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India Aims at Over 50,000 MW of Nuclear Power by 2030

  •   Thu, Aug 25 2011 03:58:26 PM

Mumbai, Aug 25 (IANS): India plans to import light water reactors from Russia, the US and France to boost its nuclear energy genating capacity to 50,000-60,000 MW by 2030, former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman M.R. Srinivasan has said.

Delivering the first Homi Sethna Memorial Lecture on 'Future of Nuclear Power After Fukushima' here Wednesday evening, the nuclear scientist said India would need around 1,300 GW of electricity by 2052.

Forty percent of this requirement is expected to come from coal-based plants, 40 percent from nuclear facilities and 20 percent from renewable sources like solar or wind, he said.

The present power generating capacity of India's 20 nuclear units is small, most of them having a capacity of up to 220 MW. The indigenously designed Tarapur 3&4 are the largest with a capacity of 540 MW, he said.

In a couple of months, the first 1,000 MW nuclear plant, built with Russian help, will start at Kundankulam, Tamil Nadu.

In the last one year, India started the construction of four indigenously-designed reactors of 700 MW each -- two each at Kakrapar, Gujarat, and Rawatbhata, Rajasthan.

There are plans to have similar reactors in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and possibly even at Kaiga, Karnataka, Srinivasan said.

"China has the biggest nuclear plant construction programme at present," Srinivasan said. "While they will review their safety practices after the Japanese experience, they will probably continue to develop nuclear power in a big way."

Since availability of electricity is a serious constraint for both industry and agriculture, India will build 800 MW supercritical coal-fired units for many more years. "But if we have to cut down carbon emissions, we must build a significant nuclear capacity," he said.

India is currently producing a small quantity of enriched uranium. "We expect to be in a position to build a commercial uranium enrichment plant between 2020 and 2030," Srinivasan said.

Explaining the slow-paced nuclear power development in India, Srinivasan said the country had limited uranium. "Not only is the quantity small, the ore concentration is low, making extraction more costly here," he said.
  

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Comment on this article

  • George, India

    Thu, Aug 25 2011

    Get off the high pedestal dude. We have 400 million people who still dont have power. Thats more than the entire population in the United States. If not for your country rampant consumption, there would be enough oil and coal to supply every human being on this planet cheap energy until renewable technology be3came affordable. Before talking like the pope, do something to bring your nations' unscrupulous consumption of non-renerwables to the same level as the rest of the world. Then preach, we may just listen.

    Secondly, India is developing a Thorium fuel cycle and by 2050, we expect 80% of our nuclear power to come from thorium. You obviously have no clue about the difference, else you wouldnt have given the 12,000 yr figure. And you dont even realize that the thorium reactors are being designed to burn up the 'nuclear waste' from current uranium reactors.

    Here is my suggestion - Get an education before regurgitating what you've heard from your clueless Green peace politician.

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Paul Molyneaux, 44.73N 67.41W

    Thu, Aug 25 2011

    People of India, please come to your senses. Look at Japan, and then ask, what will happen if there is a nuclear accident in India?
    When I was in India, everyone talked about creating a good life for their children. Why then do we curse 12,000 generations with our nuclear waste?
    Nuclear power is being promoted by politicians who need to produce the illusion of economic growth in order to retain their political power. But the nuclear accident at Fukushima is destroying Japan's economy and the global economy. Think! Even a minor accident can increase cancer rates and permanently contaminate valuable crop land.
    Every time I hear about China, India, and my own USA increasing their reliance on nuclear power I cannot believe we, the human race, could be so short sighted and selfish.
    We must stop all nuclear power development and shut down existing reactors. The simple fact that we have no plan for dealing with the waste that will be toxic for thousands of years means we have no right to pursue nuclear power.

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