Nuclear Power in India – Past, Present and Future Dr. S.K. Jain Chairman & Managing Director NPCIL & BHAVINI 1.0 Introduction The huge potential of the atom had been envisioned in India in the ancient times and references to the same can be found in some of the ancient scriptures. Such references provide us a tantalizing glimpse into the ancient Indian history and, indeed, into the level of advanced thinking that these civilizations had reached in those times. In the modern times, it was Dr. Homi Bhabha, who foresaw, as early as in 1944, the potential of harnessing nuclear power in improving the quality of life of the millions of people stated: “Any substantial rise in the standard of living in this region – that can be sustained in the long term – will only be possible on the basis of very large imports of fuel or on the basis of atomic energy.” The issues of energy sustainability and inevitability of nuclear power, which are only now receiving global attention, was foreseen by him over half a century ago. When the rest of the world was working on the military applications of atomic energy, he focused on harnessing atomic energy for the improving the quality of life. In the 1950s, nuclear power in the world was still in its infancy and India had just gained independence. The nascent nation was essential a rural economy, with practically no technology or industrial base. Therefore, realizing such a technology-intensive vision, which involved complex reactor and fuel cycle technologies must have seemed like a fantasy. However, with his clear vision, Dr Bhabha went ahead, building institutions – R&D facilities, research reactors, industrial units – to develop technologies and to deploy them.
Soon, a sequential three-stage nuclear power programme, aimed at optimum utilisation of India’s nuclear resource profile of modest uranium and abundant thorium, with the objectives of improving the quality of life of the people and self-reliance in meeting the energy needs of the nation was conceived and adopted with a long-term vision. The three stages comprise Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) in the first stage, Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) in the second stage and thorium-based systems in the third stage. Based on a closed fuel cycle, where the spent fuel of one stage is reprocessed to produce fuel for the next stage. This multiplies manifold the energy potential of the fuel and greatly reduces the quantity of waste.
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