With the Left Front on Friday indicating a slight flexibility in its stance on the nuclear issue and indicating that it will allow the UPA government at the Centre to go to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Prime Minister’s Office has seriously stepped up its efforts to fill up the huge gap in the demand and supply of energy through nuclear power generation.
Research is already on to probe the technology required for the production of power through thorium, a naturally occurring, slightly radioactive metal, which is a readily available alternative nuclear fuel to uranium. This was stated by the special envoy to the Prime Minister Shyam Saran at the annual convention of the Lucknow Management Association in Lucknow on Friday.
“With the country’s present growth rate ranging between 8-10%, the country has a major challenge at its hands: that of achieving energy security along with protecting the environment.,” he said.
At 8 % growth rate, the country will need around 8 lakh mw of power by 2030. “To fill up this gap, we need to shift our focus from conventional, fossil fuel to non-fossil fuel like uranium, plutonium and thorium. While we can produce around 10,000 mw of nuclear power through indigenous uranium, once we sign the Indo-US nuclear deal, we will be able to produce 60,000 mw of power, which will meet our energy requirements.”