Nuclear Dream

India seems to be possessed right now. The lap down the nuclear road is picking up speed for the country. Recently, Russia agreed to build an additional nuclear power units at Koodankulam atomic station and the country plans to set up 40,000 MW of nuclear capacity by 2020. Next in line are Nuclear Parks for the government wherein each location will have up to eight reactors of 1000 MW each.

Currently, the decision to select contractors for setting up nuclear projects in India is with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), which is the monopoly nuclear power generator in the country.

But will this really solve the issue we are looking at?

The fact still remains that India's major problem is not power generation per se but oil imports to fuel hungry mechanical monsters the country runs on. With up to 70% of the imports being crude oil, experts argue how far will nuclear power plants help the country. Nuclear power application on mass scale is still nascent and India's major problem still remains it's transportation fuel requirement and not electricity. Moreover, with Australia refusing to sell uranium to India, the operational independence and cost of these nuclear stations in future would remain questionable.