Alladi Ramakrishnan Hall

India's Nuclear Energy Program: Prospects and Problems

R Rajaraman

Jawaharlal Nehru University

We will first outline the history and current status of nuclear energy around the world, especially in the context of climate change. Following that, we will focus on India's own nuclear program.

The progress made so far in our program and the ambitious plans for a much faster growth in the near future will be summarized. Various factors which are relevant to the success of these plans, such as the Indo-US Nuclear Deal of 2008, availability of reactor fuel, the power plants proposed to be built in India by Russia, the US and France, the post-Fukushima public concern over the hazards posed by reactors, the accident liability laws and regulatory structure governing nuclear energy etc, will all be examined.