Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Opinion / Unclear about nuclear?
BackBack

Unclear about nuclear?

45 years after the first nuclear power plant at Tarapur became operational, nuclear power still accounts for just about 3.5% of India's electricity supply

India’s 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR), started 11 years ago at Kalpakkam near Chennai, is almost 97% complete and is likely to become fully operational by this time next year. Photo: MintPremium
India’s 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR), started 11 years ago at Kalpakkam near Chennai, is almost 97% complete and is likely to become fully operational by this time next year. Photo: Mint

India’s vast atomic energy infrastructure is the creation of Homi Bhabha with the full backing and participation of Jawaharlal Nehru. The Bhabha approach had its critics even in the 1950s with Meghnad Saha and D.D. Kosambi publicly voicing their differences. But there can be no doubt that this infrastructure has played a pioneering role in developing India’s scientific, engineering and technological capabilities across a wide spectrum.

It has, of course, made the country a nuclear weapons power. However, our performance on the nuclear power front has been disappointing, to say the least. No doubt, sanctions imposed after the first Pokhran explosion of May 1974 severely handicapped the expansion of our nuclear power programme. Even so, the fact remains that 45 years after the first nuclear power plant at Tarapur became operational, nuclear power still accounts for just about 3.5% of India’s electricity supply.

A nuclear power plant is less polluting than its coal-fired counterpart. It does not emit carbon dioxide that is responsible for global warming or sulphur dioxide that harms human health. Thus, with increasing environmental and climate change concerns, it is a pity that India’s nuclear power portfolio is still so small.

As of now, the total installed capacity is just about 4,780 megawatts (MW) and another 4,800 MW of capacity (that includes the two 1,000 MW plants at Koodankulam that are in an advanced stage of commissioning) is under various stages of construction. Other than this, everything else is still really only on paper. For instance, the Jaitapur nuclear power park that would host 9,600 MW of capacity with French technology got environmental clearance four years back, but is nowhere in sight. The landmark 2005 Indo-US nuclear agreement has not much to show for itself till now, except that India has been able to get natural uranium from other countries to increase the capacity factor of existing nuclear power plants. Five years ago, the capacity factor was an abysmal 50%, but is now up to around 82-83%.

But there is one extraordinary development amid this somewhat depressing scenario on nuclear power. And this has to do with India becoming the second country in the world to have a commercial scale fast breeder reactor running on a mix of plutonium and uranium oxides. India’s 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR), started 11 years ago at Kalpakkam near Chennai, is almost 97% complete and is likely to become fully operational by this time next year.

Russia is the only other country to have operating fast breeder reactors—it has two reactors with a total capacity of around 1,200MW. France used to have a 250 MW fast breeder which it operated smoothly for almost 35 years and then decommissioned it. A second 1,200 MW fast breeder reactor was commissioned in 1985 but was shut down following an accident involving leakage of molten sodium that is used as a coolant in the reactor. The UK and Japan both shut down their commercial scale fast breeders in the 1990s.

India’s logic for the fast breeder programme is fundamental and impeccable. Without such a programme that uses the spent fuel from natural uranium reactors, India will not be able to use its vast reserves of thorium. Thorium, unlike uranium, is not a fissile material. It cannot produce electricity by itself. It is a fertile material that can get converted into a fissile material like uranium-233.

Estimates vary quite widely, but it is generally accepted that India could well have some 25% of the world’s thorium reserves. The fast breeder route is the only way our abundant reserves of thorium can be used to produce electricity. The other benefit of a fast breeder is that by recycling the spent fuel, most of the long-lived radioactive waste is eliminated. Current plans are to install another two 500 MW fast breeder reactors at Kalpakkam itself that will come on stream sometime towards the later part of the next decade and another two such reactors elsewhere in the country. India, clearly, is a world leader in this area. The atomic energy establishment’s projections envisage a nuclear power generation capacity of some 63,000 MW by 2030. It is important to think big and act bold especially when we confront the challenge to move on to a low carbon growth path at the earliest. But in light of past performance and current realities, this target does appear very ambitious and unrealistic.

The Planning Commission’s low carbon strategy expert group had scaled it down to 40,000 megawatts which itself is a formidable goal. At this level of capacity in 2030, nuclear will account for around 8% of electricity supply roughly on par with solar and wind contributions.

To achieve even this lower figure will call for urgent steps to address the concerns of global companies on the unlimited liability imposed on them by the nuclear liability legislation passed by Parliament and that came into force in November 2011. Having said this, it is perhaps time to revisit assumptions related to the acquisition of imported reactors and have a much bolder strategy for the expansion of indigenous heavy water reactors themselves.

Finally, India also needs to put in place a truly independent regulator along the lines proposed in the legislation introduced in Parliament three years back. Such a regulator has to necessarily address public concerns on safety and other risks associated with nuclear technology.

Earlier this year, India had agreed to have a peer review of its nuclear regulatory system under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and hopefully, this review will commence in the next few months. This would be the first time such a formal review would be taking place and should help in generating greater public confidence in the plans of the atomic energy establishment.

The author is a Rajya Sabha MP and former Union minister.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 03 Nov 2014, 01:02 AM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App