Lok Sabha Question No. 2461 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-16
Subject: International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: Manish Tewari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2461

TO BE ANSWERED ON 16.03.2022

## INTERNATIONAL THERMONUCLEAR EXPERIMENTAL REACTOR

2461. SHRI MANISH TEWARI:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a)    the  details  of  the  funds  that  have  been  allocated  towards  the  International Thermonuclear  Experimental  Reactor  (ITER)  project  during  the  last  five years;
- (b)    whether it is a fact that India has been reneging and defaulted on the 'in-cash' contribution towards the project since 2017 and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c)  whether it is also a fact that India has deployed only 25 staff members for the project  instead  of  deploying  the  sanctioned  100  people  thus  losing  out  on gaining vital experience;
- (d)   if so, the details thereof along with the reasons for not changing its policy for the project and not deploying the engineers from reputed public and private institutions  other  than  staff  of  Department  of  Atomic  Energy  for  the  project; and
- (e)   whether India has considered building a similar project on Indian soil and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES AND PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (DR. JITENDRA SINGH):

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- a) Since 2017 (i.e., during last five years), ITER-India has been allocated a total of Rs. 2683.9 crores. The details for year-wise sanction are as follows:-

| FY of sanction                  |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |   2021-22 |
|---------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Grant allocated (Rs. in crores) |     430.6 |     442.8 |     624.5 |       566 |       620 |

- b) The  details  of  payments  made  towards  'in-cash'  contribution  are  as below:

| FY of Payment                | 2017-18   |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |   2021-22 |
|------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Payment Made (Rs. in crores) | -         |     97.09 |     46.46 |    181.25 |    245.11 |

ITER is a consortium of 7 nations and all the nations give contributions based  on  the  demands  made  by  ITER  organization  and  individual Government  considerations.  The  payment  made  by  each  country  is discussed during ITER Council Meetings.

- c) & d) Staff working at ITER site includes, (i) ITER Organization (IO) regular staff positions, (ii) ITER Project Associate (IPA), and (iii) staff working on  specific contractual  tasks  from  industry/  institutes.  It  may  be recalled  that  all  ITER  regular  positions  are  through  contracts  running upto  5  years.  With  special  encouragement  from  the  Department  of Atomic  Energy,  Indian  industries  including  private  sector  industries have been deputing staff to ITER now. As on date, approx. 150 Indian nationals, both from Private and Public sectors, are working in ITER as ITER  Project  Associates,  which  is  about  60%  of  total  250  IPAs.  In addition,  about  22  Indians  are  working  as  regular  staff,  and  some more are in the remaining category.  Altogether, about 180 Indians are working  at  ITER  site.  There  is  no  concept  of  'sanctioned  strength'  in the context of ITER staff.
- e) Indian institutions are involved in understanding the design complexities of a large size fusion reactor. Subsequent to initiation of achieving fusion plasma in ITER, a suitable decision shall be taken to setup  a  reactor  in  future  depending  upon  the  experience  gained  at ITER.

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