The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) today organised an exclusive interactive session on ‘Nuclear Power in India: Opportunities and Challenges’, with Dr Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy in Mumbai.
After the successful completion of the Indo-US Nuclear Deal and agreements with few other countries, nuclear energy will be playing an important role towards the capacity addition strategy embarked by the Indian Government to achieve long-term energy security for the country.
In his opening address, Mr. Jamshyd N. Godrej, Past President, CII and Chairman and Managing Director, Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Limited said, “India is one of those countries that had developed Nuclear Power on its own, which resulted in early innovations in nuclear technology. The renaissance and future of Nuclear Power Generation in India are very bright considering the vast research and development done in the field of nuclear energy. The energy growth in India has registered a growth of 4% which is a clearly positive growth.”
In order to meet India’s burgeoning energy demand, the power installed capacity needs to grow at an exponential rate in the coming years. The Integrated Energy Policy estimates the installed capacity requirement by 2031-32 to be 778,000 MW. In this scenario, India has to opt for an optimal mix of all possible energy sources to meet the electricity demand.
Addressing the challenges faced by the country on energy self reliance, Mr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy said, “We are in a position to look forward to the new era in terms of Nuclear energy and the factors responsible for this are high level of technological capability covering all aspects of Nuclear energy. And India is following a three pronged nuclear energy program which is responsible for sequential technological development.”
Dr. Kakodkar opines that in order to fully capitalize on the opportunities available; it is pertinent that the Indian nuclear market needs to be opened, to both the private as well as foreign players and eradicate any proliferation. A conducive environment will be required for the foreign/private players’ participation, removing regulatory barriers and by ensuring a level-playing field.
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Dr. Kakodkar also added that a high level of technological capability has resulted in India’s being considered one of the main players in this field, but there are certain issues of concern; like the emerging demand for nuclear energy in India, climate change issues etc.
Dr. Kakodkar said that the government adopted the 1-2-3 agreement because India is following an energy resource profile and due to the vast availability of Thorium and less quantity of Uranium, India had innovated methods of Nuclear energy production using hay water technology, fast reactor technology and thermal reactors technology. The main advantage behind the 1-2-3 agreement is that it helps in generating multiple amounts of energy to the tune 100 -1000 MW PHWRs in India.
If India has to meet its energy requirements through conventional methods i.e. usage of coal, India will require to import 1 billion metric tonnes of coal, thus having to deal with higher environmental issues whereas energy generated from nuclear fuel is less hazardous to the environment.
Dr. Kakodkar further reiterated that India needs to tie-up the uranium requirements for the targeted energy capacity, as by 2020-30 as most of the uranium mines would have tied up with existing energy facilities and generators.
According Dr. Kakodkar, India, which has been using recycled fuel for its nuclear fuel requirements, this is a great opportunity for India, as by 2050 all leading countries and players in nuclear fuel will opt for recycle fuel in some form or the other and in such a scenario India will emerge as a leading player in the recycled nuclear fuel space.
About CII:
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a non-government, not-for-profit organization which works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India, partnering industry and government alike through advisory and consultative processes.