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.
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.
M R Srinivasan focused on the peaceful use of nuclear power at a time when the popular view among the 'hawks' was that India should build a nuclear arsenal as a deterrent.
The Indian government has introduced a bill to overhaul the civil nuclear sector, allowing private participation and establishing a new liability regime. The SHANTI Bill, 2025, aims to repeal existing acts and address industry concerns.
Construction major L&T is gearing up to expand its footprint in the global nuclear supply chain, a senior company official has said, while calling for amendments to key legislations on the domestic front to pave the way for the entry of private players and foreign capital necessary for capacity enhancement.
India on Tuesday said cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear technology is an important pillar of the multifaceted cooperation with Russia, which offered help in building small tropical nuclear power stations.
The huge reduction in the government's support for Bhavini has brought down the overall budgetary allocation for nuclear power schemes by 20 per cent.
Whether the ambitious targets are achievable is a moot question as India's earlier target was 20,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020.
Under a 2010 nuclear liability law, nuclear equipment suppliers are liable for damages from an accident, which companies say is a sharp deviation from international norms
Three important developments in the nuclear sector have put the department of atomic energy and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India on the back foot, says Praful Bidwai
On June 1 2017, the credit protocol to the Intergovernmental Agreement of December 5 2008 and the GFA for Kudankulam NPP Units 5, 6 were signed.
A report in today's Globe and Mail reveals that officials of the Canada's Atomic Energy Commission Ltd. spent 6 days in New Delhi during which they had a series of meetings with their counterparts in India's Department of Atomic Energy and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. to see how AECL could re-enter the Indian market after Canada's embargo of almost 35 years in the nuclear field.
KAPP-3, the country's 23rd nuclear power reactor, is a 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) designed indigenously, the NPCIL said in a release. The components and equipment for the reactor have been manufactured by Indian industries, and its construction was undertaken by various Indian contractors, it said.
There is a secured system to tackle cyber attacks and there is a segregation of nuclear generation from the administrative segment, There is a secured system to tackle cyber attacks and there is a segregation of nuclear generation from the administrative segment, he said.
The attack also refreshed the memories of a virus attack on an Iranian nuclear facility.
Pitching for greater use of "clean" and "dependable" nuclear power, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday made it clear that India will need large amount of energy to maintain the tempo of growth which averaged 7.9 per cent during the last 10 years despite two bouts of global recession.
Scientists are puzzled by what caused the mysterious nuclear leak at the Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant in Gujarat last year, reveals Pallava Bagla.
Several nuclear power projects held up for the lack of such an insurance pool can now be expected to move forward.
Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the United States, a controversy has broken out over the nuclear liability law with reports suggesting that an agreement will be signed which may not be in tune with the law.
Indian and American experts on Wednesday held detailed discussions on a range of implementation issues, including administrative, liability, technical and licensing matters to advance the operationalisation of Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation that has been in limbo for past 9 years.
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.
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.
'Decisions on nuclear power have so far been taken by a small select group, primarily interested in profiteering from their actions, stating 'secrecy' as necessary from the national security point.' 'This argument is false, because we are dealing with the 'civilian' nuclear power sector, which is open even to the IAEA,' says Dr A Gopalakrishnan, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke's robust meetings in Mumbai, includes a bilateral with the Governor of the RBIndia Dr D Subbarao and senior officials at the Department of Atomic Energy and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, in addition to speeches to the Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the National Association of Software and Service Companies, will also be punctuated with an interaction with the dabbawallahs or tiffin caterers.
A pact between the NPCIL and Westinghouse to build six power reactors in Andhra Pradesh is unlikely to be signed.
Membership of Nuclear Suppliers Group ensures continued availability of fuel sufficient to operate India's nuclear plants.
While nuclear engineers cheer KNPP's first full operation, on nine other sites which house atomic reactors, scientists spend sleepless nights.
'They are taking the people of the country for granted.'
'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.'
I suggest we build a Vigyan Mandir (Temple of Science) with the ambience of a place of worship, so that it becomes a destination for pilgrims. We should embed on its walls bronze plaques describing each scientist mentioned here along with about a dozen of our ancient mathematicians, recommends Professor Kalyan Singhal, historian of science and technology.
Sustained campaign forces NPCIL to issue statement on Kakrapar fuel leak. But there is still not clarity on what went wrong.
'The leak is likely to continue for some time before it becomes stable, but this is something that NPCIL, who is the plant operator, will have to do. For this, we have to plan very carefully.'
India's nuclear establishment is continuing its march of folly at the expense of safety in the false belief that atomic power is the energy of the future. It's not. Nuclear power is in relentless global decline, says Praful Bidwai.
The government must justify why we need to buy foreign reactors when we have developed up to 700 MWe unit-size pressurised heavy water reactors, a design which can be easily extended to 900 to 1000 MWe unit size. Why can't the 'Make in India' philosophy apply to indigenous nuclear reactors, more than 18 of which have been designed, built, and being operated by Indian engineers, asks Dr A Gopalakrishnan.
'One thing I've learned about nuclear power is that these are not fast kind of time-lines.'
India is expected to strongly push for a bilateral totalisation agreement with the US during President Barack Obama's visit later this month.
The agreement was reached in intensive negotiations between contact groups that Obama and Modi had set up in September.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
Delhi's inability to open up a new canvas with Pakistan and Sharif is symptomatic of its sluggish thinking. Jyoti Malhotra analyses
Moving ahead with their new mantra -- Chalein Saath Saath: Forward Together We Go -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday vowed to deepen cooperation in every sector for the benefit of global stability and people's livelihoods over the next ten years.
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