India has IGAs for peaceful nuclear use with 18 countries, says Dr. Singh
The Government has accorded ‘in-principle’ approvals of sites at Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh and ChhayaMithiVirdi in Gujarat for setting up nuclear power plants in cooperation with the United States of America, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Dr. Jitendra Singh said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha on 24 Mar 2022.
More nuclear power plants are planned, he told the house.
So far, Inter Governmental Agreements (IGAs) for co-operation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy have been signed with the following 18 countries, he said.
The IGAs are with Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Czech Republic, European Union, France, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Namibia, South Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Vietnam and Ghana.
Currently India has active participation in the area of nuclear energy with the US, France, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Canada.
However, there is no collaboration with Israel on nuclear energy, Dr. Singh pointed out.
India is recognized globally as a nation with advanced nuclear technologies, he added.
India has developed comprehensive capabilities in all stages of nuclear fuel cycle namely mining, uranium production, fuel fabrication, nuclear power production, spent fuel reprocessing and waste management, elaborated Dr. Singh.
India is not very rich in fossil fuel resources and considering the large and growing energy demand, all energy sources are deployed optimally, he informed the house.
Nuclear power is a clean and environment-friendly base load source of electricity generation, which is available 24X7. It also has a huge potential and can provide the country long-term energy security in a sustainable manner, he explained.
Expansion of nuclear power capacity will help in the country’s energy transition for meeting the goal of net zero economy, stressed the Minister.
He highlighted India’s commitment at COP26 Summit held in Glasgow, adding that by 2030 India will have non-fossil energy capacity of 500 GW, meeting 50% of energy requirements from Renewable Energy.
Seventy-nine hydro schemes with an aggregate capacity of more than 30,000 MW (comprising 11 Pumped Storage Schemes of 8,700 MW) have been envisaged for capacity addition during the period 2019-2020 to 2029-30.
This target includes 12,663.5 MW of Hydro Energy projects under construction.
Out of the above 79 projects, 5 hydro schemes with capacity of 1,023 MW have since been commissioned.
The existing nuclear power capacity of 6,780 MW will be increased to 22,480 MW by the year 2031 on progressive completion of projects under construction and those sanctioned.
Similarly, 31,665 MW of coal-based capacity are in the various stages of construction.
The present installed nuclear power capacity in the country is 6,780 MW comprising of 22 operational nuclear power reactors. The latest reactor KAPP-3 (700 MW) was connected to the grid in January 2021. fiinews.com
