India committed to harnessing nuclear energy: PM

New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) India Sunday said it was
committed to harness nuclear power and ensure highest levels
of safety even as some countries have put their atomic energy
plans under review after the Fukushima nuclear accident.
In his annual 'Report to the People', Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh underlined the committment to ensure
highest levels of safety at nuclear installations and rolled
out plans to strengthen the nuclear regulator by imparting it
greater autonomy.
"We are committed to the highest levels of safety in
the nuclear programme, and have initiated the process of
strengthening the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and making it
an autonomous and independent regulatory authority," he said.
"The government is committed to harnessing nuclear
energy for sustainable economic growth while ensuring the
highest levels of safety of the nuclear power programme," the
report said.
Some countries, including Germany and China had
ordered a review of the nuclear programme in the wake of the
Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.
In the light of the nuclear accident in Fukushima in
Japan, technical review teams for assessing safety systems of
nuclear plants in India have been setup, the report said.
With the commissioning of the fourth unit of the Kaiga
generating station in Karnataka in January, India now has 20
nuclear power reactors with a total installed nuclear power
generating capacity of 4,780 MWe.
An additional 22,500 tonnes of additional uranium
resources have been established in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan
and Meghalaya taking the country's uranium resources to about
1,62,000 tonnes, the report said.
It said a new nuclear Power Reactor Fuel Reprocessing
Plant (PREFRE-2) was dedicated to the nation in January at
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Tarapur which has been designed
to process spent fuel from 220 MW PHWRs.
Scientists have also achieved the successful closing
of the fast reactor fuel cycle at the Compact Reprocessing
facility for advanced fuels in lead cells at Kalpakkam.
The spent fuel subassembly from Fast Breeder Test
Reactor was reprocessed and the fissile material was
re-fabricated as fuel and loaded back into the reactor, it
said.
The report noted that the Civil Liability for Nuclear
Damage Act 2010 was passed in September last year which
provides for prompt compensation to the victims of a nuclear
accident.