Fission technology inevitable for Indian N-energy programme

Updated on: Wednesday, September 28, 2011

For "a long time to come", the conventional fission nuclear technology will be inevitable for ensuring India's energy security, though the global scientific community is looking for new breakthroughs in the fusion technology, said Dr R Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, here today.

"Integrating high pressure physics, technology, and high energy density physics for the fusion energy experiments as in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France and laser-induced fusion energy (LIFE) research in the US the scientific community is looking for break-even," Chidambaram said, inaugurating the 23rd AIRAPT International Conference here.

"However, for a long time to come, the conventional nuclear energy is going to be inevitable for reaching energy security of India and for (preventing) climate change," Chidamabaram said.

The five-day conference on `High Pressure Science and Technology' has been organised by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, and has drawn 350 delegates from 22 countries.

The conference will discuss areas of both static and dynamic high pressure studies, including investigations on response materials under high pressures, new developments using neutron and synchrotron sources, superconductivity, planetary sciences, biosciences and synthesis of new materials.

Director, BARC, Dr R K Sinha, said his institution had established comprehensive facilities to carry out experiments at pressures upto several million of atmosphere and several thousands of Celsius temperatures.

These experimental and theoretical tools have been utilised to understand the behaviour of many nuclear materials including thorium, which is crucial for India's three-stage programme, Sinha said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, Dr Srikumar Banerjee said that at the Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu, where two 1,000 MW reactors were under advanced stage of construction, one of the
important process of commissioning of the reactor unit 1 has been completed, and it is being reviewed by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.

The next step would be to load the fuel and make it critical, he said.

Because of the new social-political development around the plant site in the last few days, there could be some delay before the unit goes critical, he added.

Fission technology inevitable for Indian N-energy programme

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