Lok Sabha Question No. 1078 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-03-02
Subject: Nuclear Power Share in Electricity Generation
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: DUSHYANT SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1078

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.03.2016

## NUCLEAR POWER SHARE IN ELECTRICITY GENERATION

1078.  SHRI DUSHYANT SINGH:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) the present share of nuclear power in the electricity generation in the country and the expected share by the year 2022;
- (b) the measures taken by the Government to meet the target set for year 2022;
- (c) whether the share of central funds for research and innovation in the nuclear power sector has increased during the last four years and the current year;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e) the steps being taken by the Government  to improve research and development practices in nuclear energy?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) The present (April 2015 to January 2016) share of nuclear power in the total electricity  generation  (30869  MUs)  is  about  3.3%.  The  present  installed capacity of 5780 MW is expected to increase to about 13480 MW by 2022 on progressive  completion  of  projects  under  commissioning  /  construction  and new projects that have been sanctioned. The actual share in generation would depend on the generation from all sources in that year.
- (b) The Government has accorded financial sanction for the projects planned to be  completed  by  2022  and  entered  into  enabling  agreements  with  foreign countries  in  respect  of  projects  to  be  set  up  with  international  technical cooperation.

(c)&(d) Yes,  Sir.  The  details  of  funds  released  during  the  last  3  years  and  in  the current year are given below:

| Rs. in crore   | Rs. in crore   | Rs. in crore   | Rs. in crore   | Rs. in crore   |
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
| R&D Sector     | 2012-13        | 2013-14        | 2014-15        | 2015-16        |
|                | 5399.13        | 6511.89        | 6552.60        | 7198.63        |

- (e) Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), a constituent unit of Department of Atomic Energy is a multi-disciplinary Nuclear Research Centre of India having excellent infrastructure for Advanced  Research and Development with expertise  covering  the  entire  spectrum  of  Nuclear  Science  and  Engineering and related areas. A large amount of work involves development of various advanced innovative technologies which are realised after substantial research work carried out by our scientists and engineers.

A number of steps have been taken by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to enhance research and innovation in nuclear energy.

DAE instituted  Board  of  Research  in  Nuclear  Sciences  (BRNS)  to  facilitate interaction  and  promote  active  collaboration  with  other  premier  institutes, research  laboratories  and  Universities  of  India,  to  enhance  research  and innovation in the areas of nuclear energy. Research grants are awarded for sponsoring scientific symposia and workshops. BRNS also extends fellowships to young researchers to pursue Ph.D. Dr. K.S. Krishnan Research Associate program of BRNS encourages bright post-doctoral fellows to work in different research organisations of DAE with a possibility to be absorbed for permanent employment. DAE also encourages its young scientists to interact with  outside  world  through  established  bilateral  exchange  schemes  under various National Academies of India, Department of Science and Technology, and its own collaborating routes as well.

DAE  and  the  University  Grants  Commission  (UGC)  had  set  up  UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific  Research  at  Indore  in  1989,  functioning  under  the

UGC. The scope of the co-operation includes promoting high quality research programs  in  physical,  chemical,  life  and  engineering  sciences.  While  the Consortium  is  headquartered  in  Indore,  its  Mumbai  centre  is  located  inside BARC,  Trombay.  It  also  has  centres  in  Variable  Energy  Cyclotron  Centre (VECC),  Kolkata  and  Indira  Gandhi  Centre  for  Atomic  Research  (IGCAR), Kalpakkam.  DAE  facilitated the  UGC-DAE  Consortium  to  set  up  their specialised centres in close proximity to the respective DAE units in the above four locations.

BARC has entered into Memorandum of Understanding with Universities of Mumbai  and  Pune.  Under  this  scheme  students  get  opportunity  to  pursue Ph.D Programme in various disciplines under the guidance of specialists from BARC and also utilise the excellent infrastructure to carry out experiments.

DAE  has  been  categorised  as  a  mission-mode  Organisation  based  on  its track record, performance, innovations and realisation of strategic programmes. DAE has implemented Performance Related Incentive Scheme (PRIS) based on the recommendation of 6th Pay Commission in all the Units keeping in view the need to reward the performance of the organization and its  personnel  in  realising  predefined  objectives  and  contributions  made towards research and innovation activities.

PRIS is awarded after measuring the performance of Individual/Group/Organization, against goals set for a given period of assessment.

Through the DAE award scheme, young scientists/engineers as well as senior scientists are rewarded for their exceptional contribution to the research and innovation activities of the Department. The rewards include cash incentive, medal and a citation.

Update  allowance  is  provided  to  Scientists  so  that  they  can  subscribe  to reputed  journals  to  keep  themselves  abreast  with  latest  research  work  and publications. With update allowance scientists can also obtain membership of

scientific  societies  which  provide  them  a  good  platform  to  participate  in scientific programs and share their scientific knowledge.

As part of physical sciences, BARC is indigenously developing synchrotrons, linear  accelerators  to  carry  out  research  in  high  energy  particle  physics.  A 21m diameter gamma ray telescope designed indigenously is to be installed at Hanle for high altitude research.

BARC is setting up a new Research Centre at Visakhapatnam for green field projects to meet the future demands  for carrying out research and development activities in advanced areas of Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) situated in Kalpakkam is also a multi-disciplinary R&D  unit of DAE  entrusted with indigenous development towards mastering of 2nd stage of the Nuclear Power Programme including  Fast  Breeder  Reactor  (FBR)  and  associated  closed  fuel  cycle technologies.  The  design  for  500  MWe  Prototype  Fast  Breeder  Reactor (PFBR) has been completed and is at an advanced stage of commissioning at Kalpakkam.  The  first  of  its  kind  Fast  Reactor  Fuel  Cycle  Facility  (FRFCF), aimed to close the fuel cycle of PFBR is under construction.

Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT) located at Indore is  one of the premier research and development unit of DAE working in the area  of  particle  accelerators.  RRCAT  is  also  engaged  in  developing  and deploying lasers of different kinds in the fields of advanced plasma research, nuclear  power  plants,  biomedical  applications,  materials  science  and  basic research.

Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), Kolkata, a constituent unit of DAE entrusted  for  research  in  nuclear  sciences  with  excellent  infrastructure  for advanced research and development in the field of accelerator technology, is involved  in  the  design  and  development  of  advanced  and  sophisticated

Superconducting Radio Frequency Cavity technology intended to be used in energy frontier accelerator programmes in DAE.

In addition to above, Research Associateship and Visiting Scientist arrangements  are  some  of  the  special  schemes  offered  to  the  Young Scientists to pursue research programmes in DAE. They are also encouraged to publish their work in Journals, attend National / International conferences.

The  above  steps  have  immensely  helped  in  enhancing  the  research  and innovative activities in the nuclear sector.

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