'Nuclear power needed for energy security'

India cannot plan an economy based on large-scale import of energy and an indigenous development of energy technology on domestic fuel is important. Hence, developing fast breeder and thorium reactors was key, said Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Anil Kakodkar in Bangalore on Monday.

India has to develop a closed fuel cycle programme for energy sustainability and there needs to be a credible waste management programme, he added. The pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) that India is concentrating on is among the most efficient. "We need to master the PHWR technology," said Kakodkar. The waste that is produced can be reused.

Kakodkar pitched for nuclear energy as means to achieve energy self-sufficiency. "We have been working on a programme to use atomic energy to produce electricity as much as possible," he said.

With much of our energy needs being imported, it is necessary that the country tries to achieve energy independence, he said. Unlike fossil fuels, if we import nuclear fuel we can recycle the nuclear fuel. Nuclear energy must supply a quarter of our power and so he emphasised the need to sustain the tempo of R&D in nuclear power production.

The rise in demand for uranium has also meant a price inflation of uranium. Uranium was approximately $10.75 per pound during early 2003. By mid-2006, the price had risen to approximately $45 per pound. In early 2007 the price approached $100 per pound and is now hovering around $90 per pound.

Despite this price rise, Nuclear Power Corporation, which today sells power at between Rs 2 and Rs 3 was aiming to reduce costs further.