Important contribution of nuclear energy in making India developed, by 2047 9% electricity from nuclear sources

India Nuclear Energy @2047: Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, the father of the Indian nuclear program, had dreamed of making India a nuclear power-rich country even before independence. India is making rapid strides towards increasing the share of nuclear energy to meet its electricity needs.

We all know that on completion of 100 years of independence, India is moving forward with the goal of becoming a developed nation. Keeping pace with this perspective, the central government is moving ahead with new goals in the energy sector. Under this, a target has been set that by 2047, India can get 9 percent electricity from nuclear sources.

Contribution of nuclear power in power generation is 3.15%

Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh gave this information after reviewing the functioning of Bhabha Atomic Research Center in Mumbai. The central government is constantly trying to increase the share of nuclear energy in the energy sector of the country. According to the figures of 2021-22, the contribution of nuclear energy in the total electricity production of the country is about 3.15%. During 2021-22, nuclear power reactors to generate 47,112 million units of electricity. At present, nuclear energy is the fifth largest source of electricity for India.

Big step towards renewable energy

India has to achieve the long-term goal of reaching net-zero by 2070 and this will be possible only when the share of nuclear energy in the energy sector increases rapidly. Net zero is related to carbon emissions. Since electricity from nuclear sources is considered clean energy, it does not harm the environment as compared to conventional energy sources like coal. The central government is working on increasing the share of power from nuclear sources in a phased manner. In this direction, the Department of Atomic Energy has been given a target of achieving 20 Gigawatt (GW) capacity of nuclear power generation by 2030. If this happens, India will become the third largest producer of nuclear energy in the world after America and France.

PM’s emphasis on increasing the share of nuclear power

Union minister Jitendra Singh said the rapid progress in increasing the share of nuclear power goes to the credit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who decided to approve 10 reactors together in a single order. Also allowed to develop nuclear installations under joint ventures with public sector undertakings. Only after that Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is now involved in two joint ventures with National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL).

6th largest country in terms of active reactors

For the first time about 6 years ago, the central government had taken the decision to approve 10 reactors in fleet mode. This is the reason that today India is the sixth largest country in the world in terms of number of active reactors and if reactors under construction are added to it, India is the second largest country in total number of reactors. Since independence, India has always insisted that nuclear energy should be used for peaceful purposes.

Nuclear power capacity 22,480 MW by 2031

India has shown the way for this to the world. In the last few years, for the first time in India, nuclear energy is being used on a large scale in different areas. These include the use of the latest technologies in the treatment of cancer and other diseases, as well as increasing the shelf life of agricultural products and fruits such as apples. The current installed nuclear power capacity will increase from 6,780 MW to 22,480 MW by 2031. This will be possible because by then the work of under-construction projects related to nuclear energy will be completed.

Construction of 10 reactors approved in June 2017

In June 2017, the Central Government had approved a proposal to build 10 indigenously developed Pressurized Heavy Water Plants (PHWR) of 700 MW each. That is, with the preparation of these reactors, the capacity of 7 thousand MW will increase. These 10 reactors will cost more than one lakh crore rupees. For the first time, the government had approved the construction of 0 nuclear power reactors simultaneously.

Construction work of 10 reactors started in 3 years

Construction of 10 nuclear reactors will be started simultaneously in ‘fleet mode’ over the next three years, with the foundation stone for a 700 MW nuclear power plant at Kaiga in Karnataka being laid in 2023. In March last year, the Department of Atomic Energy informed the Parliamentary Committee on Science and Technology that the construction of nuclear power reactors with foundation pour concrete (FPC) is now moving beyond the pre-project stage to speed up construction. Used to be. Under this, excavation activities are being done at the project site. At that time it was informed that the concrete pouring for the foundation of Kaiga Units 5 and 6 in Karnataka would start in 2023. On the other hand, the work of pouring concrete for the foundation of Gorakhpur Haryana Atomic Power Project Units 3 and 4 as well as Mahi Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Project Units 1 to 4 will start in 2024. Apart from this, the concrete pouring work for the foundation of Chutka Madhya Pradesh Atomic Power Project Units 1 and 2 will start in 2025.

Currently 22 reactors are active in the country

A nuclear power plant is expected to be built during five years under ‘fleet mode’. At present, 22 reactors are operating in 7 power plants in the country, which have a total capacity of 6780 MW. Of these, 18 reactors are PHWR and 4 are light water reactors. Apart from this, a 700 MW reactor was connected to the grid at Kakrapar in Gujarat on January 10 last year, and commercial operations are likely to start soon. This is the third unit of the Kakrapar Nuclear Power Project. This unit of Kakrapar Atomic Power Project is India’s first 700 MW capacity reactor. We know that nuclear power plants can generate large amounts of electricity from a relatively small amount of nuclear fuel.

PHWR is the mainstay of nuclear power program

Pressurized heavy water reactors are the mainstay of India’s nuclear power programme. This is called Pressurized Heavy Water Plant. In this, natural uranium is used as fuel and heavy water is used as moderator. The first two such reactors of 220 MW each were built at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan in the 1960s with the help of Canada. However, in 1974, India conducted a successful nuclear test for the first time for peaceful purposes. After this, the help from Canada in making PHWR stopped. In the last few years, India has built 14 PHWRs of 220 MW with better design and safety measures. Indian scientists and engineers later improved the design to increase the power generation capacity to 540 MW. After that two such reactors were started in Tarapur, Maharashtra. Further improvements were made to the design to increase the capacity to 700 MW in the next phase.

World’s first thorium based nuclear plant

Earlier the emphasis was on building nuclear reactors only in Maharashtra, Gujarat or South India, but now attention is being paid to build nuclear plants in other parts of the country as well. Under this, a nuclear plant is to be built in Gorakhpur, Haryana. The world’s first thorium based nuclear plant ‘Bhavni’ using Uranium-233 is being set up at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu. This plant will be completely indigenous and will be the first plant of its kind. Experimental thorium plant ‘Kamini’ already exists at Kalpakkam.

Nuclear energy is the best option for the future

We know that India is not very rich in fossil fuel resources. In view of the increasing energy demand, nuclear energy is the best option for the future. Nuclear energy is a clean and environment-friendly source of electricity generation. It also has huge potential and can provide sustainable long-term energy security to the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi In the COP26 summit held in Glasgow in 2021, India had said that India will reach 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030 and with this, India will meet 50 percent of its energy needs from renewable energy by 2030. To achieve this goal, power generation from nuclear sources will have to be increased rapidly. The International Energy Agency (IEA) also believes that India is expected to have the highest energy demand globally during the current decade due to rapid urbanization and industrialisation. This demand is increasing at a rate of more than 3 percent on an annual basis.

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