Nuclear power is emerging as one of the most important and clean sources to meet the rising energy needs of India and is also being utilized for other socially relevant purposes like irradiation of agricultural and food products, Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State of Atomic Energy and Space said during a meeting with James A. Dovchuk, President, Cameco.
Reiterating India’s commitment for use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes, Dr Jitendra Singh referred to the extension of the atomic energy applications to diverse areas in recent years, Department of Atomic Energy release said on Thursday.
According to the statement, a high-level Canadian delegation comprising Brian Parrott from the High Commission of Canada and James A. Dovchuk acknowledged and complimented the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India for having distinguished itself as an internationally known Uranium and nuclear/atomic energy establishment.
“Traditional friendly relations between India and Canada made it far more comfortable and easy for the two nations to collaborate at different levels and in different areas”, release said.
Jitendra Singh expressed the hope that in future, the overall collaboration between the two nations is bound to gain more momentum and this will also be visible in the field of nuclear energy.
Recently India pointed out that the role of nuclear power in the near term was to supplement generation from fossil fuel sources and in the long term, provide the country energy security.
“All energy sources including coal and nuclear will be deployed optimally to meet the country’s growing electricity demand”, Jitendra Singh added.
The current installed nuclear power capacity in India comprises of 22 reactors with a total capacity of 6780 MW. The present share of nuclear energy is about 3.2% in the current financial year 2016-17 (up to Feb-2017).
India has accorded ‘in principle’ approval of five sites for locating 28 nuclear power reactors with a total capacity of about 32000 MW.
In addition, there are presently nine reactors under construction with a total capacity of 6700 MW. The Government has also recently accorded administrative approval and financial sanction for twelve reactors with a total capacity of 9000 MW.
