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India has nuclear technology foresight: Chidambaram

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, July 15, IRNA -- The growth of nuclear energy in the future
will be the fastest in India and China because the maximum energy 
demand will be from them, R. Chidambaram, principal scientific advisor
to Indian Government said . 
According to the local press reports, twenty-seven nuclear 
reactors were under construction in different countries now. Of them, 
India had the highest number -- nine. When completed these would 
together generate 4,460 MWe. 
While India would generate 20,000 MWe of nuclear power by 2020, 
China would generate between 32,000 MWe and 40,000 MWe. 
Chidambaram, who gave a talk on `Nuclear Energy -- the Indian 
Perspective` said the country`s nuclear energy program was totally 
self-reliant. 
Its `nuclear technology foresight` had four components -- a three-
stage program for generation of nuclear electricity; acquisition of a 
credible, minimum nuclear deterrent; using atomic energy spin-offs in 
agriculture, healthcare and industry; and development of major 
research facilities. 
"We have a comprehensive capability in the entire nuclear fuel 
cycle," he said. 
The lecture was part of an awareness program on `Applications of 
Radio-isotopes and Radiation Technology for Societal Development`, 
organized by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Anna 
University in Chennai, the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on 
Wednesday. 
Chidambaram, a former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, 
said the country`s 14 reactors were now operating at their highest 
capacity factor. 
The gestation period of nuclear reactors had come down from seven 
years to five years and a half because the Indian industry`s potential
to meet the demands of nuclear power projects had gone up. 
Construction time was now shorter because the reactor design was 
being repeated. 
The interest paid during construction was low because the Indian 
rupee was strong. "So nuclear power is becoming more and more 
competitive," Chidambaram said. 
S.K. Sharma, vice chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, said 
Chidambaram played a leading role in the design and execution of the 
peaceful nuclear experiment in 1974 and led the DAE team that designed
the five nuclear devices tested in 1998. 
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