Increasing India’s nuclear capacity to 63,000 Mw by 2032 from the present 4,780 Mw was achievable, said R K Sinha, chairman, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).
The chairman said the country was pursuing the capacity addition through both indigenously manufactured reactors and imported ones.
After inaugurating the India Nuclear Energy Summit here on Thursday, Sinha told reporters that currerntly there were seven nuclear plants under different stages of development. These include two units at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu (2x1000 Mw), Kakrapar in Gujarat (2x700 Mw), Rawatbhata in Rajasthan (2x700 Mw) and prototype fast breeder reactor of 500 Mw at Kalpakkam. This will increase the nuclear capacity to 10,080 Mw by 2017.
According to Sinha, the state-run Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) is in talks with foreign firms to develop light water reactors with unit sizes ranging between 1,000 and 1,650 Mw.
Sinha argued that nuclear energy was safe and secure and quite crucial for the country's growth. The chairman admitted that domestic and international suppliers had expressed concerns over India's civil nuclear liability Act and civil liability for nuclear damages rules.
''Our Act is quite clear whereby an operator of a nuclear plant will be liable for nuclear damage up to Rs 1,500 crore. However, there is a provision for right of recourse for the operator. Most of the suppliers are concerned over whether they will have to bear more than Rs 1,500 crore towards liability. Efforts are on to allay their concerns,'' he said. On the current status of 9,900-Mw Jaitapur nuclear plant in Maharashtra, Sinha said the negotiations were on between NPC and French firm Areva. He admitted that affordability and competitive cost were key factors being considered during negotiations.
“We had estimated the tariff of Rs 6.50 a unit in the year of completion of Jaitapur project in 2020-21. The per unit tariff should be competitive in comparision with other sources of power,” he said.
