Hyderabad, Feb 18: Vowing to realize the dream of
Homi Jahangir Bhabha, father of India's atomic programme, to
achieve high level of energy security and independence for the
country, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Anil Kakodkar
has said that India would set up manufacturing facilities for
fuels required for all nuclear reactors over a period of time.
"We do expect augmentation of manufacturing capacity and
associated modalities for characterization and quality
control," he said, inaugurating a three-day international
conference on 'Characterisation and Quality Control of Nuclear
Fuels', organised by the Nuclear Fuel Complex at the Ramoji
Film City here today.
"Our ambition, however, is not restricted to fuel
manufacturing alone, but we will also like to set up a whole
range of fuel cycle activities with the help of collaborators
abroad and domestic technology development.
"We will do that both in the front end as well as back
end of the fuel cycle," Kakodkar said.
There's a very broad canvas to work upon, he added.
Noting that India's strengths lay in fast reactors and
thorium, he said, today the country is in a domain where "we
can play with fertile and fissile fuels at will."
He suggested a shift from Uranium-238 fuel to Thorium-232
which has a greater benefit given its higher fissile energy.
"Thorium fuel cycle is much more proliferation-
resistant," he pointed out adding that they were ready to
collaborate with anyone interested in sharing expertise in
fuel cycle technology.
Observing that India was entering into a new era,
Kakodkar saw large growth in nuclear power generation capacity
with nuclear reactors and fuels coming from abroad. "The march
towards diversity will continue," he added.
Canada's Cameco Corporation President and CEO Gerald W
Grandey, IAEA's nuclear fuel cycle and materials section head
Chaitanya Ganguly, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research
Director Baldev Raj, BARC Director S Banerjee, NPC Director
(Technical) S A Bhardwaj, Nuclear Fuel Complex Chief Executive
R N Jayaraj and delegates from various countries like Russia,
Canada, Korea and Kazaksthan attended the conference.
Bureau Report