India\'s N-plan may take a hit; equipment suppliers not worried

A screen grab taken from news footage by Japanese public broadcaster NHK on March 14, 2011 shows the moment of a hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station number three reactor. (AFP)

Japan's nuclear crisis will create obstacles for India's atomic energy programme, but this has not dented the optimism of equipment suppliers such as GE and India's Larsen and Toubro as the country remains determined to expand capacity. The government has ordered a thorough review of India's 20 nuclear rectors and their ability to withstand natural disasters like a severe earthquake and tsunami that damaged Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant . Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Parliament that Indian nuclear plants had already weathered natural disasters like the Gujarat earthquake in 2002 and the tsunami in 2004 without any mishap. 

The chief executive of General Electric Co, which has built a reactor at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, said there was no change in his company's plans for India or its position on nuclear liability. He said it was premature to say that safety issues would cloud the outlook of the nuclear energy business. "There's now almost a 50-year track record on nuclear power and people can look back and make judgement. It's early days and we should let people do exploration on what happened and in the meantime support the recovery effort of Japanese government ," he said. 

"It is too early to make a profound decision on its impact for India. We need to let the process run its course in Japan and then look at an assessment." He said the company's position on nuclear liability had not changed. "The comments we have made about investing in nuclear energy in India haven't changed based on the tragedy in Japan, which is, we have said consistently that the regime in India has to fit the global liabilities regimes for nuclear power." 

No Change in India's Nuke Plan: AEC Chief 

The chief of Nuclear Power Corporation of India said India was likely to add close to 2,000 MW of nuclear power generation capacity by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan. The existing operational capacity is 4,870 MW, he said. "But we will not be complacent and even though as yet there is no nuclear disaster in Japan we will definitely learn from the ongoing difficulties being experienced by the nuclear plant in Fukushima by conducting a full detailed safety audit at all our existing and upcoming facilities," he said. 

SK Banerjee, chairman, Atomic Energy Commission said there was no change in India's nuclear programme. "Our overall nuclear programme will remain on track, although we will be conducting a stringent safety audit of all our existing 20 nuclear reactors . We are constantly monitoring the situation in Japan and we have an officer stationed there who is giving us an hourly update on the situation at Fukushima and we will spare no costs in conducting a comprehensive safety audit of all our facilities," he told reporters in Mumbai. But some energy experts in India say the crisis in Japan was already a setback for India's plans for nuclear energy plants, which account for barely 4% of power generation capacity, but were poised for expansion.