The world's largest producer of uranium is:

Kazakhstan is the world's largest producer of uranium, accounting for about 40 per cent of global mine production.

About uranium production in Kazakhstan:

It has been the largest producer every year since 2009.

Most of its uranium is produced by the "in-situ leaching" (ISL) or "in-situ recovery" method, in which a chemical solution is pumped underground to dissolve the uranium, and the solution is then pumped back to the surface. This method is cheaper and causes less surface disturbance than conventional mining.

Its state-owned company, "Kazatomprom", is the world's largest uranium producer.

Most of its uranium comes from deposits in the Chu-Sarysu and Syrdarya basins in the south of the country.

Kazakhstan has supplied uranium to India under long-term agreements, the first signed in 2009.

Other leading uranium producers:

• Canada: the second-largest producer; its Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan has some of the world's richest uranium deposits, such as the Cigar Lake and McArthur River mines.
• Namibia: the third-largest (Husab and Rossing mines).
• Australia: has the largest known uranium reserves in the world (about 28 per cent), especially at Olympic Dam in South Australia, but produces less than Kazakhstan.
• Uzbekistan, Russia, Niger and China are other producers.

About uranium:

• It is a heavy, radioactive metal with the chemical symbol "U" and atomic number 92.
• It was discovered in 1789 by the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth, who named it after the planet Uranus.
• Its main ore is "uraninite" (pitchblende).

Natural uranium contains about 99.3 per cent uranium-238 and only about 0.7 per cent uranium-235, which is the fissile isotope used in most nuclear reactors. For most reactors, the uranium is "enriched" to raise the U-235 content to about 3-5 per cent.

Uranium in India:

• India has limited uranium reserves, and imports uranium from countries such as Kazakhstan, Canada, Russia and Uzbekistan.
• The Jaduguda mine in Jharkhand (1967) was India's first uranium mine.
• Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), set up in 1967, operates mines in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh.
• India also has large thorium reserves, mainly in the monazite sands of Kerala and Odisha.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Australia has the largest reserves, but not the largest production.
• ✗Canada is the second-largest producer.
• ✗Russia is a smaller producer but a major enrichment country.