 The
highly protected, calm, serene campus of Atomic Minerals
Division (AMD), situated on the busy Sardar Patel
Road, Secunderabad, was open to public on the occasion
of National Science Day on February 28. Hyderabad-best
team visited the AMD campus to know more on AMD and the
reasons for its high security.
As we entered the campus, we were greeted by a variety
of exhibits showing the activities and achievements of
AMD. The junior and senior scientific officers of the
institute were busy explaining the visitors on  their
mode of work. "AMD, which stands for Atomic
Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research, was
established in 1949 as 'Rare Mineral Survey Unit’
under the then Ministry of Natural Resources and Scientific
Research which was subsequently transferred to Atomic
Energy Commission and renamed as ‘Raw Materials
Division’ with its headquarters at New Delhi.
The Division was shifted to Hyderabad in 1974, and re-christened
as Atomic Mineral Division, and was given Directorate
status on July 29, 1998, when it stepped into its Golden
Jubilee Year," explained Mr LS Reddy,
a scientific officer at AMD.
 AMD
is entrusted with the task of finding resources of atomic
minerals containing Uranium, Thorium, Niobium, Tantalum,
Rare Earth Elements, Yttrium, Zirconium, Titanium, Beryllium
and Lithium, which are vital to India's Nuclear
Energy Programme. "For us the task begins
with identification of target-terrains for surveys, which
are selected by studying geological and structural maps,
interpretation of high sensitivity airborne radiometric
data on Uranium, Thorium and using photogeology and remote
sensing techniques. The areas, thus selected are ground
checked, in detail, with portable gamma-ray measuring
instruments such as 'Scintillometer' and 'Geiger-Muller
counter'. Geochemical and geophysical methods are
employed to supplement these studies. Radioactive samples
are collected in different stages of exploration and studied
intensively in various well-equipped laboratories, established
at six regional headquarters in addition to Hyderabad,"
explained Dr Balu, a Senior Scientific Officer
at AMD.
 The
primary objective of AMD is to locate adequate resources
of Uranium and Thorium, AMD's mandate stretches
into selection of sites for nuclear power reactors and
repositories for long term storage of high level and long-lived
radioactive waste. "AMD is playing a vital role
in the country's economy and nuclear energy programme.
The radioactive elements like Uranium and Thorium are
used as nuclear fuels in reactors, Beryllium is a very
light metal and it is widely used in Space shuttles and
the Aeronautical industry," said a scientific
officer. AMD has so far established 90,000 tonnes of Uranium
Oxide. In addition to this, sizeable reserves of
Monazite (6.5 million tonnes) which contains 0.59
million tonnes of Thorium oxide, Ilmenite (278
million tonnes) and Zircon (18 million tonnes)
have been established in the beach and dune placers along
the coastal tracts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Andhra
Pradesh and Maharashtra and the inland placers
of Ranchi district of Bihar, Purulia
district of West Bengal and some parts in
Tamil Nadu.
Apart from exploration and research, AMD is engaged in
designing and fabrication of radiometric instruments,
development of new analytical techniques for multi-elemental
determination at trace and ultratrace levels and petromineragraphic
characterisation and mineral benefaction (up to
pilot-plant scale) of radioactive ores. AMD also provides
guidance to private mine owners in mining and recovery
of atomic minerals as byproducts, their procurement (at
notified Govt. rates) and stockpiling for later use providing
specialised analytical facilities and expertise to sister
agencies, industry and educational research institutions
and issue of monazite-test certificate for private exporters.
The search for the elements to sustain India's Nuclear
Energy Programme is arduous, but AMD's motto is explicit
- 'Those who search - find and we never rest on our
laurels.'
Backdrop of National Science Day
 India
has been celebrating February 28 as National Science
Day since 1987 to commemorate the World famous Scientist
and Nobel Laureate Sir Chandrashekhar Venkat Raman
(CV Raman). On February 28, 1928, Sir C.V. Raman unveiled
his famous theory of 'Raman Effect' which is also
known as 'New Scattering Phenomenon of a Fundamental
Character'. To commemorate the day and to encourage
young scientists of the country, Government of India declared
the day as the National Science Day. Along with AMD, other
premier research institutes situated in Hyderabad like
NGRI, CCMB, IICT and NIN celebrated the day
by organising lectures and seminars on science-related
subjects and exhibiting their achievements and activities.
Address: Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration
& Research, AMD Complex, Begumpet, Hyderabad - 500 016.
Fax: 040-7762940
E-mail: amdhyd@ap.nic.in/
akm@pol.net.in/
atomin@hd1.vsnl.net.in
URL: www.dae.gov.in |
