Opinion
Mint Quick Edit | Nuclear energy: Plan for waste disposal too
Summary
- India’s budget has an outlay for small modular reactors and an ambitious aim of 100GW by 2047. Legal enablers aren’t the real challenge, though. Regulation and nuclear waste are.
Nuclear energy is back in vogue globally, especially to satisfy the swelling appetite of artificial intelligence for electricity. India also plans a big steam-up.
Also Read: Nuclear option: Small modular reactors can pave India’s path to clean energy
The latest budget has an outlay of ₹20,000 crore to develop small modular reactors (of up to 300MW), with India’s sights set on 100GW of nuclear capacity by 2047, up from 6.8GW right now. The Atomic Energy Act might be amended to permit private players and the law on nuclear-damage liability will likely be tweaked to keep suppliers out of its ambit, a move that’s expected to spark foreign interest in the Indian market.
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As this is a clean source of power that isn’t subject to the vagaries of sunshine and wind, its appeal is obvious. Given the risks involved, however, this field calls for an empowered regulator to ensure safety and keep fuel from getting into rogue hands. Apart from that, we’ll need a dedicated agency to monitor nuclear waste.
Also Read: Mint Quick Edit | Don’t kick the can of nuclear waste down the road
We require a disposal plan that goes beyond stop-gap methods, such as cooling pools, and takes into account the considerably higher cost of sealing away radioactive stuff permanently. Every project should budget for it. Don’t kick the nuclear-waste can down the road.
