Mumbai Raid includes Indian Nuclear Society Meeting Attendees
By Bob Meyer
The Indian Nuclear Society Meeting was being held in Mumbai from November 24-26, 2008. this was the Nineteenth Annual Conference on "Nuclear Technology - Role of Industry." Participants from the United States and Europe may be included since India has recently been opened up for Commercial Nuclear Power development by the U.S. Congress. October 9, 2008, the US-India Agreement was signed by Secretary of State Rice and Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee. This was followed by the IAEA and Nuclear Suppliers Group's vote of confidence. Earlier this month December 2-9, a delegation of more than 50 senior executives representing more than 30 of the world's leading commercial nuclear companies went to India to explore new relationships in nuclear energy.
Indian Nuclear Society Meeting, held in Mumbai may be involved in the consequences of the raid. Individuals that were in Mumbai for the meeting include: the Atomic Energy Regulating Board of India, Bhabha Atomic Reseach Centre, Indira Gandhi centre for Atomic Research, Nuclear Fuel Complex, Heavy Water Board, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited, Uranium Corporation of India Limited, Electronics Corporation of India Limited, Indian Atomic Industrial Forum.
The Nineteenth Annual Conference on Nuclear Technology - Role of Industry was held in Mumbai November 24 - 26, 2008. The participants and attendees may include a deligation from the United States.
French nuclear physicist M George Vendryes and his wife, who were staying in Taj hotel here, have been brought out safely from the terror-hit building. The scientist, father of the fast breader reactor was here to receive the Indian Nuclear Society's (INS) Eminent Scientist Award (the first lifetime acheivement award) and was staying at the five-star hotel in south Mumbai. Vendryes and his wife were reported to be fine and staying at the Nuclear Power Corporation guest house.
The award was presented to Vendryes at the annual conference of the INS held at the office of Nuclear Power Corporation of India at Anushakti Nagar.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of the Professional Reactor Operator Society.
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French firm AREVA ready to set up four to six EPR in India by 20
DeMontalembert, who has come to head the newly set up office of AREVA in Mumbai for establishing EPR in India said, "the company was interested in keeping the tariff as low as possible although nuclear power is capital intensive."
AREVA will also be supplying fuel to India and since the fuel (uranium) cost is stable and predictable, the French company is looking forward to better economical solutions in India.
AREVA invests in entire nuclear fuel cycle, including mining, enrichment, fuel fabrication and safety (to reduce operator exposure).
With the crucial decision by the Nuclear Suppliers Group in September, both India and France could work together to supply much needed energy to the Indian people, he said.
Since it was important to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, AREVA had the solution with nuclear power generation and not with transportation solution, he said.
Huge investment decisions have to be taken in the next few years and "we invest massively in nuclear power, its transmission and distribution market upto 40 billion USD," he said."
Asked whether the site Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district which was reserved for them has been cleared for their plants, the company's front-end market manager Patrick Teyssier said, "We will not be able to talk about it now."
AREVA is building EPR 1600 Mw reactors in Finland (one), France (one) and China (two), Teyssier said.
The EPR is an active type of reactor with various safety features.
The first EPR that is under construction in Finland will become operational by 2010-11, he said.
AREVA is also building an enrichment plant in USA, deMontalembert said at the annual conference of Indian Nuclear Society.
AREVA believes in closed fuel cycle, has the experience of already recycling 24,000 tonnes of spent fuel which makes the nuclear energy programme more economical and also optimising energy security, he added.
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