— Photo: N. Rajesh

SIGNING OFF: President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam signs autographs for children at Koodankulam in Tirunelveli on Friday.

TIRUNELVELI: Reiterating that the nation should achieve energy security by 2020 and energy independence by 2030, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Friday said power generation capacity should increase from 1.30 lakh MW to 4 lakh MW during the period.

He set a target of generating 50,000 MW nuclear power by 2030 for achieving energy independence.

Addressing a meeting at the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project site, Mr. Kalam said energy independence could be achieved by tapping hydel, nuclear, thermal, wind and solar sources.

Hydel power generated from water sources and by inter-linking rivers would contribute an additional 50,000 MW. Solar energy farms could generate 55,000 MW. Besides 50,000 MW nuclear power, conventional energy sources such as coal and gas and other sources such as wind power, biomass and municipal waste could be utilised. Power generated from renewable energy sources should go up from 5 per cent at present to 25 per cent.

Mr. Kalam suggested an "energy mix" for achieving energy independence: hydel and thermal; solar power using high efficiency CNT-based solar photo voltaic cells; thorium-based nuclear reactors; bio-fuel for transportation sector.

As the country had huge deposits of thorium, and uranium deposits had been identified in three States, scientists should work for achieving energy independence by using these.

Congratulating scientists and engineers of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited for ensuring the criticality of 2 X 540 MWe nuclear reactors at Tarapur much ahead of schedule with futuristic safety mechanisms, he said this experience would be useful for future nuclear programmes.

He hoped that the first 2 X 1,000 MWe nuclear rector at Koodankulam would be commissioned by 2007.

Chief Executive Officer of Project BrahMos, Sivathaanu Pillai, said the supersonic missile being produced jointly between India and Russia was a big hit. There should be more such ventures.

Mr. Kalam visited the site and the desalination plant at the KKNPP. He tasted the water and remarked, "It's like mineral water." He was surprised to know that a litre of water produced at the plant cost just 4 paise. He praised NPCIL's efforts in transforming the social status of the people living around the plant.

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