Tamil Nadu   

“Nuclear fuel cycle must be closed to make it sustainable technology”

CHENNAI: “Everyone now agrees that nuclear energy technology is a mitigating technology in the context of the climate change threat, but the nuclear fuel cycle must be closed in order to make it a sustainable technology,” said Principal Scientific Advisor R. Chidambaram here on Friday.

Delivering a lecture on ‘Nuclear Energy and Climate Change’ at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, he said India would continue to implement its three-stage nuclear agenda.

The Indo-US nuclear deal and the NSG waiver would make it easier to import the technology and fuel needed for the first stage of pressurised heavy water reactors and imported water-cooled reactors.

However, India would continue intense research and development of fast breeder reactors and thorium utilisation that constituted the second and third stages, thus closing the nuclear fuel cycle.

Dr. Chidambaram pointed out that closing the cycle would help produce 50 times the energy during the life of a reactor.

It would also reduce the volumes of waste requiring treatment and disposal in comparison to the “once-through” cycle, he said.

Indian researchers may have an advantage in this area, said Dr. Chidambaram. While smaller developing nations were exploring the nuclear energy option for the first time, many developed countries, especially in Europe, were reviving their nuclear energy plans. For example, Italy, which considered its nuclear phase-out a 50 billion euro mistake, would start constructing new nuclear power plants in 2013. Both in terms of funding and attracting young manpower, nuclear technology research had stagnated in many developed countries, while it was a buzzing field in India.

“We may need the world in the short term, to access global uranium resources and light water technology, but in the context of a global nuclear renaissance, the world will undoubtedly need us in the long term,” he said, adding that India must use its global leverage in research collaborations to benefit national interests.

Apart from nuclear energy, India planned to spend Rs.5,300 crore for research in various emerging energy technologies during the Eleventh Five Year Plan period. Some of the key components included research and development of clean coal technology, carbon capture and storage, an integrated gasification combined cycle project, electric and hybrid vehicles, biofuels, hydrogen energy, production of silicon crystals and LED manufacturing.

Such technologies would provide the dual benefit of mitigating climate change while promoting national energy security, said Dr. Chidambaram.

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