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“India is well placed to develop nuclear energy”

Bangalore: The total energy generation from nuclear may be small, but India is well placed to develop nuclear energy in a big way because it has “one of the largest human resource pools” in the field, said M.R. Srinivasan, Former Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission.

Delivering the C.R.V. Subban Memorial Lecture organised by the Bangalore Management Association here on Thursday, Dr. Srinivasan said that as many as 70,000 people are part of “nuclear technology family” and a comparable number work in the industry on components.

With growing concerns over carbon emissions, global warming, sea level rise, nuclear energy must be a part of India’s “energy mix,” he added. Citing the example of France, he said that the country’s carbon footprint in one of the lowest as it produces 80 per cent of its energy from nuclear reactors.

While benign sources of energy such as solar and wind are catching on in India, many more scientific breakthroughs are needed before these forms of energy become economically attractive, said Dr. Srinivasan. “In Gujarat and Tamil Nadu wind energy is being harnessed successfully. But they operate only 20 per cent of the time. We need new forms of energy that can be made available in large quantities.”

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