Date:31/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/31/stories/2008013154611300.htm

National

‘India ready to export nuclear reactors’

Staff Reporter

KOODANKULAM: The country is prepared to export commercially viable civilian nuclear reactors to other developing nations across the globe if it is allowed to do so by the Indian government and also by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, Anil Kakodkar has said.

Speaking to reporters at Koodankulam on Wednesday after witnessing the movement of gigantic caissons (seawater intake pipes made of concrete) into the sea for about 1.20 km at the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project site, Dr. Kakodkar said the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), which had mastered the design, fabrication and erection of a range of commercially viable nuclear reactors, could share its expertise with others if it was allowed.

S.K. Jain, Chairman and Managing Director of NPCIL, declared: “We are ready [for exporting nuclear reactors].”

Answering a query on the possibilities of setting up 8 X 1,000 MWe reactors at the KKNPP site, Dr. Kakodkar said the government in principle had allowed the construction of six 1,000 MWe light water nuclear reactors at Koodankulam and hinted that the number could be raised to eight to make this site a ‘Nuclear Park,’ if the distance between two reactors was narrowed down.

Asked whether the DAE would allow private players to enter the field of nuclear power generation, Dr. Kakodkar said there were no plans to allow the private sector companies in the construction and operation of nuclear reactors as of now since the field, unlike other business ventures, required highest safety standards and superior organisational culture.

Dr. Kakodkar said the Nuclear Power Corporation, which was comfortably placed on the financial front to invest in future projects on its own as of now, might allow private partners to join hands with them while retaining the major stake.