Address: Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL)
Sherbano, 6th Floor, Maharshi Karve Road,
Mumbai, Maharashtra – 400 020
Telephone: 91-22-2030914
Fax: 91-22-2004430
Email: irecmd@bom3.vsnl.net.in
General Manager of Production and R&D: V.R. Nair
Subordinate to: Department of Atomic Energy (DAE)
Primary Function: Production of thorium concentrate and rare earth minerals

Description and Activities:
Established in 1952 for the production of thorium concentrate, the Rare Earths Division (RED) in Udyogamandal (Kerala) is also the site of Indian Rare Earths Limited's (IREL) oldest research and development lab. The research and development laboratory at RED is engaged in actives related to mineral separation and value addition to radioactive minerals such as monazite. Thorium concentrate extracted at RED from monazite was originally sent to IREL's thorium plant at Trombay for conversion to thorium nitrate. The thorium plant at Trombay was closed after IREL opened its thorium plant at the Orissa Sands Complex (OSCOM). Today, part of the thorium concentrate produced by RED is sent to OSCOM's thorium plant for its conversion into mantle grade thorium nitrate. The RED complex also possesses a number of value addition plants. The Heavy Rare Earths Oxide (HERO) plant is engaged in the production of rare earth oxides. With the assistance of the Uranium Extraction Division of the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), RED has produced samarium oxide for the production of samarium-cobalt permanent magnets since 1990. In 1999, IREL commissioned the Praseodymium-Yttrium-Neodymium-Cerium (PRYNCE) plant to produce 135 tons per annum of 95 percent pure neodymium oxide for the manufacture of Nd-Fe-B magnets. The RED site is also home to the Modernized Helium & Uranium Recovery (MOHUR) Plant and the Diversified Product Plant (DPP).

Key Sources: Andrew Koch, "Selected Indian Nuclear Facilities," Center for Nonproliferation Studies, 1999, <http://cns.miis.edu/research/india/nuclear.htm>; "Nuclear Fuel Cycle," Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), 31 January 2002, <http://www.dae.gov.in/>; S. Suresh Kumar, "Research and Development Activities of IREL," Nuclear India, Vol. 34, No. 7-8, January-February 2001; T.K. Mukherjee, "Indian Rare Earths – Its Genesis and Growth," Nuclear India, Vol. 34, No. 7-8, January-February 2001; V. R. Nair, "Production of Neodymium at PRYNCE Plant," Nuclear India, Vol. 34, No. 7-8, January-February 2001.

	Updated September 2003