Over 1.25 MT thorium reserve found in 3 years

A reserve of over 1.25 million tonne of thorium, a radioactive element which is key to the country's nuclear power programme, has been found in the last three-and-a-half years.

This was informed by Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy in Lok Sabha today.

In a written reply to a question, he said the total thorium reserve stood at 11.93 MT as on May 2013, while it was 10.68 tonne in October 2009.

The biggest reserve of 3.72 MT is in Andhra Pradesh, followed by 2.46 MT in Tamil Nadu and 2.41 MT in Odisha, the minister said.