VZCZCXRO2838
PP RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHCI #0167/01 1580904
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060904Z JUN 08
FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2017
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA PRIORITY 0024
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0110
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RUEILB/NCTC WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0157
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2465

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000167 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENGR EMIN PGOV PHUM ELAB SENV TRGY ASEC IN
SUBJECT: TRIBES NEAR INDIA'S URANIUM MINES SUFFER FROM CONGENITAL 
DEFECTS, CANCER, AND TUBERCULOSIS 
 
REF: 07 KOLKATA 0215 
 
KOLKATA 00000167  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Jadugoda, located in the mineral-rich Singhbum 
district of Jharkhand in Eastern India, supplies much of India's 
uranium needs.  Mining uranium there, however, comes at a 
significant human and environmental cost according to a recent 
study by the non-government organization (NGO) Indian Doctors 
for Peace and Development (IPDP).  Indigenous groups -- the 
Santhal, Munda and Ho tribes -- living close to the mines 
reportedly suffer high-rates of cancer, physical deformities, 
blindness, brain damage and other ailments.  There have been 
repeated leakages from pipes carrying radioactive tailing 
residues, exposing villagers to significant radiation levels. 
The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), which operates 
the mines, refutes the contamination allegations and refuses to 
acknowledge these issues.  Post contacts, citing independent 
research, say that it is difficult to point out any reason other 
than radiation for the apparent human and environmental problems 
at Jadugoda.  The Indian nuclear establishment will have to 
adopt more transparent safety policies and procedures if it 
seeks to expand its capacity. END SUMMARY 
 
----------------------- 
Accidents Happen 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) India's major uranium mining facility at Jadugoda is 
located in Jharkhand, 185 miles Southwest of Kolkata and 15 
miles southeast of Jamshedpur.  The UCIL mines there produced 
1,200 ton of uranium ore per day when they were first 
inaugurated in 1967.  Since then, older sites have been shut 
down and four new sites added, increasing Jadugoda's production 
capacity to 2,090 tons per day in 2007.  The growth in 
operations has also increased the number of accidents and 
leakage of radioactive material, the last one reported as 
recently as February 2008 when a pipe carrying radioactive 
slurry to a reservoir burst, exposing villagers to radiation. 
 
¶3. (U) The media reported earlier that on December 24, 2006, 
another pipe carrying radioactive sludge from the uranium mill 
to a storage dam had burst, discharging its contents into a 
nearby creek (reftel).  The accident occurred in Dungridih, a 
small village near Jadugoda, inhabited by displaced families 
whose land was acquired to construct two of the three dams -- 
known as tailings ponds -- that store this radioactive sludge. 
 
-------------------------- 
Safety claims not credible 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Apparently, UCIL does not have its own alarm system for 
these types of accidents and became aware of the leak from 
villagers who gathered at the site after the pipe had burst. 
Local contacts told Post that the radioactive sludge spewed into 
the creek for nine hours before the flow was shut off.  A thick 
layer of sludge along the surface of the creek killed fish, 
frogs, and other animal life.  UCIL did not alert the 
communities living downstream about the contamination, and local 
newspaper reports said that UCIL quietly repaired the pipe and 
removed the sludge from the creek. 
 
¶5. (U) Frequent leaks in the pipelines are not the only hazard 
Jadugoda's tr