How net zero renews nuclear power push with small modular reactors

Small modular reactors are being seen as a cheaper and relatively safer way forward

In an episode in the recent OTT series Rocket Boys, Jim Sarbh, the actor playing India’s iconic nuclear physicist Homi J Bhabha, observes, as the Apsara nuclear power reactor is inaugurated in 1956, that nuclear power will bring this country out of energy poverty and provide clean, uninterrupted electricity supply. The statement still stands as scientifically true yet the reality of nuclear power in the country remains underwhelming.

At 6.8 gigawatt (Gw), nuclear has the lowest share in India’s energy basket. Around 2010, the country set the target of having around 60 Gw of nuclear power but the plans have since