New Delhi | From legislative amendments to increasing uranium production in India, a government committee has made several recommendations to overcome the challenges facing the 100 GW nuclear capacity target by 2047.
These measures will not only attract private investment in nuclear space but also help with faster clearances required to set up such projects.
In February, Ministry of Power had constituted a committee to prepare a 'Road Map for Achieving the goal of 100 GW of Nuclear Capacity by 2047'.
The committee has held several rounds of discussions on all aspects of the journey towards 100 GW by 2047 and identified several challenges facing the target and recommended measures needed to mitigate the same.
The present nuclear installed capacity in the country is 8.88 GW.
The committee estimates that the incremental investment required to achieve 100 GW capacity based on anticipated capacity mix will be Rs 19 lakh crore.
Amendments to Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 (CLNDA) would be essential to bring much needed private capital and to ease risk perception of suppliers and potential investors.
The Atomic Energy Act, 1962 currently does not allow participation of private sector or even state governments in the nuclear projects. This, perhaps was considered necessary due to the need for stringent safety, security and safeguards in atomic power generation.
Further, suppliers and potential operators are apprehensive about some of the provision of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010.
The goal to reach 100 GW by 2047 calls for more than 10 times expansion of the existing capacity in 22 years' time or an average capacity addition of approximately 4.14 GW per year.
India would also need to secure huge uranium supplies to meet the target timely. Currently uranium requirement for 2.4 GW is met from domestic sources and the rest is imported.
It is understood that the cost of domestic uranium mining and its processing to convert into Uranium Ore Concentrate (UOC, also known as ‘Yellow Cake') is about 3 to 4 times expensive as compared to its price internationally. This is mainly due to poor quality of ore generally found in India.
However, with worldwide push for nuclear power the international uranium prices may increase.
The government may consider infusing additional equity in Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) to facilitate expansion.
The committee has also suggested reducing project timelines.
The entire process of setting up a nuclear power plant starts with in - principle consent of the concerned state government, where nuclear power plant is to be located.
The time required after consent from state government culminating into first pour of concrete is 5-6 years. Total time required for construction of nuclear power plant is 11 -12 years, which is very high. The process can be made faster by fast-tracking pre-project activities, land acquisition issues, quality assurance issues during construction and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) process.
State-owned NTPC, Tata Power and Naveen Jindal Group from the private sector have already announced their plans to set up nuclear projects in India.
At present, NTPC is setting up a nuclear project in a joint venture (JV) with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) in Rajasthan at an investment of about Rs 42,000 crore. NTPC CMD Gurdeep Singh recently shared plans of setting up individual nuclear projects.
In February, Jindal Nuclear announced it intends to make significant investments to build an 18GWe of nuclear power generation capacity in the country over next two decades.
Tata Power is transitioning from a pure-play solar and wind company to become a force in the hybrid renewable energy market and is also ready to take part in nuclear power development in future, Chairman N Chandrasekaran said in July.
