India's Nuclear Agreement

[nitesh]

Areva inks pact with NPCIL to supply 300 tonnes of uranium- Power-Energy-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

Areva inks pact with NPCIL to supply 300 tonnes of uranium
16 Dec 2008, 0110 hrs IST, Subhash Narayan, ET Bureau


NEW DELHI: French energy firm Areva, the world’s largest nuclear power company, has signed an agreement with government-run monopoly Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) to supply about 300 tonnes of uranium annually. This is the first major nuclear fuel supply agreement by the Indian firm after the approval of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal early this year.

The fuel is enough to generate about 1,500 mw power, which is over 35% of the country’s installed nuclear power generation capacity.

Minister of state for power and commerce Jairam Ramesh confirmed the move. “Availability of fuel will help NPCIL’s existing plants to start operating at full capacity from June 2009,” he said. NPCIL plants are running at 45% plant load factor (PLF) due to fuel shortage. NPCIL operates 17 nuclear reactors at six locations with a total generation capacity of 4,120 mw.

India’s estimated uranium reserves are sufficient to generate only 10,000 mw. The quality of the domestic uranium ore is also low (0.1% uranium content against global standards of 12-14%). Uranium mining in India is insignificant and in most parts of the country is resisted by locals on health grounds, leaving little scope for stepping up production.

The fuel supply agreement with Areva also ends India’s nuclear isolation from the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG). So far, the country was dependent on domestically sourced uranium and some fuel from Russia.

Apart from the fuel supply agreement, Areva is also interested in supplying 1,700 mw nuclear reactors to NPCIL. These would be the largest reactors to be used in the country.

NPCIL is also getting 1,000 mw reactors from Russia for its 4,000 mw nuclear power plant at Koodankulam. “The first in the series of four 1,000 mw Russian reactors would be put up by September 2009,” Mr Ramesh said.

Besides France and Russia, the department of atomic energy (DAE), the nodal agency for coordinating nuclear power generation activities in the country, is negotiating with non- NSG countries such as Namibia and Niger to access their huge uranium resources.

Nigeria has around 10% of world’s uranium reserves. Shortage of uranium has already forced NPCIL to delay commissioning of two 220 mw units at Rajasthan Atomic Power Station.

It also forced the government to downsize additional nuclear power generation capacity to 3,880 mw in the 11th Plan (2007-12). NPCIL wants to add over 10,000 mw capacity in the 12th five-year Plan to cover for shortages in the existing plan.

 

[Neo]

Kazakhstan to supply uranium to India​

* Power minister tells Lok Sabha nuclear power as cost-effective as coal power​

NEW DELHI: As the Indian government on Friday dispelled fears in the Lok Sabha that the electricity generated by the nuclear power stations will be costlier than the hydel or coal power, Kazakhstan, having the world’s largest uranium reserves said it was willing to supply India nuclear material.

Minister of State for Power Jairam Ramesh said nuclear power would be as competitive as coal power and in fact coal power became costly if generated by a power station situated more than 800 kilometres away from a coalmine.

Ramesh was responding to a question by Mumbai MP Mohan Rawale that the new nuclear power stations to be set up as a sequel to the Indo-US nuclear deal would have the capital cost of Rs 9 crore per kilowatt and hence the government’s plan to generate 20,000KW from nuclear power stations would cost a whopping Rs 18,000 crore.

In reply to a question by Rahul Bajaj on operationalising the nuclear deal with the United States, he was told diplomatic notes for bringing the agreement into effect were exchanged on December 6 as a follow-up of the accord’s signing on October 10.

Ramesh added India had also presented another diplomatic note to the US on December 5, nominating a nodal point for administrative arrangement for effective implementation of the agreement. US response was awaited, he said.

Meanwhile, on the eve of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s visit to India, Kazakh experts and officials said there was scope for agreements on energy and economic co-operation.

The leader of the Kazakh delegation, Dr Marat Shaikhutdinov, told a conference here that his country had no problem in supplying uranium to India. iftikhar gilani

 

[nitesh]

http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/0/887F020F30104B636525752900447338?OpenDocument

India to invest in uranium mines in Russia, Kazakhstan



Mumbai, Dec 24 (PTI) India will invest in uranium mines in Russia, Kazakhstan and a few other countries to acquire upto 50 per cent ownership to ensure uninterrupted supply of fuel for its safeguarded nuclear power plants, according to a top official.
"We will invest in uranium mines in Russia, Kazakhstan and a few others to acquire ownership of 40 to 50 per cent as part of the long-term strategy for uninterrupted fuel (uranium) supply for our safeguarded nuclear plants," Chairman and Managing Director of Nuclear Power corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) S K Jain said today.

"Certain new uranium mines are explored in these countries and we are ready to invest in order to acquire ownership in these mines," Jain told PTI.

"This investment will be with guaranteed uptake," he said.

"A joint team of NPCIL, Nuclear Fuel complex (NFC) and Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) has been set up and the modalities are being worked out for the investment," Jain said.

NPCIL has been talking to the vendors on this regard, he said.

NPCIL has chalked out a three-pronged programme for importing uranium from the NSG countries - first, purchase of uranium on a short-term basis like the recent contract signed with French power major AREVA for 300 tonnes.

Second, purchase of uranium on long-term basis 200 to 300 tonnes per year for upto ten years from the vendors and to invest in uranium mine assets and acquire ownership with various agencies, Jain said.

From the US, it would be only short-term purchase, he added. PTI

 

[nitesh]

The Hindu News Update Service

'Nuclear command control system ready'

Dehra Dun (PTI): Stating that India's defence system is capable of facing any kind of attack including an atomic one, a top DRDO scientist said, adding, the organisation has developed a nuclear command control system for the purpose.

After attending the golden jubilee celebration of DRDO as chief guest, on Tuesday, W Selvamurthy Chief Controller Research and Development (Life Sciences) of Defence Research and Development Organisation told reporters that country is capable of combating any kind of attack whether it is biological, chemical or nuclear.

He said the organisation has developed such bunkers which can protect the people from effects of radiation of the nuclear attack. Apart from this, DRDO has also developed integrated shelters, radiation protective device and air borne early warning system, he added.

Selvamurthy further said that the country has also developed an interceptive missile system, which is capable of destroying a missile in the air. The test trial of the system has already been done, he informed.

This interceptor missile system has the capability to attack and destroy a target missile in air up to 50 kilometres, Selvamurthy said.

Describing the Light Combat Aircraft as the aircraft of future, Selvamurthy said its successful test trial was held just two days ago in the hills of Leh in sub zero temperatures.

He said DRDO has fixed a target of giving 20 such aircrafts to the Indian Air Force by 2010 and 10 more by 2012.

"This aircraft would replace MIG-21 in the coming days," he added.

 

[nitesh]

PM led N-Command meeting on Saturday-India-The Times of India

PM led N-Command meeting on Saturday
25 Dec 2008, 0305 hrs IST, Rajat Pandit, TNN


NEW DELHI: The top-level security meeting held by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last Saturday was actually a meeting of Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). The meeting, kept under wraps so as not to fuel the current war hysteria between India and Pakistan, coincided with the first strong sign of Islamabad backtracking on its promise to crack down on the masterminds of 26/11.

Sources, however, denied the NCA meeting on December 20 had anything to do with the current stand-off with Pakistan in wake of the Mumbai terror strikes. They, in fact, stressed the meeting's "only intention'' was "to take decisions on the further consolidation of India's nuclear deterrence''.

The UPA government this week has tried to play down apprehensions of an imminent military conflagration, with the PM making it clear on Tuesday that "nobody wanted war''.

Cautioning against reading much into what they called "a routine meeting'', the sources pointed to the "no-first-use'' policy that underpins India's nuclear doctrine.

"Nuclear weapons are not for war-fighting or even threatening anybody. Any talk of them coming into play is totally absurd. We have a very clear self-declared no-first use policy,'' said a source.

Pakistan, in contrast, has no such policy. And when President Asif Ali Zardari indicated a willingness to take a turn away from it recently, he was publicly snubbed by the military leadership who call the shots across the border. Unlike India, where the NCA is controlled by the civilian leadership, the finger on the nuclear button in Pakistan is that of its Army chief General Pervez Kayani.

For the NCA meeting to have skipped a discussion on the tension building up in wake of Pakistan's belligerent refusal to keep its promise to act against terror groups is improbable. In fact, as reported by TOI on Sunday, the "conventional'' operational preparedness of the armed forces to tackle any eventuality did figure in the meeting.

Since then, Pakistan has shown aggressive signs of cranking up its war machinery, even as Indian forces maintain a high state of operational readiness, with armoured columns, warships and fighters ready to swing into action "in the shortest possible time'' if required.

A meeting of the NCA is held once every three-to-six months to review the further development and management of the country's nuclear arsenal. Under the existing structure, the NCA's political council led by the PM is the "sole body which can authorize the use of nuclear weapons''.

The NCA also has an executive council, headed by the national security advisor, to provide inputs and "execute the directives'' given to it by the political council.

India created the NCA and the tri-Service Strategic Forces Command (SFC) to manage the country's nuclear arsenal in January 2003 after the 10-month troop mobilisation along the Indo-Pak border under Operation Parakram in wake of the December 2001 terror strike on Parliament.

Though India's nuclear command and control structures and related tasks are on a firm footing now, the SFC still has some way to go before it becomes a full-fledged operational command.

SFC only has the nuclear-capable Prithvi (150 to 350-km range), Agni-I (700-km) and Agni-II (2,500-km) ballistic missiles under its operational control at present.

It does not have a squadron of "dedicated'' fighters tasked to deliver nuclear bombs. Instead, IAF itself maintains some "dual-tasked'' fighter-bombers for the purpose.

Similarly, the Navy has only two dual-tasked warships armed with the Dhanush (variant of Prithvi with a 330-km range) missiles, INS Subhadra and INS Suvarna, at present.

The glaring gap, of course, is the lack of nuclear-powered submarines since they constitute the most potent and least vulnerable platform to launch nuclear-tipped missiles in "a second-strike contingency''.

 

[nitesh]

DAE in talks with private cos for nuke JV- Power-Energy-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

DAE in talks with private cos for nuke JV
25 Dec 2008, 0225 hrs IST, Debjoy Sengupta, ET Bureau

KOLKATA: The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is in talks with private companies for floating a joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation (NPCIL) to manufacture nuclear reactor pressure vessels. Reactor pressure vessels are one of the main components of any nuclear reactor. This vessel contains the coolant and reactor core — where the nuclear reactions take place.

“Nuclear Power Corporation (NPCIL) is likely to take a majority 51% stake in this venture and talks with private players are already on,” said Srikumar Banerjee, director Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Barc) and member Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of Jadavpur University’s 53rd Convocation.

Currently, no Indian company has the expertise to manufacture such vessels since it requires a combination of special skills in steel melting, forging as well as machining. Mr Banerjee, however, declined to divulge the name of the private players in talks for the JV.

“DAE is also looking at the possibility of making India an export hub for manufacturing components that go into nuclear reactors and power plants. India already has the technical expertise, but currently we do not have the scale to manufacture it commercially,” Mr Banerjee said.

Barc is also working on introducing metallic fuels in existing reactors for launching thorium based reactors on a large scale at least five years prior to the original schedule. Unlike oxide fuel, which is regularly used in reactors today, metallic fuels have a higher breeding ratio and shorter doubling time, which means it will produce more plutonium that can be used in new nuclear reactors. Doubling time is the time required to produce enough plutonium so that it can be used in a new reactor.

Earlier in the day, Mr Banerjee said the projected growth for nuclear power generation can be attained only if nuclear fuels and reactor systems are imported for a designated period to augment the Indian nuclear programme.

“This will also catalyse fuel breeding for our future programme. A recent study shows that import of 40GW (giga watt) capacity of light water reactor or equivalent fuel during the period 2012 and 2020 will help us bridge the gap.”

He added that the spent fuel from these reactors would be used for launching a series of fast breeder reactors. Fast breeder reactors consume plutonium and breed plutonium, too, while generating power. This plutonium can then be used for fuelling other reactors.

 

[nitesh]

Development work on 300 MW advanced heavy water reactor at advanced stage-Chennai-Cities-The Times of India

Development work on 300 MW advanced heavy water reactor at advanced stage
20 Dec 2008, 0045 hrs IST, TNN


CHENNAI: The detailed project report for the proposed 300 MW advanced heavy water reactor (AHWR) will soon be ready, and its innovative design has by and large been confirmed to be very sound, Anil Kakodkar, head of India's atomic energy programme, said here on Friday.

AHWR, which will use thorium as fuel, was designed and developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and will mark the third stage of India's three-stage nuclear programme. The first stage of the programme, using pressurised heavy water reactors, is in operation, and the ongoing construction of a 500 MW prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam marks the beginning of the second stage. "Development work on AHWR is at an advanced stage and nearly complete," Kakodkar said.

The innovative nature of the AHWR design resulted in it being sent for an independent pre-licensing design safety review by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). "By and large, everybody has confirmed that its design is very sound. Simultaneously, the project report, covering engineering and costing, is being readied," the Atomic Energy Commission chairman said, adding, "We will be able to get a detailed project report very soon."

Nuclear scientists consider AHWR to be a unique reactor since its core heat will be removed by natural circulation'. Besides, it will incorporate several passive safety' features - features that will not need any operator intervention in the event of an emergency. "Most safety functions will be based on the principles of physics, which cannot fail," Kakodkar pointed out.

A critical facility for AHWR has been set up in BARC, Mumbai, as an initial step towards its construction. The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, has created a facility for conducting heat transfer experiments.

"The PFBR construction work is progressing on schedule and we propose to complete it by 2011," Kakodkar told The Times of India. After the prototype is in place, there are plans to establish five more fast breeder reactors of similar capacity. "We are targeting a capacity of 2,500 MW from the five reactors," he added.

 

[nitesh]

The Statesman

Meghalaya sets terms to allow uranium extraction

NEW DELHI, Dec. 21: Even as India and Russia signed agreements to eliminate the supply-demand mismatch in uranium and enable India to set up more nuclear power plants, there is little movement apparently from Meghalaya in the northeast which houses about 16 per cent of the country’s uranium resources.

Close on the heels of raising reservations on uranium extraction from Meghalaya, the state government has now said while it is open to starting a mining project in the West Khasi Hills, certain conditions need to be fulfilled.

The Meghalaya chief minister, Mr Donkupar Roy’s meeting with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, was cancelled due to the Mumbai terror strikes. During his stay in the Capital, the chief minister told The Statesman that the concerns of locals over health hazards and their possible displacement once the project commences “weighed strongly” in his mind. “I would also like to ensure that the state of Meghalaya is not deprived of the economic benefit from the project,” he said.

“You see our experiences in the northeast have been peculiar. While Assam gave tea, the Tea Board was set up in Kolkata, while we gave oil the refinery was set up in Barauni,” he pointed out adding that such an attitude by New Delhi over the decades has made the region skeptical of the Centre’s real intentions. Mr Roy, heading a coalition government, faces inherent problems as his deputy chief minister, Mr HS Lyngdoh, has voiced strong reservations on the project. Mr Lyngdoh’s party, the HSPDP, is opposed to uranium mining and this was reflected in the party manifesto released during the Assembly elections earlier this year. n SNS

 

[nitesh]

agreement signed:

SteelGuru - News

NPCIL signs pact with Areva for uranium supply

Project today reported that Areva, a France based energy firm, has entered into an agreement with Nuclear Power Corporation of India to supply 300 tonne of uranium per annum.

The fuel which is enough to generate about 1,500 MW power will help NPCIL's existing plants to start operating at full capacity from June 2009. The fuel supply agreement also ends India's nuclear isolation from the Nuclear Suppliers' Group.

As per report, NPCIL plants are running at 45% plant load factor due to fuel shortage. NPCIL operates 17 nuclear reactors at six locations with a total generation capacity of 4,120 MW. NPCIL has been dependent on domestically sourced uranium and some fuel from Russia, so far.

Apart from this, Areva is also keen in supplying 1,700 MW nuclear reactors to NPCIL. These would be the largest reactors to be used in the country.

(Sourced from Project Todays)

 

[nitesh]

Indian university to install accelerator - Related Stories - SNM SmartBrief

Indian university to install accelerator

SNM SmartBrief | 12/30/2008

Panjab University in Chandigarh, India, has received funding from the Department of Science and Technology to establish a high-current 5 MV tandem electrostatic accelerator that will produce radioactive sources used in radiotherapy for cancer treatment. "By placing this accelerator in a university setting, a conscious attempt is being made to use this to motivate and train students in accelerator-related techniques and research," a professor at the university said. Times of India, The (12/27)

 

[nitesh]

No N-power plants by pvt firms for now- Policy-Economy-News-The Economic Times

No N-power plants by pvt firms for now
31 Dec 2008, 0340 hrs IST, Anto Antony, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Private players looking to set up nuclear power plants with full management control may have to wait as the government is yet to develop any mechanism for assessing the liability of operators in the event of an accident.

The draft civil nuclear liability bill sent to various ministries for comments mentions the liability details of the nuclear vendor — the company making the reactor — but not the operator who will be responsible for running it, a government official, who asked not to be named, said.

The draft bill, which took the vendor liability details from the convention on supplementary compensation for nuclear damage of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has omitted its clauses related to operator liability.

“It may have ignored the operator liability details assuming that only the state-run Nuclear Power Corp India (NPCIL) could operate future projects. With NPCIL, the buck stops at the government,” the official said. As per the bill, the vendor liabilities are limited to Rs 300 crore in case of an accident, with the government underwriting the rest.

However, experts point out that private players can still take part in the sector once the final bill is cleared, but as part of joint ventures. Recently, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar had said the private sector should join hands with NPCIL as minority partners to gain experience in the nuclear business.

The Atomic Energy Act of India 1962, the law that regulates nuclear power generation activities in the country, does not allow private players in the sector. The government has earlier announced that the Act will be amended to accommodate the private sector.

NPCIL runs 17 reactors and five are under construction at various stage. According to the AEC, the country aims to generate 20,000 mw of nuclear power by 2020, of which half would come from indigenously developed Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors. About 5,000 mw of electricity is expected to be generated through imported reactors.

 

[nitesh]

The Hindu : National : Kudankulam desalination plant to be operational in a week

Kudankulam desalination plant to be operational in a week

T.S. Subramanian

It will cater for both the nuclear plant and NPCIL township

CHENNAI: A massive plant, which can produce about three lakh litres of desalinated water an hour, is all set to be commissioned in a week at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu.

K.C. Purohit, project director, said: “The desalination plant has been erected. It has been charged with power supply. The Kudankulam nuclear power plant will not depend on the Pechiparai reservoir” in the neighbouring Kanyakumari district for its water needs.

Two Russian reactors of 1,000 MWe each are under construction at Kudankulam. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is building them on the coast.

Mr. Purohit called the desalination plant “a very big plant” which employed “high technology.” The desalinated water, “free of minerals to a great extent,” would be used to meet the requirements of both the nuclear power plant and the township where NPCIL employees lived with their families.

M. Kasinath Balaji, chief superintendent, KKNPP, said: “All checks have been done. In a few days, we will be producing good water.”

The plant uses the mechanical vapour compression technology to produce potable water. It has four streams. Sea water from the Gulf of Mannar will be heated up to 70 degrees Celsius and sprayed inside the vacuum developed in the chambers in the streams.

Part of the hot water will evaporate and this vapour will be condensed into fresh water. It will be further purified in a demineralisation plant. The pure supply will be used as primary and secondary coolant in the reactor, and as “make-up” water during operations.

In addition, it will meet potable water requirements at the plant site itself.

Roughly, half of the sea water used will be converted into potable water. For instance, out of 222 cubic metres, 106 cubic metres of good water will be produced. The remaining water, after it is cooled, will be pumped back into the sea.

Mr. Balaji said: “Basically, Kudankulam will not depend on the water resources [such as the Pechiparai reservoir] meant for the public. It costs five paise to produce a litre of good water.”

According to A. Parthiban, scientific officer, KKNPP, only three persons are required to operate the desalination plant.

It has been erected on a turnkey basis by Tata Projects in conjunction with IDE Technologies Limited, Israel.

Meanwhile, Mr. Purohit said, “95 per cent of the civil work on the first unit has been completed. The reactor has already been erected. All turbine components have been installed. The turbine is fully ready.”

The enriched uranium fuel assemblies will be loaded into the first reactor in the second quarter of 2009. The reactor will reach criticality a couple of months later. The second unit is eight months behind the first.

 

[nitesh]

US joins rush to supply nuclear equipment to India - Times Online

US joins rush to supply nuclear equipment to India
Largest ever US trade mission travels to Delhi and Mumbai as nuclear supply embargo on the country is lifted
Rhys Blakely in Mumbai

The United States will enter the fray against France and Russia this week in the scramble to supply nuclear power equipment worth an estimated $150 billion to India.

The US is sending what is thought to be its largest ever trade mission to Delhi and Mumbai, including representatives of 30 companies that deal with civilian nuclear projects, to pitch for contracts related to India's atomic energy industry. The move comes after India's status as a nuclear pariah, with which other nations were not allowed to trade nuclear fuel and equipment, was controversially ended last year.

The state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI) is understood to have begun preliminary discussions with General Electric and Westinghouse, the US companies, over the supply of atomic hardware. Others, including Bechtel Nuclear, The Shaw Group and Babcock & Wilcox, will be in India to meet senior government officials.

In the background will be India's deepening defence ties with the US.

This week India signed a USD2.1 billion deal to buy eight long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft from Boeing, one of the companies that had lobbied hardest in Washington for India to be allowed to become part of the international nuclear club. The deal with Boeing marked India's largest ever acquisition of military equipment from the US, its former Cold War enemy.

Boeing is also vying with five other companies – including Dassault of France and Russia's Mikoyan Design Bureau to supply 126 fighter jets in a $10 billion deal to modernise India's ageing air force.

Players from the same three countries are battling to profit from India's entry into the nuclear power market. The NPCI recently held talks with AtomStroyExport, Russia's nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly, over the provision of reactors. The Indian body has also approached Areva, the French manufacturer, over the possible supply of third-generation 1,600 MW European Pressurised Reactors. Areva already has a deal in place to supply India's regional rival China to supply the same hardware.

The rush to do business with India follows the overturn of a three-decade ban on supplying the country with atomic fuel and equipment in September. The process was spearheaded by the US and handed President Bush with what may prove his most significant foreign policy victory while in office.

The ban was imposed by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a group of 45 nations that legally supply nuclear fuel and technology, which was created after India shocked the world by testing its first atomic device in 1974. The NSG had prevented Delhi from importing the nuclear material it says it needs to help to meet rocketing domestic energy demand until last September.

Analysts said that America's willingness to supply India with nuclear hardware underscored Washington's ambition to champion India as an Asian counterweight to China. India argued that access to nuclear power was essential to fuel its economic rise.

Much of India is regularly blighted by power cuts and with nuclear fuel in short supply, the country's existing nuclear power plants are estimated to be running at only about half of their capacity of about 4,000 megawatts. Deals with foreign firms are expected to double nuclear power's share in India's electricity supply to up to 7 per cent within 20 years as at least 18 new reactors are built. The US-India Business Council estimates that nuclear trade with India could be worth up to USD 150 billion over the next 30 years.

Critics condemned Mr Bush's unprecedented willingness to supply India with civilian nuclear technology despite the country's refusal to sign the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty or the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. India tested nuclear weapons as recently as 1998 and has refused to rule out doing so again.

 

[nitesh]

The Hindu Business Line : India to sign global pact on nuclear liabilities soon: Shyam Saran

New Delhi, Jan. 8 India has initiated the process of signing an international convention on nuclear liability issues and the matter would be taken up by the Cabinet for a decision shortly.

“The issue of signing an international pact on nuclear liabilities is under consideration… The matter is to be taken up by the Cabinet shortly,” Mr Shyam Saran, Special Envoy to the Prime Minister, said at an Indo-US Economic summit here on Thursday. He, however, did not elaborate on the issue and did not give a time frame for the proposed move.

International nuclear firms, led by US companies, have been lobbying hard for India to adopt the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Convention of Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC).

The convention, among its provisions, places the onus of compensation in case of nuclear damage on the ‘Installation State’ (where the nuclear facilities are located), in this case India.

The CSC, seen as a step forward in the international nuclear liability regime embodied in the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage of 1963 and the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy of 1960, mandates the ‘Installation State’ to give 300 million SDRs (Special Drawing Rights, the unit of account defined by the International Monetary Fund) or a higher amount as compensation.

It also holds the operator of a nuclear installation liable for damage if adequately proven.

Speaking at the event, Mr Saran also said the Government hopes to scale up nuclear power capacity to 60,000 MW by the year 2030.

Private participation

On the issue of amending Atomic Energy Act of 1962 to enable private participation in the civil nuclear programme, Mr Saran said: “The Government doesn’t have a closed mind on private participation in the nuclear programme. But the Government is cautious about it, as it is a sensitive subject. It would take a while before allowing private participation.”
Mr Saran said that in the intervening period, the private sector can be successfully involved in the manufacture of plants and components that go into the nuclear power generation.

In this regard, there could be several works that can be bagged from state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) for component manufacturing. “Once the private players gain experience in the nuclear field, the Government may consider allowing them to establish nuclear plants of their own,” he added.

 

[nitesh]

India to ink nuclear deal with Kazakhstan by month-end - Economy and Politics - livemint.com

New Delhi: State-run Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd, or NPCIL, will enter into a nuclear cooperation pact with Kazakhstan’s state-owned Kazatomprom this month-end.
“Kazakhstan has signed strategic agreements with Russia, China and Japan. A similar agreement will be signed with India during the Kazakhstan president’s visit (that starts on 23 January),” said Jairam Ramesh, minister of state for power and commerce.
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev will be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations on 26 January.

“A team from Kazatomprom is coming next week to Mumbai to work out the details with NPCIL. One of the elements of this agreement is uranium supply from Kazatomprom,” Ramesh added.
While Kazatomprom wants a comprehensive nuclear agreement, India wants to leverage its agreement with Kazatomprom not only to source uranium but also use the Kazakhstan company’s 10% stake in Westinghouse Electric Corp. to tap nuclear power generation technology as well. Toshiba Corp. has a 67% stake in Westinghouse.
Westinghouse is among the overseas nuclear power generation equipment firms such as state-owned French energy firm Areva SA, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Inc., a joint venture between General Electric Co. and Hitachi Ltd, and Russia’s Atomstroyexport that are in talks with NPCIL to supply 1,600MW reactors based on European technology.
Currently, only NPCIL, a public sector undertaking of the department of atomic energy, is mandated to set up nuclear plants in India. However, with India and the US having signed a historic nuclear deal, the atomic power sector is expected to be opened up to private and public sector firms.
Foreign nuclear power firms are eyeing Indian orders potentially worth $14 billion (Rs68,460 crore) after the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in September allowed the country entry into nuclear commerce, from which it had been shut out for 34 years. India has signed bilateral nuclear cooperation deals with the US, France and Russia since.
“If we get reactors along with guaranteed fuel supply, it is welcome from any source as long as the reactor-building technology is reliable. However, we require enriched uranium fuel and the supplier needs to give that,” said R. Rajaraman, professor emeritus, theoretical physics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Kazakhstan is currently the world’s second largest producer of uranium after Australia. While Australia caters to 23% of the world’s uranium needs followed by Kazakhstan (15%), the central Asian country is expected to become the world’s largest producer by 2010.
India’s uranium reserves are estimated to be some 78,000 tonnes—around 0.8% of the world’s reserves—which can support around 10,000MW of generation. But delays in uranium mining projects have resulted in a demand-supply mismatch. As a result, the country’s 17 reactors are operating at 46% capacity because of a shortage of uranium, the fuel that powers them.
India will receive its first uranium imports in three decades from countries such as France and Canada by April, ending the isolation from nuclear commerce that ensued from its first atomic test, as reported by Mint on 9 December.
Out of India’s installed power generation capacity of at least 140,000MW, nuclear energy accounts for only 4,120MW. NPCIL plans to create additional generating capacity of 3,160MW by 2012 and achieve 20,000MW of installed nuclear power capacity by 2020.
According to KPMG’s India Energy Outlook report, the department of atomic energy hopes to build 250,000MW nuclear capacity by 2050 to meet power requirements.