced the establishment of a nuclear power plant in the country to meet the growing demand for electricity.

However, despite the government’s assurance, no initiative has been taken to extract uranium.

After this permission was granted in 2009, the prospect of uranium extraction from the Sylhet region emerged.

Although assurances have been given from the highest levels of the government at various times, no initiative has been taken to extract uranium.

Uranium is a very valuable and sensitive matter.

If extraction is not carried out in the right way, there will be a big blow to the biodiversity.

We do not have the modern technology to extract uranium; some western countries including Russia have experience in this matter.

With their cooperation, the state will benefit if uranium can be extracted while keeping the biodiversity safe.

Uranium can be used in the country’s nuclear power plant as well as exported to the developed world.

(The writer, a Bir Muktijoddha, is former Tax Commissioner and Director, Bangladesh Satellite Co. Ltd.)