Thorium Scam: Analysing the credibility

In the recent past we have encountered various scams amounting to crores of bankroll. Coalgate scam, 2G spectrum scam and many more were some of the scams which brought India to a new rank on the world corruption index. Amidst all these, another dirty pool was claimed to be occurred on which no one paid much heed. It was the behemothic THORIUM SCAM worth 60 lakh crores. So far this is claimed to be the biggest of all scandals in the country. Let us justify the reality behind this mammoth scam.

The beach sands of Tamil Nadu and Kerala are rich in several heavy minerals such as ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, garnet, sillimanite, zircon and monazite. These minerals are used in several industries from steel and electronics to jewellery and ceramics. Monazite contains thorium, a much efficient nuclear fuel. It was illegal to mine these rare earth heavy minerals until recently. The only entity allowed to do so was the government-owned Indian Rare Earths Limited (IERL). In October 1998, the government of India opened sand mining to private companies. The private companies were given license to handle only sand and for handling nuclear material another license was needed to be taken. In January 2006 government introduced single license to handle sand along with nuclear materials. Private companies were now allowed to mine the sands for export of any mineral except monazite. The law retained thorium as a prescribed substance under the Atomic Energy Act and as a result, monazite remained off-limits to private entities. However it was known to law that these minerals were mixed in the sand and therefore the companies handling the beach sand have to get a license under the Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). The company would have to either dispose of the monazite or store it on its premises as per regulations. The Indian government denied private companies the permission to process the monazite for thorium or to export the mineral.

 Broadly speaking, there are four claims for the allegation of scam:-

1.) A private company is exporting thorium-rich sand illegally.
2.) Between 2002 and 2012, approximately 2.1 million tones of monazite have gone missing, which amounts to about 235,000 tones of thorium.
3.) The monazite has not been returned by the private company to the DAE after mining for other minerals.
4.) Only a gentleman’s agreement requires the private company to inform the government about how much monazite they posses. 

  From the year 2004, 235,000 tones of thorium have been claimed to be illegally exported. In a report read to the Lok Sabha in 2012, the AMDER stated that there were 10.7 tones of monazite on India’s beaches; in a similar report prepared in 2002, the AMDER had claimed 12.8 tones of the mineral to be present. This indicates that 2.1 tones of monazite, or approximately 235,000 tones of thorium, had gone missing in between the period!

Now let us analyze it ourselves and find out its authenticity. Firstly, though India is estimated to have the second largest deposits of thorium after Brazil, the nuclear fuel is not exactly rare elsewhere in the world. Any international concern that wished to buy thorium can do so comparatively more easily on the open market rather than breaching any of international and domestic laws. Moreover Thorium cannot be used to make nuclear weapons either, and so even lacks the value of exotic contraband weaponry. Now why anyone would wish to acquire thorium illegally?  

Secondly, the amount of thorium that has allegedly been exported about 235,000 tones is gibberish. If India had 100% of its present energy output, the amount alleged to have gone missing in the scam could power India at present rates for some 700 years.   World consumption of thorium is around ten tones. IREL itself exports barely five tones of monazite per annum. And the most interesting is that the amount alleged to have been exported from India illegally represents 23,500 years of global supplies! Isn't it quite ridiculous?

But there off course remains the question about the missing 2.1 million tones of monazite. Are the DAE’s figures accurate? Is it in fact missing? Or it is merely a hoax?  Nonetheless Thorium holds a great importance for India’s future energy dreams, so government should look into this matter and should secure this precious mineral of India for the wellbeing of our future.

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