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No entry yet for private firms into nuclear power

NEW DELHI: The government has dropped plans to permit the entry of private sector companies, including foreign corporates, in the production and supply of nuclear power for the time being.“The time is not ripe for such a move,” highly placed sources said about the proposal approved by the National Democratic Alliance government.

The move to drop the proposal will be a setback to public and private sector companies alike hoping for an entry into the sector. It accommodates the views of the Indian nuclear scientific community which feels that the complexities of this sector should not be underestimated.

However, the sources said, the government was planning to undertake measures to accommodate private capital in the nuclear power sector in future.

It also planned to tighten certain provisions as well as ensure adherence to conventions that guard against nuclear non-proliferation in case India was included in the global nuclear commerce community.

With the move to accommodate the corporate sector put on the back burner, another proposal to allow nuclear power companies or the Central Electricity Authority of India to fix tariff has become superfluous.

At the same time, the government is keen on strengthening provisions that would satisfy both the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) about India’s intentions of being a responsible custodian of nuclear material. These include norms to ensure India’s adherence to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, which asks signatory countries to ensure severe penalties for nuclear terrorism.

It will also ensure that various laws are in harmony with the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act passed in 2005.

The measures that the government wants to incorporate to accommodate the entry of private or public sector companies in future include the provision of licensing for disposal of minerals, concentrates and other materials containing a certain percentage of uranium and exercising of greater control over radioactive substances and radiation generating plants.

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