Introduction
In the current days, there are increasing concerns about such environmental issues as global warming all over the world. These concerns have resulted in the renewal of interest in nuclear energy, which was at some point in time ignored. When the Cold War came to a halt, the building up of nuclear energy was overlooked for several years up to the time there was renewed interest among those countries that are developed to have “alternative energy sources” and at this point, once again consideration was made about nuclear energy being a reliable alternative source of energy.
According to Gorton, in the coming twenty years, there are expectations of realizing growth in the nuclear market to a remarkable level. Taking the case in the US in the “Department of Energy”, there are expectations that the electricity demand will rise by half by the year 2030, and the demand worldwide is expected to more than double. Following this increase in demand for electricity that is expected, it is implied that there will be an increased nuclear power demand. The increased demand corresponds with the quantity of supply that is not strong (Preeg 167). According to Gorton “as emerging economies develop over the next 20 years, there will be an enormous spike of demand for low-cost, environmentally-friendly alternative energy sources, and nuclear power is expected to satisfy this demand” (Gorton Para 10). In this paper, there is going to be a discussion of nuclear power in India. The demand for electricity in India is increasing and there is a need to increase the level of supply to meet the demand and the best option is to invest more in nuclear power, considering that there is a shortage in fossil fuel supply and there are also environmental concerns.
Nuclear Power in India
After India become independent in the year 1947, there was the establishment of the “Atomic Energy Commission” in the year that followed (1948). This commission was set up to formulate policies regarding building up atomic energy. In the year 1954, there was establishing of the “Department of Atomic Energy” and the responsibility of this department was to ensure implementation of the policies that were set up by the “Atomic Energy Commission”
In this country, the development of nuclear energy started with two main goals. One of the goals was to have peaceful atomic energy utilization to bring improvement in the people’s quality of life and the other objective was to realize self-reliance in having the energy needs to be met. According to Jain and Nigam “the Commercial Nuclear Power Program……currently shares 3% country’s installed capacity, thus playing a complementary role in meeting the country’s demand. However, in long term, it is expected to play a significant role in meeting the huge electricity demand” (Page 2).
India is not a country that is “very energy resource-rich”. In the present day, the state of the resource base for this country “suggests the optimal mix of all the available energy resources to meet its growing demand of electricity which is projected to be about 800GWe by 2030 and 1300GWe by 2050” (Jain and Nigam 2).
According to World Nuclear Association, currently, there is a rapid increase in the demand for electricity in India. In the year 2007, there was the production of seven hundred and ninety-two KW hours and this output was three times the output produced in the year 1990, but still, this stood for just about seven hundred kilowatt-hours per capita for that particular year. Having large losses resulting in the course of transmission, this yielded just five hundred and forty-four-kilowatt hours consumption. According to the “World Nuclear Association”, in India “coal provides 68% of electricity at the present, but reserves are limited. Gas provides 8%, and hydro 15 percent. The per capita consumption figure is expected to double by 2020, with 6.3% annual growth, and reach 5000 – 6000 kwh by 2050” (Para 2).
In the year 2007, nuclear power accounted for 2.5 percent of the electricity supply in India (15.8 billion kilowatt-hours). This quantity is projected to increase with time and the projected increase is attributed to the availability of imported uranium as well as setting up new plants in the region. The projection was carried out this year (2010) in March of having twenty-two billion kilowatt-hours and in the coming year (2011), there is the projection of having twenty-four billion kilowatt-hours (“World Nuclear Association”).
Considering that there is an increasing demand for electricity in India, and also considering that there is a deficiency of fossil fuels, these have driven the Indian government to invest more in nuclear for electricity supply (Kapila and Kapila 76). According to “World Nuclear Association” “25% nuclear contribution is foreseen by the year 2050, when 1094 GWe of base-load capacity is expected to be required. Almost as much investment in the grid system as in power plants is necessary” (Para 4).
From the early 1990s, the main supplier of nuclear fuel to India has been Russia. In the course of the period that started from the year 2006 up to the year 2008, there was a decline in India’s local uranium resources and this led to a decrease in the amount of electricity produced from nuclear energy by about 12 percent. According to “Nuclear Power Plants in India” (Para 2) “India has signed contracts regarding nuclear power with countries like France, US, UK, Namibia, Canada, Kazakhstan and Argentina after the Nuclear Suppliers Group declared a waiver in September 2008 to allow India to commence on worldwide nuclear trade”. In February 2009, India even engaged in signing an agreement for approximately two thousand tons of nuclear fuel supply for seven hundred million US dollars.
Conclusion
The demand for electricity in India is increasing with each coming day. This increase in demand calls for appropriate measures to be taken to increase the supply so that the demand can be met. However, following the worldwide concerns regarding having environmentally friendly energy sources, and also following a decline in fossil fuels resources, makes nuclear power to be the best option as an alternative source of energy. Regarding this, India is taking appropriate measures to ensure having an increase in the electricity supply that comes from nuclear energy in the coming years. The level of electricity supply that is expected to come from nuclear power in the coming 20 or more years is expected to rise substantially.
Works Cited
Gorton, Jennifer. What about investing in power? 2010. Web.
Jain, Khan and Nigam Bharatiya. Nuclear Power – an alternative, n.d. Web.
Kapila, Raj and Kapila Uma. Economic developments in India: Monthly Update, Volume – 102 Analysis, Reports, Policy Documents. New York: Academic Foundation, 2006.
“Nuclear Power Plants in India.” MapsofIndia, 2010. Web.
Preeg, Earnest H. India and China: an advanced technology race and how the United States should respond. Washington: CSIS, 2008.
World Nuclear Association. Nuclear power in India, 2010. Web.