Padma Vibhushan Dr Anil Kakodkar, former Chair, Atomic Energy Commission has emphasised the dual challenge of meeting India’s developmental needs while combating the climate crisis.
He discussed the current and future energy consumption scenario in India at PHDCCI’s National Technology Day Symposium.
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) in association with Indian Youth Nuclear Society (IYNS), organised the National Technology Day Symposium on Leveraging Nuclear Energy in India at PHD House in the national capital on Saturday.
During the symposium, the eminent nuclear scientist discussed India’s goal of a developed nation and said, in this journey nuclear energy was going to play a significant role.
Dr Kakodkar further informed,”While there are 6-8 million tonnes of Uranium and 6 million tonnes of Thorium available worldwide, we have 0.3 million tonnes of Uranium and 1 million tonnes of Thorium in India.”
He emphasised the importance of effectively utilising Thorium until fusion energy becomes viable.
Dr Kakodkar further highlighted the importance of India’s domestic self-reliance programme, particularly the advanced deployment of Thorium in pressurized heavy-water reactors (PHWRs), which would reduce Uranium requirements and total reprocessing capacity.
Leveraging Thorium would allow for rapid capacity expansion while maintaining a manageable fuel cycle, he added.
He also suggested leveraging Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation for the development and deployment of Thorium-based fuel.
In conclusion, he pointed out that ”decarbonisation is unavoidable to sustain our existence. While renewable energy is crucial, nuclear energy remains a clean baseload energy option available for facilitating a cheaper integration of variable renewable energy.”
He urged for scaling up nuclear deployment to support India’s development aspirations effectively.