India could have 470 GWe of nuclear capacity by 2050 if it thinks big and manages its program correctly, said the country's prime minister, Manmohan Singh.
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| Manmohan Singh and Mohamed ElBaradei on stage at the conference |
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The event was scheduled for the centerary of the birth of Homi Babha, the pioneer of Indian nuclear energy, and Singh repeated Babha's words to a similar conference in 1955: "For the full industrialization of the under-developed countries, for the continuation of our civilization and its further development, atomic energy is not merely an aid, it is an absolute necessity."
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It was Babha that first proposed the three-stage closed nuclear fuel cycle that India still pursues. The first stage is based on pressurized heavy-water reactors using natural uranium and producing plutonium; the second on fast-neutron reactors using plutonium and breeding uranium-233 from thorium; the third sees more heavy-water reactors fuelled by uranium-233.
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Singh said, "The vast energy potential of our three-stage program allows us really to think big... If we manage our program well, our three-stage strategy could yield potentially 470,000 MWe of power by the year 2050. This will sharply reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and will be a major contribution to global efforts to combat climate change."
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After a US-led initiative to change nuclear trade rules to allow India full access to international markets, the country is set for a building surge of more conventional pressurized and boiling water reactors from overseas vendors. Singh said: "Our nuclear industry is poised for a major expansion and there will be opportunities for the global nuclear industry to participate." The country recently announced a version of its third-stage reactor adapted for export - something that would never have happened before the lifting of trade restrictions.
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