Opinion
Green thrust: India ought to accelerate its adoption of nuclear power
Summary
- Fourth-generation nuclear reactors are much safer than previous models and nuclear energy represents a non-fossil-based source of power that can aid India in its climate-action plans.
Fifty years ago, on 18 May 1974, India tested its first nuclear device. Pokhran 1, detonated during Indira Gandhi’s prime ministership, was followed a quarter-century later in 1998 by Pokhran II under the premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The first device, called the Smiling Buddha, had a declared peaceful purpose. The second series called Shakti had combined civilian and military objectives. The consequence of these tests and India’s refusal to sign the clearly discriminatory Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT) had kept India on the periphery of the global nuclear fuel supply chain for decades. The situation has gradually begun to normalize after the India-US Civil Nuclear Agreement signed by former prime minister Manmohan Singh and US president George Bush in 2006. Today, India has nuclear fuel supply agreements with many countries, including Russia, the US, Kazakhstan and Namibia. Other than the Big Five veto-holders at the UN, India is the only country with a declared nuclear arsenal that continues to officially carry out civilian nuclear commerce with the rest of the world.
While the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in 2011 pressed the pause button on global nuclear energy growth, the imperatives of climate change have forced a radical reconsideration. Late in 2023, the US and 22 other countries announced plans to triple nuclear power by 2050. China, which briefly halted its nuclear plans after Fukushima, has doubled down with a vengeance, and along with the US and Russia, is one the biggest exporters of civilian nuclear reactors. China’s fourth-generation reactors are about six years ahead of the West. China, which now operates 55 reactors in the country, is building 22 of the 58 reactors under construction around the world. Last year, China commissioned an experimental thorium-powered molten-salt reactor, the first such in the world.
One of the less-known consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is that the supply of refined uranium-238 (U238), the primary fuel for nuclear reactors, has become constrained; 44% of the world’s raw uranium is mined in Kazakhstan, nearly all of which is refined in Russia. There are only four main operational uranium converter facilities globally (in Russia, France, China and Canada), responsible for producing uranium hexafluoride gas, which is a prerequisite for fuel enrichment. Russia, through Rosatom, refines this into finished U238, supplying over 50% of the world’s requirement; 27% of the fuel requirement for US utilities comes from Russia, and was exempt from US sanctions until recently.
The global production of uranium ore is about 50,000 tonnes annually. India produces less than 1% of this. Indian ore is generally of low grade, which necessitates production and processing of large quantity of ore, resulting in large volumes of solid waste and effluents. In 2011, India announced the discovery of a large uranium ore deposit in Tummalapalle, Andhra Pradesh, believed to be the third largest in the world. The Uranium Corporation of India operates mines in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh and is expected to add Meghalaya and Karnataka to this list in the coming years. Production quantities are small and production growth is modest.
The low quality of uranium deposits has kept India interested in using thorium as an alternative radioactive source. Thorium is available in abundance in India and nuclear reactors that use it can offer us enhanced safety, reduced radioactive waste and possibly also achieve higher efficiency. Despite these advantages, the technology of commercializing thorium-based reactors has been slow to develop. A thorium reactor is really a thorium-uranium breeder reactor. The reactor runs on U233, and the thorium is placed near the core, where it can be bombarded by neutrons from the uranium fission. When this happens, the thorium converts into protoactinium-233 and subsequently into U233. Despite its promise, technology development for indigenous thorium reactors has been slow.
Starting with India’s nuclear pioneer and evangelist Homi Bhabha, India has been at the forefront of public thinking on civilian nuclear power. It has been handicapped by its poor quality of uranium ore and its exclusion from the global supply chain for over three decades. Since 2008, the speed of our nuclear ‘thinking’ and research have picked up, but the actual impact on nuclear power generation has been underwhelming. India has 22 nuclear reactors in operation at eight nuclear power plants. Our total installed capacity of nuclear power is about 7.4GW, making up 3.1% of the country’s annual electricity generation. Recently, the government approved the setting up of 10 more reactors which are expected to double our installed capacity by 2030. At this rate, the share of nuclear power in our energy pie is unlikely to increase very much, as total power generation is also expected to double.
Nuclear energy represents a non-fossil-based source of power that can aid India in its climate-action plans. Fourth-generation nuclear reactors are much safer than previous models. We have naturally been more focused on renewable sources like solar and wind, but for power generation, the right answer is “all of the above." While Homi Bhabha set out India’s nuclear power aspirations with remarkable forethought, the execution has lagged that aspiration. It is time to accelerate our nuclear approach.
P.S: “Nuclear power is one hell of a way to boil water," said Albert Einstein.
