The Hindu : India may join project on nuclear fusion

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 21, 2004

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India may join project on nuclear fusion

By P. Sunderarajan

NEW DELHI, MARCH 20. India is likely to join the highly ambitious project promoted by a select band of countries in the developed world to build a plant to demonstrate the technical viability of nuclear fusion as a source of energy.

The possibility of India's participation in the project has brightened after the Chief Scientific Adviser to the British Government, David King, made a proposal here on Thursday that instead of joining as a full member, India could become a partner of Britain. This would help reduce the financial commitment for India.

Speaking to The Hindu , the Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, V.S. Ramamurthy, said the offer, which has been made for the first time, was interesting. The Government would consider it. It would engage in further discussions with the U.K. since the financial aspect was not the only issue and many other points have to be sorted out. For instance, the project envisages sharing of information among the participants on technical know-how involved in the setting up of the plant. It remains to be discussed how much information India would be entitled to if it chose to be just a partner of Britain.

The Centre, he said, would also not rule out the possibility of joining the coalition as a full member. The financial commitment required may be high. But, it may be worthwhile, particularly considering that the amount would be spread over about 20 years and part of the payment could be made in kind such as scientific and technical expertise. India had a rich base of manpower, well-versed in nuclear science and technology.0Earlier speaking to a group of reporters, Sir King said that his country was keen that India joined the coalition and strengthened it, as nuclear fusion had the potential to become an important source of energy for mankind in the near future, especially in the context of global warming which was largely due to the use of coal for energy production.

As per current estimates, the project could help make energy generation through fusion a reality in 30 to 35 years and if more money flowed in, the timescale could be furthered shortened. It is also expected that fusion power can provide energy for the next two millennia, given the amount of lithium that is available on ground and deuterium in seawater. (Lithium and deuterium are two key raw materials for nuclear fusion).

Already, scientists have been able to generate 10 times more energy as output compared to input through fusion reaction. But the experiments have all been on a small scale. The international project called ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) seeks to have a facility that would be able to demonstrate the viability on a commercial scale.

The joint committee meeting also discussed the possibility of India participating in an international project, under which a computer-based grid is being set up to help scientists from the countries involved to exchange scientific information. The U.K. is the leading country in the project called `E-Science.' India would need to contribute about £300 million to participate in the project.

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