Baghalchur
Pakistan Ministry of Energy reservation in Punjab
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baghalchur (Urdu: بغلچور; officially known as BC-1) is a reservation of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) located in the D.G. Khan District in Punjab, Pakistan. In official Pakistani government accounts, the reservation is known as Baghalchur-1 (BC-1).: 203 [1]
Overview
In 1959, the Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP) discovered the uranium deposits but the drilling operations did not commenced until 1963.: 113–114 [1]
In 1975, the Baghalchur reservation was acquired by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and the facility construction was overseen by Bashiruddin Mahmood as its principle project engineer.: 116 [1] Known as BC-1, the milling facility is consisted of an ore storage mill, a ball grinding mill, sulfuric acid and solvent extraction plants, a tunnel drier, and nuclear materials complex.: 114–122 [1] The uranium mining at the Baghalchur started in 1978 but ceased in 2000.[2]
The Baghalchur reservation was relatively unknown until 2006 when the local residents filed a lawsuit for unsafe nuclear waste disposal at the Supreme Court of Pakistan.[2]
