MUMBAI: Now, India can build cheaper nuclear reactors, than even South Korea. Talking to TOI on the eve of his retirement, Dr Srikumar Banerjee, secretary in the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), said India can now manufacture nuclear reactors at $1,700 per unit. Come May, Banerjee will make way for Ratan Sinha, currently director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre ( BARC), who will take over as secretary, DAE.

TIRUNELVELI: The second unit of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant Project (KKNPP) may become operational by year-end, hinted Atomic Energy Commission chairman and Department of Atomic Energy secretary Srikumar Banerjee. Banerjee, who addressed presspersons along with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) managing director S K Jain at the KKNPP site on Thursday, said that with the cooperation of the Tamil Nadu government, work at Unit-1 and Unit-2 was progressing steadily towards criticality.

The Kudankulam nuclear project is both viable and eco-friendly, said Daniel Chellappa, senior scientist, Advanced Nuclear Fuels, Department of Atomic Energy, here on Thursday.

Delivering a lecture on ‘Kudankulam nuke project: safe and eco-friendly' organised by the Rotary Clubs of Tiruchi Fort, Tiruchi Midtown and Tiruchi Rockcity, he said that the depleting reserves of coal, expensive outlay for tapping solar energy, and uncertainty in wind have all made energy generation a great challenge .

The arid and backward Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh may well be sitting over one of the world’s largest uranium reserves. The uranium reserves in and around Tummalapalle village in Kadapa district were initially estimated at 15,000 tonne, but continuous exploration has shown promise of further reserves. Last year, the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL), in its fresh estimate, said the uranium reserves in the district can go up to 1.5 lakh tonne, a 10-fold increase from the original estimate.

Instead of coercing the people fighting against injustice and life-threatening projects like Kudankulam Nuclear Power Projects, these people should be protected in a democratic set-up, social activist Neeraj Jain said.

Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, Mr. Neeraj, who was here to deliver lecture at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, told reporters that countries like India and China alone were ambitiously pursuing nuclear power programmes even as nuclear energy was gradually losing its popularity in other countries across the globe, especially in Europe, after several nuclear disasters, particularly after Fukushima accident.

Even as imported reactor-based atomic power projects are facing tardy progress, domestic nuclear sector firms are cashing in big-time on the demand for specialised nuclear services globally. The Heavy Water Board (HWB) has bagged a big export order for supplying 11,000 kg “high purity heavy water” from the US-based Linde Electronics and Speciality Gases, which is to use the compound as raw material in the manufacture of deuterated products.

Move triggered by earthquake of 8.9 magnitude that has been felt in Indonesia

The state-run Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) would soon shut down the two units each of 220 MW at the Kalpakaam nuclear project. The step has been taken as a precautionary measure in the wake of a tsunami warning issued by Indonesia after a quake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.9 hit waters off westernmost Aceh province.

After Kakarapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat, state-owned aluminium major Nalco is looking to set up another nuclear power plant in collaboration with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).

An NPCIL-Nalco joint venture is already executing unit 3 and 4 of Kakarapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat of 700 MW capacity each, which requires a total investment of about Rs 12,000 crore.