In what will give a much-needed push to the country’s nuclear power programme, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan may give more uranium to India for its nuclear power plants. A formal decision in this regard is likely to be taken by the leaderships of both the Central Asian nations.
Top diplomatic sources told The Daily Guardian that the decision regarding uranium supply enhancement to India may be taken when the presidents of all the five Central Asian Republics (CARs) visit India as chief guests for next month’s Republic Day celebrations. This issue figured during the Central Asian dialogue which was attended by the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan over the weekend, sources said.
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have huge uranium reserves, with the former being the world’s largest producer of uranium. India is already importing this material from them. But the plants in India are currently reeling under a shortage of uranium.
Minister of State in the Department of Space and Department of Atomic Energy Dr Jitendra Singh recently told the Lok Sabha, “The current annual production of uranium in the country is not enough to meet the annual fuel requirement of all the operational uranium based nuclear power plants.” He further said, “However, we are continuously exploring the possibility of alternate fuel based on thorium in this regard for which we have enough reserves. Further, the Department is importing uranium from different countries like Canada, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russia also,” Singh said. Sources say that the officials of the atomic energy department have been asked to expedite efforts to reach out to the countries having substantial uranium stocks.
Former Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar also recently pointed out that India could not meet emission commitments without nuclear power. Sources told The Daily Guardian that the MEA officials were already briefed by the atomic department on this matter ahead of the visits of foreign ministers of Central Asian countries. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar took it up with his counterparts of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, sources said.
India’s installed nuclear power capacity has grown from 4,780 MW to 6,780 MW, which is an increase of over 40%, in the last seven years, the government said in Lok Sabha. The country is pursuing an indigenous three-stage nuclear power programme to provide long term energy security in a sustainable manner. Moreover, a large expansion programme of nuclear power is being undertaken to provide the country clean electricity,” government said. MEA officials believe that the Central Asian republics with their huge natural resources like uranium can fuel India’s next phase of nuclear power mission. According to a report, India’s nuclear power expansion programme is aimed at increasing the present installed capacity of 6.78 GW to 22.48 GW by 2031.