The minister was launching the Indian Atomic Industrial Forum, a grouping of public and private organisations and firms to further the cause of peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Chidambaram cautioned that although Nuclear Power Corporation could expect reasonable government support, it should marshal resources available within the public and private sectors to support its programmes.
The launch of the forum was accompanied by an international seminar on the relevance of nuclear power and its future, in which representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Association of Nuclear Operators took part. Describing the launching of the forum as a good and timely initiative, he said the government would like to see a broad-based group like IAIF guiding the nuclear power programme.
He said Indias nuclear energy programmes goal of self-reliance is based on a highly efficient and competitive indigenous research and development. It is not against import, but would also like to export both products and technology, Chidam-baram said. Describing the Indian energy scene as depressing, Chidambaram said the energy supply and demand gap had widened to 20 per cent and power quality is poor and its reliability erratic. In his keynote address, Atomic Energy Commission chairman R Chidambaram said that future growth in nuclear power plants would be in Asia, especially in India, China, Korea and Japan. In the next 25 years, India should aim at a nuclear power capacity of 20,000 mw, consisting of a mixture of indigenous heavy water reactors, fast breeder reactors, thorium utilisation and imported light water reactors.
He said that the design of a 500 mw heavy water reactor is ready and work will begin shortly on two 500 mw plants at Tarapur. The design work on this reactor is almost over and the preconstuction work is being finalised.
The IAIF appears to be a conscious effort on part of the AEC to build a momentum in favour of Indian nuclear power in terms of investment, collaborative research and export of Indian nuclear technology. Over 150 Indian companies including leading engineering gaints like L and T, Walchandnagar and the public sector Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) are members of the IAIF and have performed extensive heavy construction work for the NPC projects.
Nuclear power strategy lauded
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Indias strategy to generate nuclear power from thorium has been lauded by World Association of Nuclear Operators chairman Remy Carle. The third stage of the nuclear programme envisages using thorium and uranium as fuels in a suitable advanced reactor. Since the country has the largest thorium deposits in the world, a reactor strategy based on thorium fuel cycle could offer a secured domestic source of energy, Carle told an international seminar in New Delhi yesterday.