Asian nations need to cooperate in nuclear field

MAHABALIPURAM - As a whopping 271 nuclear power reactors are being planned in Asia, there is an urgent need for cooperation among countries of the region to the meet the various technological and infrastructural challenges and proliferation concerns, a top industry official said here Monday.

“The Asian nations have to face the challenges like choice of technology and reactor size, setting up acceptable infrastructure, developing human resource, developing safety and quality culture, gaining pubic confidence, setting up regulatory framework, management of spent fuel and instituting nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear security framework,” said S.K.Jain, chairman and managing director of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL).

He told the Asian Nuclear Prospects 2010 (ANUP 2010) conference that global, regional and bilateral cooperation is the need of the hour among the Asian nations in sharing technology, experience, resources and address the nuclear proliferation concerns.

Jain said India can offer cooperation in technologies, quality assurance, site evaluation, construction, regulatory support, commissioning, procurement, manufacturing, operation and maintenance and others.

He said Indias strength lies in building small and modular reactors (SMR) an idea that is being discussed in the nuclear world.

The country can export 220 MW pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) to friendly countries.

The strength of Asia in the nuclear domain includes human resources, lowest cost, well developed industry and allied infrastructure and development of end-to-end technologies in the nuclear power field, Jain added.

According to him, 493 reactors are being planned and proposed in the world, of which 271 are in Asia.

Leading the Asian pack is China that has planned 153 reactors followed by India with 60 reactors, Vietnam (14), Japan(13), South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand (six each), Kazakhstan and Pakistan (four each), Bangladesh (two), Armenia, Malaysia and North Korea (one each).

About Indias nuclear power plans, Jain said the plan is to increase the capacity to 63,000 MW by 2032.

The route for that will be 40,000 MW through imported light water reactors (LWR), 16 units of 700 MW PHWR, including 10 based on reprocessed uranium, setting up of indigenous LWRs and Fast Breeder Reactors.

Beyond 2032, the focus will be on large capacity fast reactors powered by metallic fuel and introduction of thorium based reactors, Jain said.

–Indo Asian News Service