Nuclear Energy

Looking at the exhaustible nature of the fossil fuels, nuclear energy development has become very vital for the economic development of the country. In India, it has a vast potential for future energy development. It is produced from uranium and thorium. At present there are 17 nuclear plants across the country. The atomic power stations are given in Table 8.12.

Table 8.12 India—Atomic Power Stations

At present, nuclear power constitutes only less than 4 per cent of the total energy production. It requires highly sophisticated technology and technical knowhow. Moreover, for the cooling of plant there is heavy need of fresh water.

The Atomic Energy Institution at Trombay was established in 1954. This was renamed as the ‘Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), in 1967. The first nuclear power station with a capacity of 320 MW was set up at Tarapur near Mumbai in 1969. Subsequently, the Rawatbhata Atomic Plant (300 MW) near Kota was set up in 1969 which was followed by the establishment of Narora (1989), Kaiga (Karnataka), and Kakrapara in Gujarat inl993. Thus, at present, nuclear energy is produced from eleven units located at six centres (Table 8.12). The new sites of nuclear power plants include Bargi or Chutka (M.P.), Haripur (W. Bengal), Jaitapur (Maharashtra), Kawada (Andhra Pradesh), Kudankulam (Tamil Nadu), Kumharia (Haryana), and Mithi-Verdi (Gujarat).

Development of nuclear energy is imperative for the economic development of the country. But the disaster’s like Fukushima and Chernobyl have proved that it is full of risk. Thus it is only a parochial solution of the Indian energy crisis. Unfortunately, in India, in case of nuclear accident, the maximum fine that can be imposed by the regulator on an offending nuclear plant is Rs. 500/ This amount is too low to serve as a deterrent against such infringements.