Fuel loading at India's first prototype fast-breeder reactor in Kalpakkam is expected to start next week, marking a significant step in the country's nuclear program.
The exit of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) from the Hyderabad Metro is a long-term positive for the stock. It could be a bullish trigger, alongside higher international orders, and new opportunities in segments like defence and data centres.
Government sources said amendments were being considered to the Atomic Energy Act to allow private sector participation and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act to limit the liability on suppliers of equipment to build atomic energy plants.
Ushering in reforms, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday proposed to open up the nuclear power sector for private players and announced a Rs 20,000 crore Nuclear Energy Mission for research in the field, with an aim to set up five small and modular reactors by 2033.
'Modi knows the people here are opposed to this project, but he is using the might of government to push this port down our throats.'
India is working on new technologies such as the small modular reactors that can be factory-built and help make clean energy transition, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said in New Delhi.
India's first 1000 MW atomic power plant built with Russian collaboration at Kudankulam is just two steps away from going critical, a top official said on Friday.
Clearing the decks for early commissioning of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, the Madras high court on Friday held that its two units did not suffer from any infirmity for want of approvals and rejected safety fears as 'unfounded'.
India's nuclear regulator on Friday said it has granted permission for loading of fuel into the much-delayed Kudankulam atomic power plant.
Controversy-embroiled Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project will once again miss the target as the time frame of commissioning of the first unit has now been revised to the new year.
Officials of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited are inspecting the first unit of Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tirunelveli district after removing dummy fuel from the reactor prior to getting clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory board to upload the real fuel.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and French company Areva signed an agreement RPT signed an agreement for building two European Pressure Reactors at Jaitapur in Maharashtra after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
India's target of nuclear power generation of 20,000 megawatt by 2020 has been quietly lowered by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), the only government agency setting up the nuclear power plants in the country, to 11,080 MW.
Not taking any chance of India facing Fukushima-type nuclear disaster, the government is gearing up India's nuclear power plants and other reactors for automatic shutdown, requiring no human intervention, if any earthquakes of the least intensity strikes.
With the standoff over the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant issue continuing, top atomic scientists will meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday to discuss ways and means to allay the fears of the locals who are insisting on scrapping the project.
The plant was earlier scheduled for commercial operations in December but it was deferred to March next due to the stir by locals and resultant stand-off between them and government. The commercial operation of the second unit to produce another 1000 mw is now expected by February 2013, the NPCIL said.
The first unit of the controversy-hit Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, with a capacity to produce 1,000 MW, is expected to start commercial operations in August. The first unit has attained 99.3 per cent of physical progress as on April and commercial operation is likely by August, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited said.
Bogged down by the over month-long agitation by local people led by anti-nuclear activists, commissioning of the first reactor of the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project has been delayed by three months.
The Rs 500 crore cap in the event of an accident, proposed in the controversial nuclear liability bill, could be raised as part of government's efforts to address concerns of the opposition over the issue. Indications to this effect were given by government officials at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology and Environment on Tuesady.
The National Thermal Power Corporation would shortly undertake work for site selection to set up nuclear power projects in Madhya Pradesh and other states.
Lokanath Mahalingam, an employee at Kaiga Atomic Power Station, who has been missing for the past four days, was not in possession of any classified information, said Nageshwar Rao, director of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, Operations.
Superintendent of Police (Uttar Kannada) Rama Gupta had sensed this problem almost a year ago and had shot off two letters in March and July to the plant authorities as well as the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited stating that an inter-union rivalry could lead to the security of the plant being compromised.
NPCIL executive director (corporate planning) S Thakur said fuel supply to its plants is now much better compared to the situation 2-3 years ago.
President A P J Abdul Kalam on Monday said people must unite to root out cross-border terrorism, which was a hurdle for economic prosperity and development of the country.
Preparations are on in full swing by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited to receive the plants and all them will most likely be of the European Pressurised Water Reactor type, a third generation design.
The total nuclear power generated in the country would now increase to 3310 MW.
'They are taking the people of the country for granted.'
After years of deadlock on liability issue, India and Russia have signed an agreement for building units 3 and 4 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant project at a cost of Rs 33,000 crore.
The move by Westinghouse, which is to build six reactors in India under the Indo-US civil nuclear deal inked in 2008, has raised uncertainties over the future of the implementation of the historic pact.
A pact between the NPCIL and Westinghouse to build six power reactors in Andhra Pradesh is unlikely to be signed.
The reactor will start its initial production of 400 MW electricity within 20 days, Union Minister V Narayanasamy said.
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited on Wednesday dismissed reports about a blast or steam pipe leak at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, saying there was only "an incident of hot water spillage" in which six persons were injured.
Left parties on Wednesday warned the government that it would commit an "illegal act" if it tried to dilute the Civil Nuclear Liability Act or signed any agreement for supply of nuclear reactors during the upcoming United States visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Modi has made nuclear power a key element of his clean energy strategy
India and the United States have reached the first commercial agreement on civilian nuclear power, five years after a landmark deal between the two countries was clinched.
'Many said his visit was very risky. But mercifully, Air Force One has taken off from Delhi without Mr Trump stepping on anybody's toes,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Swaraj expressed satisfaction over the agenda of the inaugural dialogue while giving the details of the deliberations.
'One thing I've learned about nuclear power is that these are not fast kind of time-lines.'
"It is a reflection of the bipartisan support in the US to the relationship with India. It is also a reflection of the value people attach to this relationship," Singh said.
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