India set to add 17 more nuclear reactors to meet rising energy demand

New Delhi: To increase standardisation and bring modularity in building atomic power reactors, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is going for fleet mode construction for future projects, DAE Secretary K N Vyas said on Friday.

Speaking at the India Energy Forum's Nuclear Conclave, he said 17 new reactors are now in the pipeline, with seven already under construction.

"We are going in for fleet mode for construction, thereby reducing construction costs and speeding up construction time," Vyas, who is also the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, said.

He said India is an old player in the nuclear energy sector with the first research reactor in Asia being commissioned in the country.

"Our learning curve was steep and we could ramp up the reactor construction to 22 reactors over the last few decades, the seventh-largest fleet in the world," Vyas added.

Though the overall contribution to the electrical grid does appear insignificant, this has been due to the smaller capacity reactors built initially to gain experience in this complex technology, without international support, he noted.

Participating in the event, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh said awareness needs to be created among the public about busting the myths associated with the use of nuclear energy.

He said nuclear energy is a source of energy to meet the rising energy demands of the country and it is an instrument of 'ease of living' in one's day-to-day life.

Former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar said the access to the imported uranium can accelerate the nuclear programme's size as well as large scale thorium deployment.

Referring to the waiver of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to India in 2008, he said the nuclear programme now has much less constraints.

He talked about short-term actions on the part of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) such as early movement on the Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) deployment and early deployment of indigenous Light Water Reactors.