China boasts of 'world-class' uranium deposit discovery, but experts wary
Nuclear industry experts remain wary of China's grand claims for the Inner Mongolia reserve, saying there have been exaggerations in the past
China announced the discovery of a "world-class" uranium deposit in Inner Mongolia yesterday but kept its exact size a secret.
Some nuclear industry experts said the secrecy could be a deliberate government strategy to add to its bargaining power in negotiations to buy uranium mines in other countries.
The reserve, although the largest of its kind in China, could be small by world standards and insufficient to meet the country's growing demand for uranium given that it is building the world's largest network of nuclear power plants, they said.
Xinhua said it was found in the Daying area, in central Inner Mongolia.
"It is a world-class reserve. It will significantly help the increase of domestic, independent supply," the report, quoting the Ministry of Land and Resources, said. But Professor Jiao Yangquan , the chief scientist of the project, from China University of Geosciences in Wuhan , refused to confirm the "world-class" claim.
"I am not allowed to discuss the size of the reserve," he said.
Jiao led a research team on the site and reported the estimated size of the reserve to senior land ministry officials in July, the university's website said.