It look as if authorities are relying on the rich uranium deposits at Tummalapalle in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh to make India’s vision of generating 50,000 MW of nuclear power a reality.
“We have to make uranium mining at Tummalapalle a success,” Sekhar Basu, director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai said.
Sekhar Basu said the new government at the Centre `wants us to be more efficient’. He said the plans to generate 50,000 MW of nuclear power could become visible due to the latest technological developments.
During an interaction with the media, Basu elaborated what NFC chief executive N Saibaba said about the possibility of developing small reactors which could be portable.
“We are now at the R&D stage and NFC is working on the new materials,” he said.
The portable reactors would make it possible for inaccessible places also to get electricity and that would be helpful, especially to soldiers in the Himalayas.
He also spoke about plans for the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor Department of atomic energy additional secretary C B S Venkataramana enlighten that to meet the energy requirements of the country, the only way was through nuclear energy.
Though the country has nuclear power generation capacity of 4,700 MW now, infrastructure for generating additional 5,300 MW is getting ready. Then, after the end of the 12th and 13th five-year plans, the country would be able to generate 17,000 MW. At the end of the day, the idea is to generate 50,000 MW of nuclear power by the year 2030.