India willing to share knowledge on radiation technologies with friendly partners: AEC chairman

India has made huge progress in radiation technologies for societal use and it is willing to share the acquired knowledge and expertise with friendly nations, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman K N Vyas said on Wednesday.

Addressing the 63rd General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) presently going on at Vienna, Vyas said India currently has 21 operational nuclear power reactors and has plans for capacity addition.

Vyas, who is also the secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy, launched NCG Vishwam Cancer Care Connect on Tuesday in Vienna.

The National Cancer Grid (NCG) established and managed by the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), which has 183 participating stakeholders from India, has been made open to the cancer hospitals and other related institutes from foreign countries.

The TMC, a premiere unit under the DAE, has seven hospitals across the country.

"India has made huge progress in utilisation of radiation technologies for societal uses. We are willing to share our knowledge and expertise with our friendly partners," Vyas said.

"The process has already set in through increased interactions and actual collaborations in all areas of nuclear technologies concerning human life, be it power, health, agriculture or human capital development. We are determined to take this collaboration to a higher level," he said.

Vyas also shared that the Kaiga Generating Station (KGS-1) has set a new world record of continuous operation for 962 days on December 31, 2018 while working at 99.3 per cent plant load factor.

Tarapur atomic power station units (TAPS 1 and 2) have completed 50 years of safe operation, he said.

TAPS unit 1 and 2 are currently the oldest operating power reactors in the world, producing nuclear power at less than 3 cents per unit, Vyas said, asserting that such achievements demonstrate India's ability to design, build and reliably operate pressurised heavy water reactors & light water reactors.

Apsara-U, an upgraded swimming pool type reactor, operational since September 2018, has been operated at 90 per cent of rated power and demonstrated that it can produce carrier free Cu-64 radioisotope, which has potential for usage in PET scans, Vyas said.

The U-233 fuelled Kalpakkam Mini Reactor (KAMINI) has continued its successful operation, he said.

It is being used for neutron radiography of a large number of pyro-devices from the Indian Space Research Organisation, activation analysis and neutron detector testing.