The nod for 10 PHWRs (Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors) of 700 MW each recently by the Government of India will help suppliers like BHEL to set up assembly lines on a large scale, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India R. Chidambaram has said.
He delivered the Dr. P. Brahmayya Sastry Memorial Oration here on Wednesday.
India’s first prototype fast breeder reactor, being set up at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu, was expected to be ready by this year-end, Dr. Chidambaram told the media after delivering the lecture.
The reactor is the second stage of the three-stage nuclear power, the first being PHWR.
While the first stage PHWRs use un-enriched natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as coolant, the second stage reactors use a mix of uranium and plutonium as fuel.
The third stage of the nuclear power programme would see India setting up thorium-based reactors, which are considered crucial as India has significant thorium reserves, but no uranium reserves.
He said the recent relaxation on the supply of uranium by the NSG (Nuclear Supply Group) was a good development.
On the apprehensions being expressed by various groups on nuclear power, Dr. Chidambaram opined that the benefits far outweigh the demerits and even those could be overcome by proper precautions.
