Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated March 22, 1958: Atomic power

Prime Minister Nehru said in New Delhi on March 20 during a meeting of MPs which was addressed by Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission of India, that the foundations of India’s future economic progress apart from scientific progress are being laid at the atomic research station at Trombay. In his address, Dr. Bhabha said that the power requirements of a highly industrialised India could not be supplied from conventional sources like thermal or hydro power. The reserves of coal in the country were limited and so too were the possibilities of increasing thermal power. India had inevitably to go in for alternate sources of power. The country had large reserves of atomic fuel like thorium and uranium and this was quite sufficient to start programmes for producing atomic energy. It was his view that atomic power could be produced at competitive price. It was true that the cost of an atomic power station would be more than that of thermal station but in the balance, it would be cheaper for them to go in for atomic power stations especially in areas like Rajasthan, Punjab and Western and Southern India which were far away from coal fields.

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