Mumbai: The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, or Barc, formed 51 years ago as the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay, oversees 17 nuclear reactors in operation and eight in various stages of construction. But India still needs large quantities of uranium, the fuel that powers the reactors, to harness nuclear energy, and its ability to access them rests on the civilian nuclear deal with the US that’s shrouded in uncertainty.
Fuel concerns: Bhabha Atomic Research Centre director Srikumar Banerjee says it makes good business sense to invest in energy production.
India’s unique three-stage nuclear cycle is designed to squeeze out every possible watt of energy from the scarce fuel, and to eventually reduce uranium dependence by using thorium, found abundantly in the coastal regions. The first-stage pressurized heavy water reactors burn uranium. In the second-stage fast-breeder reactors, the fuel is plutonium, derived from reprocessing spent fuel from the first stage. The third-stage reactors will burn uranium-233, derived from thorium. As Barc doggedly works to provide fuel and other technologies, its director,
Srikumar Banerjee, discusses some related issues in an interview with
Mint. Edited excerpts:
Now that the nuclear deal is floundering, do you think paucity of uranium will once again stalk India’s nuclear energy programme?
Let’s not talk of the nuclear deal. The Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd has reached such maturity that we can add 2,000MW of additional capacity every year and without any budgetary support. This of course is subject to fuel (uranium) availability. If we somehow open some source of getting fuel from outside, then not only the existing pressurized heavy water reactors can be brought to 90% capacity utilization, but more such reactors can be built.
Won’t this also aid your second-stage programme, which is just getting started?
Yes, with uranium we can continuously grow our plutonium inventory, which is wealth for us; it can help us build more fast-breeder reactors. Let’s take the example of France, which after the oil crisis of 1970s decided to go for nuclear power in a big way and today about 80% of its energy comes from nuclear sources. Recently a French delegation was here and we learnt that France is again thinking of nuclear energy to tide over the current oil crisis. If they install another 10,000MW capacity, the electricity produced can be used for water electrolysis, to break water into hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen thus gotten will be sufficient for its entire automobile requirement. For them, solving the energy problem is a matter of installing just six more reactors.
Moreover, using imported uranium so far they have accumulated a huge quantity of spent fuel which they are using in present-generation pressurized water reactor.