Energy: Nuclear power plants are India’s next bet for power generation
New Delhi March, 16, With its current contribution of 3% of the total electricity generation in India, nuclear-powered electricity is set to be the next big thing in India’s power sector. The process of sidelining thermal energy has greatly contributed to the glorification of nuclear energy as a sustainable energy source.
On March 15, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Union Minister of Atomic Energy Dr. Jitendra Singh lauded India’s achievement of saving 41 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions annually while referring to 2020-21 data and comparing it to the rate of emissions that would have been generated by the thermal power plants.
It took India 75 years to reach a mark of 6780 MW of installed nuclear power capacity, which according to Sigh is set to increase by more than threefold to achieve an auspicious target of 22480 MW by 2031.
The Department of Atomic Energy, validating the government’s claims regarding nuclear energy, has considered it a significant component of its non-fossil fuel power generation capacity and is assured to continue pursuing research and innovation in this sector.
The current inclination of India towards nuclear energy can be traced by the heavy investments the nation has made in upcoming projects, which Sigh has also mentioned in his reply. The projects include the Kakrapar Atomic Power Project near Surat, Gujarat, where India’s first indigenous (2×700 MW) Pressurised (Heavy) Water Reactor (PHWR) is under construction; the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project, where 2×700 MW is being built on an EPC basis; the Kudankulam N-plant, with Units 1 and 2 already operating at a capacity of 1000 MW, and 4 more units of the same capacity are under construction; and at last, already delayed, India’s first prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) of 500MW is presently being constructed at the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) in Kalpakkam.
Though having so many advantages, nuclear power has been heavily criticized by many global thinkers because of its nature of disseminating radioactive material as a byproduct of its production, and often examples of the Chernobyl disaster and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster are debated.
Despite all of this, India has made significant progress in this sector, knowing that the chances of such leaks are negligible and that the country currently wants to rapidly ramp up the production of electricity.
(Photo: file)
