By Xinhua
Rio de Janeiro : Brazil will be able to fulfil its domestic demand for enriched uranium by 2014, the chief of Nuclear Industries of Brazil (INB) has said.
INB President Alfredo Tranjan said Tuesday an enrichment plant is currently undergoing tests.
Brazil is expected to be enriching in 2012 the equivalent of 60 percent of the uranium needed by the country’s two nuclear power plants Angra I and II, located here, according to the official.
He also said that the country’s uranium production would quadruple in the next five years, which means it will rise from the current 400 tonnes per year to an annual 1,600 tonnes in 2012.
To that end, INB will start exploring a mine in Ceara state, and expand operations at another in the Bahia state, both in northeast Brazil, the official said.
The company, which is subordinated to the ministry of science and technology, will adopt a new exploration technique, aimed at increasing efficiency in the ore extraction process by 20 percent, he added.
“If the country grows by 4.1 percent per year, we will have four more plants by 2030 and, if it grows 5.1 percent per year, we will have eight other plants. Then, INB needs to be prepared,” said Tranjan, referring to GDP rise prospects supplied by the government.
Brazil takes sixth place in the world in terms of proven reserves of uranium, with an estimated 309,000 tonnes. Tranjan said the figure could rise to 800,000 tonnes in the future.