Ilmenite Export was banned by some State and Central Government officials in the name of controlling illegal mining. Very big companies of developed countries are involved in this Ban. Those who could not able to compete with Indian Companies in terms of quality and supply schedule , they use this illegal tactics to control Indian Export. Already some people made complaints to the government to enquire about this. But now the government is run by officials and upper cast people. They don’t know about the pain of the employees. Thank to the media who bring the impact to light. One of the News published is given below.
Tag: Sundaram IAS
Our objection mail send to Mongabay digital media about beach mineral industry
——— Forwarded message ———-
From: Pauldurai Perumal <president@beachminerals.org>
Date: Sat, Feb 10, 2018 at 12:10 PM
Subject: Objection to your article “Demand for sand leads to global ecological crisis” published on 8.2.18
To: mongabay@mongabay.com, maria@mongabay.com, editor@mongabay.com
Sir,
This has reference to your article “Demand for sand leads to global ecological crisis” in your official website on 8th Feb 2018.
We register our objection for the above said news relating to Tamilnadu beach mineral mining.
In your article you have referred that, illegal beach sand mining for construction purpose. Please note in India beach sand will not be used for construction purpose. But Industrial heavy mineral (beach minerals) are permitted to mine from the beach with proper mining lease granted by the State Govt., with the approval of the Central Govt., and with Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ ) clearance issued by Govt., of India and approved mining plan duly approved by Govt., of India.
The CRZ Clearance will be issued after detailed study of EIA and EMP reports prepared by the authorized agencies who are having accreditation from NABL, Govt., of India. The Mining plans also can be prepared by the registered qualified person duly approved by Govt., of India. In addition to in India, Ministry of Mines, Indian Bureau of Mines implemented Satellite Surveillance system to find out illegal mining. Hence there is no possibility for illegal mining. Before implementation of the above said system, two companies by name Indian Garnet Sand Company and Southern Enterprises which are associated with Ex-Central Minister Mr. Dhanuskodi Adithan involved in large scale illegal mining, the government take stringent action and determine their mining leases. By going through the article, we can understand that, it is based on the inputs from one Sandhya Ravishankar.
In fact, Sandhya Ravishankar is gang member who are threatening industrialist in a modern way and demand money. In Tamilnadu her title name is paid news reporter Sandhya Ravishakar. If we pay some money to prepare a story against a persons or a group she will perfectly do the same. Since she is a woman, our Indian law protect her.
They all are criminals. Retired IAS officers and IPS officers also in the part of gang. They will collect money and share among them. A small portion is spend to the fellow reporters and some digital shell media’s. Some printed media’s who did not receive any advertisement from VV Mineral group companies also joined with them. The officers who are in service also by misusing the power do some wrong. You can see the video available in http://www.beachminerals.org/video-home/ which will establish that, one district Collector has done wrong as per the advice of the Retd. IAS officer who is also a gang member. You can also find out the documents and complaint petition against the District Collector on the above said website.
A sizeable gang joined hands in spreading false stories against Tamilnadu Beach Mineral Industries. For this they get remuneration not only from other state competitors, but also from overseas competitors for Indian Beach Minerals. This gang operates FOR MONEY comprises of VVM competitor Daya Devadas, an ILLEGAL MINOR, and retired government officials like Ramanujam, IPS, Sundaram, IAS, Prof.Victor Rajamanickam and also some officers in power. Sandhya Ravisankar also one of the gang member. The above combo of rivals of VV Mineral with paid news writers Sandhya Ravishankar and more freelancers, brings up false allegations against VV Mineral. The ultimate motive is to spoil the fame of Mr. Vaikundarajan and to destroy his business and to prejudice the judiciary as well as Government against VV Mineral. Sandhya’s Husband company delta4cast demand some contract in News-7 Tamil which belongs to VV Mineral Group company. Since Ravishankar demand was not complied, both husband and wife spread false stories in various ways. This personal enmity also one of the reason.
Sandhya Ravisankar has been continuously placing false allegations against VV Mineral, without any proof. Already Sandhya published a false news in the Economic Times, when we send reply they themselves accept that, the facts are not verified and published clarification available in http://www.southernmines.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Economic-Times-Apologise-news.jpg
Lot of documents, evidences and reply to the wild allegations made by Sandhya and other shell medias for money all are available in the following links.
You can find out the same.
All the reported matters on “beach Mineral mining in Tamilnadu” in your article are absolutely farcical and bereft of truth in them. All these reports are totally false and baseless. The PIL writ petition is filed by one Victor Raja Manikam who is the employee of VV Mineral competitor Mr. Dhayadevadas. Since the writ petition is pending before the court, we don’t want to disclose more about the same. In fact, without environmental study and environmental management plan and public hearing, no environmental clearance can be granted. So your article regarding beach sand mining is false. We have more than 10000 employees who are working in the beach mineral mining. No single employee or their family member were affected either kidney ailments or cancer or any other major disease until now. It is pertinent to point out here that no such ailments to the people living in the village adjoining to the mining area. But for the money get for spreading the false news , the paid news reporter gang spread this false news. You know very well that kidney ailment is a common all over the world.
All the allegations levelled against the beach mineral industries were already leveled by paid news report Sandhya Gang. Competent officials make detailed enquiry and submit report refuting the allegations. All the report copies and the motive behind spreading this type of false news including the nexus among the gang members all are available in our official website www.beachminerals.org in video form as well as documents.
In fact, in Tamilnadu except Govt., of India Company, Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) , all the private beach mineral mining lessees has obtained Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Clearance from Govt., of India and other Govt., agencies.
For your information during 2004, Tsunami in Tamilnadu, except private mining lease area, Govt., company mining lease areas are affected. Particularly more than 400 people died in a Govt., Company mining lease area village Colachel of Kanyakumari District, as, their operation is without getting CRZ clearance.
Thanks to National Green Tribunal (NGT), which stayed the operations of all the beach mineral mining lessees without CRZ Clearance.
All over Tamilnadu total 61 beach mineral mining leases granted to private companies. Out of which five mining lease belongs to Southern Enterprises and Indian Garnet Sand Company were determined by Government for illegal mining of 3.9 million M.Tons. You can see the same from our website.
You have mentioned that, export is made after the stoppage of mining operation. Is there any restriction to export the existing royalty suffered minerals available with the lessees and reflected in the stock register prior to the stoppage?
Therefore, your report reflects the article cooked by paid news reporter Sandhya Ravishankar. A section of Medias are here to write against Tamilnadu private mining lessees for which they have get remuneration. If you go through our association website you can find out lot of information about the motive and nexus behind this false news spread against our members.
One of our member VV Mineral have filed two criminal cases against Sandhya Ravi Shankar for misreporting the facts, and it is still pending. She also filed one civil case against VV Mineral, which is also still pending in the City civil court, Chennai.
Everybody knows that the work allotted to Sandhya Ravishankar is to make negative and false stories against Tamilnadu beach mineral industries particularly VV group companies and thereby prejudice the judiciary. Whenever there is a hearing in the High court, she will aptly publish a false story just to prejudice the judges and create undue influence on the judges by sending the link to them through twitter or through mail. This is what Sandhya are paid for and that is exactly what she has done so far. We are very sad to inform you that, it is not right to publish a news against this beach mineral industry even without a cross verification with the concerned persons or our association.
Paid news reporter Sandhya Ravishankar husband also creating the fake stories and hand over the same to Malayalam media which are close to her husband.
Since the pending case will be listed for hearing in the High Court very near, she and her husband and other gang members make this publish through your digital media.
So Please go through the above said links and find out the real fact and motive about this people who are writing for money and publish our objection in your website.
Regards
N.Pauldurai @ Perumal
President
Copy of mail send to Ecologist for one adverse news published about Tamilnadu Beach Mineral Mining
From: Pauldurai Perumal <president@beachminerals.org>
Date: Fri, Feb 9, 2018 at 10:41 AM
Subject: Objection to your Article on 08.2.18 as “They stole the beach’ – the major mafia that almost nobody wants to talk about”
To: michael@emsm.org.uk, editor@theecologist.org, accounts@resurgence.org, members@resurgence.org
Sirs,
This has reference to your article on 08.02.2018 as “They stole the beach’ – the major mafia that almost nobody wants to talk about”
In your article you have referred lot of beaches. You mentioned about the beach mineral mining in Tamilnadu. One of the person mentioned by you is Mr. Ravi Shankar, who is non-other, but the husband of paid news reporter Mrs. Sandhya Ravi Shankar. We send our objection relating to the news of beach mineral mining in Tamilnadu.
In fact, Sandhya Ravishankar is gang member who are threatening industrialist in a modern way and demand money. They all are criminals. Retired IAS officers and IPS officers also in the part of gang. They will collect money and share among them. A small portion is spend to the fellow reporters and some digital shell media’s. Some printed media’s who did not receive any advertisement from Mr.S.Vaikundarajan group companies also joined with them. The officers who are in service also by misusing the power do some wrong. You can see the video available in http://www.beachminerals.org/video-home/ which will establish that, one district Collector has done wrong as per the advice of the Retd. IAS officer who is also a gang member. You can also find out the documents and complaint petition against the District Collector on the above said website.
A sizeable gang joined hands and is continuously harassing VV Mineral and its owner Mr. Vaikundarajan. This gang operates FOR MONEY comprises of VVM competitor Daya Devadas, an ILLEGAL MINOR, and retired government officials like Ramanujam, IPS, Sundaram, IAS, Prof.Victor Rajamanickam, Danuskodi Adithan, EX.Central Minister and also some officers in power. Sandhya Ravisankar joined this gang through her close friend Radhika, daughter of Sundaram. The above combo of rivals of VV Mineral with paid news writers Sandhya Ravishankar and more freelancers, brings up false allegations against VV Mineral. The ultimate motive is to spoil the fame of Mr. Vaikundarajan and to destroy his business and to prejudice the judiciary as well as Government against VV Mineral. Sandhya’s Husband company delta4cast demand some contract in News-7 Tamil which belongs to VV Mineral Group company. Since Ravishankar demand was not complied, both husband and wife spread false stories in various ways. This personal enmity also one of the reason.
Sandhya Ravisankar has been continuously placing false allegations against VV Mineral, without any proof. Already Sandhya published a false news in the Economic Times, when we send reply they themselves accept that, the facts are not verified and published clarification available in goo.gl/ZP7vdV
In the Mafia Gang, some Retired IAS, IPS officers also members including Mr.Ramanujam, Retd. DGP. Ramanujam and Sandhya Ravishankar will regularly meet in a coffee shop namely ANOKHI CAFÉ opposite to Park Plaza Hotel in the smoking zone and they prepare the criminal plan. When VV Mineral take steps to file criminal case, to avoid the same, Sandhya has filed a civil case against the company which is also pending.
Lot of documents, evidences and reply to the wild allegations made by Sandhya and other shell medias for money all are available in the following links.
You can find out the same.
All the reported matters on “beach Mineral mining in Tamilnadu” in your article are absolutely farcical and bereft of truth in them. Due to business rivalry and personal jealousy and animosity, the former Union Minister Thiru. Dhanushkodi Adithan associated company’s (M/s.Indian Garnet Sand Company) one of the partners viz., Thiru Dhayadevadoss in collusion with the said Union Minister’s political influence has been in the habit of spreading false reports through all types of media. All these reports are totally false and baseless. The 100% verification reports of the officials of Central and State Governments in the past will testify to the fact that the reports being circulated through the media are farce and nothing but false. In so far as beach sand mineral concessions are concerned, clearances from as many as 10 various departments of both Central and State Governments have to be necessarily obtained as per the mandates of the “statutory rules” without which no mining leases for beach mineral sand can be obtained and operated.
All the allegations levelled against M/s.V.V. Mineral were all examined in detail by various authorities then and there and all the report copies were obtained under RTI and posted in our website www.beachmineral.org .
In fact, in Tamilnadu except Govt., of India Company, Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) , all the private beach mineral mining lessees has obtained Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Clearance from Govt., of India and other Govt., agencies.
For your information during 2004, Tsunami in Tamilnadu, except private mining lease area, Govt., company mining lease areas are affected. Particularly more than 400 people died in a Govt., Company mining lease area village Colachel of Kanyakumari District, as, their operation is without getting CRZ clearance.
Thanks to National Green Tribunal (NGT), which stayed the operations of all the beach mineral mining lessees without CRZ Clearance.
In your article, you have mentioned that lot of quantity have been illegally mined and transported. In fact there is no need for this. All over Tamilnadu total 61 beach mineral mining leases granted to private companies. Out of which five mining lease belongs to Mr. Dhanuskodi Adithan Ex.Congress Central Minister Group were determined by Government for illegal mining of 3.9 million M.Tons. You can see the same from www.beachminerals.org.
You have mentioned that, export is made after the stoppage of mining operation. Is there any restriction to export the existing royalty suffered minerals available with the lessees and reflected in the stock register prior to the stoppage?
In India already satellite Remote Sensing facilities are established by Govt., of India, Ministry of Mines. It will find out the illegal mining and send report to the State Government. So there is no possibility for illegal mining.
Therefore, your report against beach sand mining in Tamilnadu may be collected from some Indian Medias who are dancing according to our competitors tune. A section of Medias are here to write against Tamilnadu private mining lessees for which they have get remuneration. If you go through our association website www.beachminerals.org you can find out lot of information about the motive and nexus behind this false news spread against our members.
One of our member VV Mineral have filed two criminal cases against Sandhya Ravi Shankar for misreporting the facts, and it is still pending. She also filed one civil case against VV Mineral, which is also still pending in the City civil court, Chennai.
Everybody knows that the work allotted to Sandhya Ravishankar is to make negative and false stories against Tamilnadu beach mineral industries particularly VV group companies and thereby prejudice the judiciary. Whenever there is a hearing in the High court, she will aptly publish a false story just to prejudice the judges and create undue influence on the judges. This is what Sandhya are paid for and that is exactly what she has done so far.
Her husband also creating the fake stories and hand over the same to Malayalam media which are close to her husband. We believe that they get remuneration for this stories from overseas competitors also.
Since the pending case will be listed for hearing in the High Court very near, she and her husband and other gang members make this para reflect on your article.
So Please go through the above said links and find out the real fact and motive about this people who are writing for money and publish our objection in your website.
Regards
N.Pauldurai @ Perumal
President
கதிர்வீச்சு அனைவரும் தெரிய வேண்டிய உண்மைகள்
No power to District Collector under MCDR – Information Commission confirmed
No information available regarding powers delegated to District Collector to take action about mining plans approved by AMD
No powers have been delegated to district Collector or the District Level Committee or the Deputy Director of Geology and Mining of the District to initiate action for the violations of mining plans approved by AMD under provisions of Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988 or MCDR, 2017 with respect to Garnet, Ilmenite, Rutile, Zircon, Silimanite and Leucoxene minerals – Such informations are not available with AMD. They replied vide their letter dated 13.10.2017. This for the members kind information.
Our objection mail to New Indian Express Article “Greed for atomic minerals to leave Tamilnadu in peril”
From: Pauldurai Perumal <president@beachminerals.org>
Date: Sat, Oct 14, 2017 at 8:26 AM
Subject: Objection to your article “Greed for atomic minerals to leave Tamilnadu in peril”
To: writetous@newindianexpress.com, feedback@expressindia.com, rvsm@newindianexpress.com, jayshree@newindianexpress.com
To
The Editor,
New Indian Express,
Chennai
Sir,
This has the reference to the article in your paper under the heading “Greed for atomic minerals to leave Tamilnadu in peril” is damaging the entire beach minerals industry in India and Tamilnadu in particular without any understanding of the issues involved. The article links the MOEF notification to totally unconnected report of the amicus curie appointed by the court is subjudice.
We are bringing to your attention that the use of the word “horrific” amendment mentioned in the article shows that the article written without any understanding of the reality and the meaning of the notification. Mining of atomic minerals/ rare minerals are already permitted activity in CRZ, the only requirement was that clearance needs to be obtained.
The article mentions that Tamilnadu has the highest concentration of the monazite mineral which is not really true. The monazite content is very high only in Manavalakurichi, west coast of Kanyakumari district and not throughout Tamilnadu. The said Manavalakurichi area is leased to IRE Ltd, a Govt., company. The East coast area were leases granted to private companies content monazite percentage less than 0.5%. As per the Atomic Minerals Concession rules 2016, wherever the monazite content in the total heavy mineral (THM) is more than 0.75%, only the government entities are allowed to mine and produce the minerals and no private entity is allowed to mine such deposits.
Another apprehension is that these resources may land up in foreign soil. India has almost one third of the world’s reserves of ilmenite mineral, but accounts for a mere 4% of global production. There is huge growth potential for BSM in India, but until now it has not received the focused attention of the Governments to develop this industry. The strategic importance of these minerals and the possible downstream industries to produce value added products from Ilmenite, zircon and monazite remains an untapped opportunity till now. If these can be achieved will give a boost to the manufacturing sector and economic development of the country with significant revenues. Monazite contains 0.35% of uranium, 8-10% of thorium and 65% rare earths. Rare Earth is today’s sought after material and China is dominating the world with a 95% share. Just now only Indian Govt., get the technology from Japan for cracking monazite. Accordingly IRE Ltd is establishing the same in Orissa State. The statement that “Tamilnadu has already been plundered violating CRZ norms “ is not at all true. It is worth mentioning that only Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) is mining on the beach and as a public sector, without getting CRZ clearance. All the private mining lessees have obtained CRZ clearances and comply the terms and conditions. Hence it is not possible to plunder due to strict guidelines being followed. For your information, during Tsunami more than 400 persons died in IRE Ltd mining lease area surrounding villages. Whereas there is no causality near the private mining lease areas, since they follow the CRZ norms strictly.
Another point mentioned is that maximum erosion occurred at Sippikulam, Kalaignanapuram and Periasamypuram zones. So far no beach sand mining activity is going on these areas. This itself makes it clear that the erosion is not due to beach sand mineral mining and there is no evidence so far to prove that beach sand minerals mining is causing erosion. You know very well that beach erosion is a global issue due to Global warming. You yourself has published number of articles about this. The scientist you mentioned Dr.Chandrasekar is close friend Dhayadevadas, he has created forgery documents to support Dhayadevadas and Govt., also ordered enquiry about him. We are ready to furnish the above details to you. For your information there is no sea erosion in any of the private beach mineral mining lease areas, since they follow the CRZ conditions strictly.
It is mentioned “ that no comprehensive study has been brought to public forum about the health effects of these radiations. “The incidences of cancer has been rising over the decades and most victims from Manavalakuruchi and Midalam, approach the Regional Cancer Centre in Thiruvananthapuram or the International Cancer Centre , by CSI Medical Mission at Neyyoor. “These cases are however are not mapped back to radioactivity,” he said claiming that the incidence of the disease is relatively lower the farther one lives from atomic mining areas. This statement shows the total ignorance of the individual who had made it. If the above statement is true, why peoples are affected by cancer in other areas. When the employees who are working full time with this minerals are not affected, how the general public will affected? The beach sand minerals mining and separation normally removes the radioactive monazite from the background reducing the background radiation which normally affects public. The background radiation levels is normally reduced by a factor of five to ten where the mining is carried out and these had been already studied and recorded by agencies like AERB and BARC.
If the minerals occurring on the coast if not mined when accretion happens, is normally carried to the neighboring countries due to the tidal waves and is a loss to the nation.
We request that these facts may also be brought to the attention of the public as well as the concerned departments.
Yours truly
N.Pauldurai@Perumal
President
Beach Mineral Producers Assocition
Radioactivity in Nature
Radioactivity in Nature | |
Our world is radioactive and has been since it was created. Over 60 radionuclides (radioactive elements) can be found in nature, and they can be placed in three general categories:
Radionuclides are found naturally in air, water and soil. They are even found in us, being that we are products of our environment. Every day, we ingest and inhale radionuclides in our air and food and the water. Natural radioactivity is common in the rocks and soil that makes up our planet, in water and oceans, and in our building materials and homes. There is nowhere on Earth that you can not find Natural Radioactivity. Radioactive elements are often called radioactive isotopes or radionuclides or just nuclides. There are over 1,500 different radioactive nuclides. Often, radionuclides are symbolized based on the element and on the atomic weight, as in the case of radioactive hydrogen or tritium with an atomic weight of 3 is shown as H-3 or 3H. As another example, Uranium with the atomic weight of 235 would be shortened to U-235 or 235U. Much of the information and many of tables found on this page are adapted from information found in Environmental Radioactivity from Natural, Industrial and Military Sources by Merrill Eisenbud and Tom Gesell, Academic Press, Inc. 4th Edition. Some tables are adapted from the National Council on Radiation Protection reports 94 and 95. References are listed at the bottom of this page. Several of the tables below were produced by calculations based on available data. Note: Many of the units used in science are broken down into smaller units or expressed as multiples, using standard metric prefixes. As examples, a kilobecquerel (kBq) in 1000 becquerels, a millirad (mrad) is 10-3 rad, a microrem (µrem) is 10-6 rem, a nanogram is 10-9 grams, and a picocurie is a 10-12 curies. These are examples of units used frequently throughout this short paper. To find definitions of terms or units you’re not familiar with, look on our glossary page. Common abbreviations used on this page are: m – meter, m3 – cubic meter, g – gram, kg – kilogram, Bq – becquerel, Sv – sievert, Gy – gray, Ci – curie, ppm – parts per million, yr – year, hr – hour, L – liter In the United States, the annual estimated average effective dose equivalent from radiation is 360 mrem per adult. This is broken down as:
Shown in the table above, 82% of the total average annual effective dose is from natural sources of radiation, and of that, most is from radon. Of the other 18%, the majority is from medical diagnosis and treatments, with <1% from nuclear power and fallout. This can perhaps be more easily seen with a graph (6K) You can also calculate your own background radiation from this EPA website. See Radiation and Us for more info on average U.S. doses of radiation. United States Geological Survey map of estimated total gamma exposure for the U.S. (78 k) Primordial radionuclidesPrimordial radionuclides are left over from when the world and the universe were created. They are typically long lived, with half-lives often on the order of hundreds of millions of years. Radionuclides that exist for more than 30 half-lives are not measurable. The progeny or decay products of the long lived radionuclides are also in this heading. Here is some basic information on some common primordial radionuclides:
Some nuclides like 232Th have several members of its decay chain. You can roughly follow the chain starting with 232Th 232Th –> 228Ra –> 228Ac –> 228Th –> 224Ra –> You can see how the decay process works with this interesting Decay In Action website Some other primordial radionuclides are 50V, 87Rb, 113Cd, 115In, 123Te, 138La, 142Ce, 144Nd, 147Sm, 152Gd, 174Hf, 176Lu, 187Re, 190Pt, 192Pt, 209Bi. United States Geological Survey Digital maps of estimated potassium, equivalent uranium-238, equivalent thorium-232 concentrations for the conterminous U.S. CosmogenicCosmic radiation permeates all of space, the source being primarily outside of our solar system. The radiation is in many forms, from high speed heavy particles to high energy photons and muons. The upper atmosphere interacts with many of the cosmic radiations, and produces radioactive nuclides. They can have long half-lives, but the majority have shorter half-lives than the primordial nuclides. Here is a table with some common cosmogenic nuclides:
Some other cosmogenic radionuclides are 10Be, 26Al, 36Cl, 80Kr, 14C, 32Si, 39Ar, 22Na, 35S, 37Ar, 33P, 32P, 38Mg, 24Na, 38S, 31Si, 18F, 39Cl, 38Cl, 34mCl. Human ProducedHumans have used radioactivity for one hundred years, and through its use, added to the natural inventories. The amounts are small compared to the natural amounts discussed above, and due to the shorter half-lives of many of the nuclides, have seen a marked decrease since the halting of above ground testing of nuclear weapons. Here are a few human produced or enhanced nuclides:
Other Interesting Aspects of Natural RadioactivityNatural Radioactivity in soilHow much natural radioactivity is found in a volume of soil that is 1 square mile, by 1 foot deep? The following table is calculated for this volume (total volume is 7.894 x 105 m3) and the listed activities. It should be noted that activity levels vary greatly depending on soil type, mineral make-up and density (~1.58 g/cm3 used in this calculation). This table represents calculations using typical numbers.
Natural Radioactivity in the OceanHow much natural radioactivity is found in the world’s oceans? All water on the Earth, including seawater, has some radionuclides in it. In the following table, the oceans’ volumes were calculated from the 1990 World Almanac:
The activities used in the table below are from 1971 Radioactivity in the Marine Environment, National Academy of Sciences:
FoodEvery food has some small amount of radioactivity in it. The common radionuclides in food are potassium 40 (40K), radium 226 (226Ra) and uranium 238 (238U) and the associated progeny. Here is a table of some of the common foods and their levels of 40K and 226Ra.
Ref: Handbook of Radiation Measurement and Protection, Brodsky, A. CRC Press 1978 and Environmental Radioactivity from Natural, Industrial and Military Sources, Eisenbud, M and Gesell T. Academic Press, Inc. 1997.Human bodyYou are made up of chemicals, and it should be of no surprise that some of them are radionuclides, many of which you ingest daily in your water and food. Here are the estimated concentrations of radionuclides calculated for a 70,000 gram adult based ICRP 30 data:
It would be reasonable to assume that all of the radionuclides found in your environment would be in you in some small amounts. The average annual dose equivalent from the internal deposited radionuclides is given in the table at the top of this page. Natural Radioactivity in Building MaterialsAs mentioned before, building materials have some radioactivity in them. Listed below are a few of common building materials and their estimated levels of uranium, thorium and potassium.
Oklo Natural ReactorAdapted from August 1976 Scientific American article on Oklo by Cowan. In 1972, natural nuclear reactor was found in a Western Africa in the Republic of Gabon, at Oklo. While the reactor was critical, approximately 1.7 billion years ago, it released 15,000 megawatt-years of energy by consuming six tons of uranium. It operated over several hundred thousand years at low power. It was discovered by a French mining geologist while assaying samples for the Oklo Uranium mine. Today, the fissionable Uranium 235 has an natural abundance of 0.7202%, but the scientist noticed some samples from Oklo to be 0.7171%. While this difference was small, it started the scientists to ponder and take a look closer at the Oklo site. Later, samples were found more depleted, down to 0.44%. This difference could only be explained if some of the fuel, the 235U, had been used up in a fission reaction. Upon further investigation, abnormally high amounts of fission products were found in six separate reactor zones. Like present day power reactors, a natural reactor would require several special condition, namely fuel, a moderator, a reflector, lack of neutron absorbing poisons and some way to remove the heat generated. At Oklo, the area was naturally loaded with uranium by water transport and deposition. The concentration of Uranium 235 is artificially enriched for most modern reactors, but at the time of the Oklo reactor it was naturally enriched with an abundance of approximately 3%. This is because when the world was formed, there was a certain amount of 235U, and it has been decaying ever since. So, because 235U has a shorter half-life than 238U, so one billion years ago ,235U made up a larger percentage of the natural uranium. The 3% 235U was enough for a sustained nuclear reaction. Oklo site was saturated with groundwater, which served as a moderator, reflector and cooling for the fission reaction. There was a lack of poisons before the reaction began, and fission products like xenon and neodymium serve as neutron absorbing poisons, absorbing neutrons, acting to limit the power. To confirm that there was a natural fission reactor, the scientists started looking for other evidence. First they wanted to look for some element that might have been produced in a reactor, but would have little natural occurrence elsewhere. They looked at several, but neodymium gave strong indications of the reactor had indeed operated. Neodymium has seven stable isotopes, but only six are fission products. The abundance of the neodymium at Oklo sites was compared to other areas and to the neodymium found in modern reactors. Once the samples were compared, the abundance of neodymium was found to be almost exactly that found in present day reactors. All in all, the fission products studied matched what would have been the result of a sustained nuclear reaction. There is even evidence that the reactor bread its own fuel, bombarding the 238U with neutrons, making the easily fissionable 239Pu. Some other interesting information has come out of this, over half of the thirty fission products found there were confined to the reactor zones, with all plutonium immobilized. The strontium was mainly confined to the local zones, with some release to environment estimated from krypton 85 and cesium 137 One of the greatest works of the 20th century was the building of the first atomic pile (nuclear reactor) in Chicago in 1941 by Enrico Fermi. It took some of the brightest minds in modern physics and great engineering efforts to duplicate what nature did two billion years earlier. Editors note: Despite some wild baseless claims, there is no evidence or even credible theory that the Oklo natural reactor was anything but a natural phenomenon. The 6 reactor zones are spread over a huge area that was a uranium mine during the time it was first discovered. The reactor zones were the result of natural physical processes, active for thousands of years. For more information on the Oklo Reactor, try:
High Background Radiation AreasBackground radiation levels are from a combination of terrestrial (from the 40K, 232Th, 226Ra, etc.) and cosmic radiation (photons, muons, etc.). The level is fairly constant over the world, being 8-15 µrad/hr. The US EPA has an on-line calculator to let you calculate your own annual background dose. Around the world though, there are some areas with sizable populations that have high background radiation levels. The highest are found primarily in Brazil, India and China. The higher radiation levels are due to high concentrations of radioactive minerals in soil. One such mineral, Monazite, is a highly insoluble rare earth mineral that occurs in beach sand together with the mineral ilmenite, which gives the sands a characteristic color. The principal radionuclides in monazite are from the 232Th series, but there is also some uranium its progeny, 226Ra. In Brazil, the monazite sand deposits are found along certain beaches. The external radiation levels on these black sands range up to 5 mrad/hr (50 µGy/hr), which is almost 400 times normal background in the US. Some of the major streets of the surrounding cites have radiation levels as high as 0.13 mrad/hr (1.3 µGy/hr), which is more than 10 times the normal background. Another high background area in Brazil is the result of large rare earth ore deposits that form a hill that rises about 250 meters above the surrounding area. An ore body near the top of the hill is very near the surface, and contains an estimated 30,000 tons of thorium and 100,000 tons of rare earth elements. The radiation levels near the top of the hill are 1 to 2 mrad/hr (0.01 to 0.02 mGy/hr) over an area of about 30,000 m2. The plants found there have absorbed so much 228Ra, that they can will produce a self “x-ray” if placed on a sheet of photographic paper (an autoradiographed). On the Southwest coast of India, the monazite deposits are larger than those in Brazil. The dose from external radiation is, on average, similar to the doses reported in Brazil, 500-600 mrad/yr (5 – 6 mGy/yr), but individual doses up to 3260 mrad/yr (32.6 mGy/yr) have been reported. An area in China, has does rates that is about 300-400 mrad/yr (3-4 mGy/yr). This is also from monazite that contains thorium, uranium and radium. From BEIR V, National Research Council report on Health Effects of Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation:
Cosmic RadiationCosmic radiation as discussed above, upon interaction with our atmosphere produces cosmogenic radionuclides. It also is responsible for a whole body doses. Cosmic radiation is really divided into two types, primary and secondary. Primary cosmic radiation is made up of extremely high energy particles (up to 1018 eV), and are mostly protons, with some larger particles. A large percentage of it comes from outside of our solar system and is found throughout space. Some of the primary cosmic radiation is from our sun, produced during solar flares. Little of the primary cosmic radiation penetrates to the Earth’s surface, the vast majority of it interacts with the atmosphere. When it does interact, it produces the secondary cosmic radiation, or what we actually see here on Earth. These reactions produce other lower energy radiations in the form of photons, electrons, neutrons and muons that make it to the surface. The atmosphere and the Earth’s magnetic fields also act as shields against cosmic radiation, reducing the amount that reaches the Earth’s surface. With that in mind, it is easy to see that the annual dose you get from cosmic radiation depends on what altitude you are at. From cosmic radiation the U.S., the average person will receive a dose of 27 mrem per year and this roughly doubles every 6,000 foot increase in elevation. Typical Cosmic Radiation Dose rates:
There is only about a 10% decrease at sea level in cosmic radiation rates when going from pole to the equator, but at 55,000 feet the decrease is 75%. This is on account of the effect of the earth’s and the Sun’s geomagnetic fields on the primary cosmic radiations. Flying can add a few extra mrem to your annual dose, depending on how often you fly, how high the plane flies, and how long you are in the air.
Other sites with good information on cosmic radiation is The Exposure Of New Zealand Aircrew To Cosmic Radiation, Australian Aircrew To Cosmic Radiation and SEC Radiation Hazard page Astronauts are exposed to cosmic radiation, but they are also exposed to radiation as they pass through the Van Allen radiation belts that circle the Earth.
References and Additional Information Sources
|
Source : https://sites.google.com/isu.edu/health-physics-radinf/radioactivity-in-nature?authuser=0
Why India, the world’s third largest power producer is energy poor
Why India, the world’s third largest power producer is energy poor

POINTS BY BEACH MINERALS PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION TO FIMI
POINTS BY BEACH MINERALS PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION TO FIMI FOR SPECIFIC FOCUS ON BEACH SAND MINERALS SECTOR FOR CONSIDERATION OF NITI AYOG’S WORKING GROUP RELATED TO MINERALS SECTOR .
BACKGROUND:
The Beach Sand Minerals (BSM) occur together and consist of ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, zircon, garnet, sillimanite and monazite. mining of BSM in India is more than one hundred years old. BSM occur as placer deposits along the costal stretch of our country are the sources of titanium, zirconium, thorium and rare earths in the country. India presently imports titanium, zirconium and rare earths and components made of rare earth elements (REEs). The individual mineral contents vary from location to location. India has 35% of the world reserves of these minerals. Despite the abundant reserves, known for more than one century, the production to reserve ratio of the country is a meagre 0.0018 against the global PRR of 0.01. Developing this sector therefore will give a strong focus in the development of a “NEW INDIA”.
CURRENT SCENERIO:
The government of India introduced the “Policy on Beach Sand Minerals” in 1998, pursuant to National Mineral Policy in 1991, as a positive step, opening up the sector to private participation. The delisting of the titanium and zirconium bearing minerals from the list of prescribed substances with a recommendation to the ministry of mines(MOM) to remove these from the list of atomic minerals vide S.O. 61(E) dated 18-01-2006 with effect from 01-01-2007 or from the date of amendment to the MMDR Act, whichever is earlier gave further thrust.
Unfortunately, the MMDR Amendment Act 2015 did not take cognizance of these recommendations and instead took the retrograde step of including even garnet and sillimanite as Atomic minerals which were never in the list of schedule minerals or Atomic Minerals.
The introduction of AMCR 2016 unilaterally without discussion with stake holders restricting private sector participation by introduction of threshold value and reservation to public sector which denies a level playing field and annuls the policy of 1998 was another retrograde step by the MOM. The fixing of threshold value as 0.75% of monazite in THM is irrational as thorium content of monazite is only 8% which translates to 0.06% of thorium in THM. Putting the future of the BSM mining in the country based on the threshold value denies the opportunity to extract and produce the rare earths the content of which is 65% in the monazite mineral and the development of other associated strategic minerals.
AMCR 2016 restricts exploration by private entities. This contradicts the MMDR Act which permits private sector to carry out prospecting and is against the principle of natural justice.
The recently amended MMDR Act has a provision for reservation to public sector companies especially the creamy layers. Such reservation denies a level playing field to private sector companies especially and is opposed to the very spirit of the 1998 policy which encouraged and invited private sector investment in the beach minerals sector. This provision will totally hamper the growth of the BSM mining in the country
SUGGESTIONS TO MOVE FORWARD:
- Necessary legislative changes to remove BSM from the category of atomic minerals from part B of schedule of MMDR Act and categorise them under a separate part C as envisaged in the draft MMDR Act 2011.
- Private sector companies also may be permitted in mining, separation and further processing of all minerals including monazite by removing the restrictions based on threshold value limits. Suitable safeguards for handing over the thorium and uranium values to government/ nominated agency may be devised.
- India has 70% of world monazite reserves of the world, but imports 100% of its needs of rare earth and rare earth based components presently. Rare earths are strategic and critical materials needed by mankind in everyday living apart from strategic uses in magnets, aerospace, medical, clean technologies, automobiles and electronics. Development of the rare earth production business in India will not only make India self sufficient, but also spin off several downstream manufacturing businesses creating a platform for capital investment, employment creation under the “Make In India” program.
- It is a known fact that China controls over 95% of world’s rare earth supply and total dependence on China by the world is undesirable. Consequently, at present developed nations of the world are looking for alternates and substitutes for REEs. Now is the opportune moment for India to focus on rare earths production and become a leading player in REEs as otherwise India’s REE sources may loose relevance in course of time.
- If private sector is given a level playing field in the BSM sector and India can expand to achieve the PRR of 0.01, and value add all minerals and develop down stream industries utilising the value added products, it is estimated that such a growth in this sector would attract capital investment of over 1.00 lakh crores and create job opportunities for over a million people in India.
- Review the Reservation as per 17A of MMDR Act to Public Sector Units.
- If auction route is to be adopted, there it must be preceded by a techno-economic shortlisting of the interested applicants.
- Considering the “zero waste” principle, necessary modifications are required to be made in the rules to not only include all the suite minerals in the Lease deed, but also to incentivize exploitation of as many of them as possible.
- Most of the mining projects are not materialising due to want of Forest Clearance. Some of the areas covered under Reserved Forest require relook and denotification and if the mineral rich areas are not biologically rich, the same shall be considered for denotification.
- Blanket restrictions may be removed and permission to mine the deposits should be allowed in ecologically sensitive areas, except where scientific studies and recommendations of experts in the field indicate restrictions to be imposed if any, as also the specific precautions to be taken to fully protect the Environment, including endangered/ scheduled species of Flora and Fauna like the Olive Ridley Turtles during their annual breeding visits.
- As in vogue in developed countries, mining of BSM deposited regularly in the intertidal zone shall be allowed.
- In order to encourage exports, no export duty shall be levied for any BSM products.