The Hindu : Front Page : We cannot afford to miss nuclear renaissance: Manmohan

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Saturday, Sep 01, 2007
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We cannot afford to miss nuclear renaissance: Manmohan

Arunkumar Bhatt

‘India-U.S. deal will help double nuclear power to 40,000 MWe by 2020’

Photo: AP

THRUST TO ATOMIC ENERGY: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh receives a memento from Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar at the Tarapur nuclear facility on Friday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is next to Dr. Kakodkar. —

TARAPUR (Maharashtra): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday listed several reasons for going ahead with the nuclear deal with the United States; the foremost being that it could enable the country to double its modest target of nuclear power to 40,000 MWe by 2020.

Dr. Singh said: “This cooperation will not be dependent on any one country. We will source supplies from many countries in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), including the United States, Russia and France.” But to make the NSG adapt its guidelines to enable nuclear commerce with the country, an India-specific safeguards agreement had to be finalised with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“This will signal the end of our international isolation of the past few decades. India is now too important a country to remain outside the international mainstream in this critical area,” he said here.

The Prime Minister was speaking at a function after dedicating to the nation two indigenous 540-MWe pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) fuelled by natural uranium. The reactors had gone on stream over a year ago.

“Energy a critical issue”

“When a country of the size of India with one billion people starts growing at the rate of 9 to 10 per cent per annum, with the prospect of even higher rates of growth, energy becomes a critical issue. We do not enjoy the luxury of an either/or choice. India needs energy from all known and likely sources of energy.”

Besides, the country’s proven resources such as coal, oil, gas and hydropower were insufficient.

The energy generated had to be affordable “not only in terms of its financial cost but also in terms of the cost to our environment.”

Nuclear power was recognised as an important and environmentally benign constituent of the overall energy mix.

“There is today a talk the world over of a nuclear renaissance and we cannot afford to miss the bus or lag behind these global developments.”

Referring to the country’s three-stage nuclear power programme, Dr. Singh said there was need to expeditiously develop fast breeder reactor technologies and intensify efforts to find additional uranium resources.

Uranium supplies

Dr. Singh said:

“We need to supplement our uranium supplies from elsewhere. We must take decisive steps to remove uncertainties that result from shortfall in fuel supplies to avoid disruptions in our nuclear power production.

“We need to pave the way to benefit from nuclear commerce without restrictions, gain access to cutting-edge technology and opportunities for our scientists to participate in international exchange of scientific ideas and technical know-how.”

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