By Dr. Anil Kakodkar
Rapid deployment of nuclear energy at scale has become essential for realising Vikasit Bharat. Besides access to clean energy, nuclear energy also promises long term energy as well as climate security. Thanks to sustained and self-reliant efforts in the Department of Atomic Energy, India has emerged as a self-reliant, responsible country with advanced nuclear technology, despite the embargos that were placed around us by the international community. The country is now technology ready to realise the Nuclear Energy Mission’s target of reaching 100 GW generating capacity by the year 2047. While this may appear to be ambitious, given our past track record, the policy initiatives and actions, particularly the legislative ones that are on cards, should help overcome the challenges. Besides securing clean energy and addressing climate risk, nuclear energy mission has the potential to boost the economy in a significant way since the entire value chain would be within the country. It would create jobs at all levels across the full spectrum of activities involving materials, manufacturing, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance, quality assurance, safety and neighborhood engagement. There are also the challenges in terms of trained and qualified human resource. While we are well placed to address all this challenge, industry confidence in continuity of the programme would be a prerequisite.
What are the challenges that lie ahead? The most important among them is the accelerated deployment at scale commensurate with the time targets. More than 90 GW or around 200 reactors are to be added in just two decades. Clearly one needs multiple implementing agencies in addition to NPCIL, NTPC and BHAVINI to take up projects with standardised design of reactor plants in fleet mode. While we should deploy the programme with technologies consistent with our national nuclear energy policy, PHWR technology clearly is the proven and economically competitive indigenous technology ready for a rapid scale up. NPCIL should thus constructively hand hold and mentor other entities in PHWR technology while implementing its own programme. Other mature technologies can also be considered as an additionality, provided they meet the economic and safety criteria.
There is also the crucial issue of investments which for the nuclear power utility segment alone would be of the order of 20 lakh crores. The investments for fuel cycle infrastructure would be in addition. Supplementation by private sector finance is thus critical. While nuclear has a sound economic case, policy support on par with other clean energy technology would be inevitable.
Securing nuclear fuel for the intended capacity is the next key challenge. While the global uranium resources are substantial, the increasing demand for uranium driven by nuclear energy expansion as well as the constraints on uranium supply, would lead to an interim supply deficit and price volatility. This could become a major fuel supply security challenge given the complex geopolitics associated with nuclear commerce. India with its vast thorium resources should thus switch over to thorium and become energy secure at the earliest. This needs acceleration of our thorium based nuclear power programme and related technology development. Utilisation of thorium as well as realising much higher energy value from uranium, which in any way would become the need of the hour, would inevitably involve reprocessing and recycle of nuclear fuel. Our capability in closed nuclear fuel cycle would thus come in handy to ensure a secure and sustainable energy supply and realise credible long term nuclear waste management. This however, is a sensitive nuclear technology and its governance and control need to be retained with the Government. Most countries including USA have not been able to resolve the issue of permanent disposal of used nuclear fuel. The fuel management interface between privately owned nuclear utility and Government owned nuclear recycle enterprise needs to be properly codified into the law.
It seems to me that given the larger thrust to nuclear energy worldwide, a greater emphasis on nuclear recycle would be inevitable. The backend fuel cycle in comparison to front end, would thus become an equally large if not larger enterprise. Thorium, because of proliferation resistance it offers, becomes even more relevant in this context.
We need to recognise that our PHWR systems are most flexible and best suited in facilitating a broad variety of fuel cycles particularly in the context of our plans to transition towards thorium. While the Fast Breeder development needs to be accelerated to enable large-scale conversion of thorium to fissile uranium-233, now that we are able to set up large PHWR capacities leveraging imported uranium, PHWRs offer a handy choice to do the same and accelerate our advance towards thorium utilisation. Development work necessary for this purpose should be the prime preoccupation of R&D in DAE even as nuclear utilities in public and private space carry out accelerated capacity addition leveraging standardised and proven designs.
We could expect the proposed nuclear bill to address concerns of all stake holders including some discussed above and propel the nuclear energy mission to achieve the expected goals.
The author is Former Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy & Former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission. Views expressed are personal.
