'Indian N-reactors prepared for any internal, external threat'

"In any kind of situation of internal and external threat or anyone tries to hoodwink the reactor system, there would be no danger to the public as we have developed additional integrated safety and physical protection technologies," Sinha said, inaugurating the two-day National Conference on Advances in Nuclear Technology (ADNUTECH-2010) here.
The currently operating reactors are quite safe with "attack proof" double containment but the new hardware and the security system developed by BARC which have been already demonstrated successfully will be an additional feature to shut down the reactor automatically in case of any emergency, he said.

"We envisaged constraint in land availability for the future N-power reactors with increasing population and therefore this development of additional safety and security technologies was important.

"With this technology, we can also forgo the 1.6 km exclusion zone (which is currently practised by NPCIL) and also assure the public absolute safety," he said, adding this also requires "transparency".

The new technology is a passive system (using laws of nature like gravity) and will be implemented in Advanced Heavy Water Reactor, Sinha said.The BARC Director said even in the worst kind of scenario of any possible internal sabotage, the new technology with inherent safety features, will shut down the plants automatically without causing any damage to public.

Kirit Parikh, Chairman of Integrated Research and Action for Development said that commercialisation of Fast Breeder Reactors were important as one of the factors of India's growth.

FBRs will be a major factor for augmentation of energy production from 8GW to 32 GW (Gigawatts), he said, besides India's position being able to import nuclear plants and Uranium.

Emphasising that India's energy supply should grow at least three to four times in the next 20 years, the former member of Planning Commission said it was possible only through large energy production through nuclear and coal."We also need to change the procurement policy in public sector undertakings on the basis of life cycle cost to save energy," Parikh said.

A comprehensive R&D programme was must to make a transition to a low carbon economy for India, he said at the conference organised jointly by the DAE and Indian National Academy of Engineering.