May 11:The Former President Dr. AP.J.Abdul Kalam said, India must pursue the nuclear option with a sense of urgency for meeting large-scale energy needs. He said, with abundant thorium resources in the country, nuclear energy is a very viable option, as several countries of the world are meeting a large part of their energy needs from nuclear sources.Dr Kalam, a distinguished nuclear scientist was speaking at the Technology Day Celebrations in New Delhi this evening. He said, though, he is not underestimating the safety requirements of Nuclear Power Reactor, but the sum total of damage caused by it is much less than the damage inflicted by the use of fossil fuel.
In his address at the Technology Day, the Union Minister for Science and Technology Mr Kapil Sibal said, the Government will soon launch a major Innovation Project with the assisstance of World Bank. He said, the main components of the project are upgrading the innovation infrastructure, harnessing international knowledge and technology and enhancing Research and Development to commercialise the initiatives of grass-root enterprises.
Earlier, in Mumbai, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam has again emphasised that the Indo-US civil nuclear deal is definitely important to meet the country’s energy needs. He said the country is dependent on nuclear power and it needs uranium supplies. The nuclear deal will facilitate this, ha said.
He was addressing the National Technology Day Celebrations-2008 today, which falls on 10th anniversary of Pokhran Tests at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai.
Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission said that we have discussed the nuke deal with other countries and the IAEA. So the rest of the decision is not technical but he refused to comment on the status of the deal.
The Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, Mr. Anil Kakodkar today said the government is investing heavily in Uranium exploration to ensure that the country’s nuclear programme is not dependent on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal. He was speaking on the sidelines of a function on National Technology Day at the Baba Atomic Research Cente in Mumbai. Mr. Kakodkar said approximately 700 crore rupees is being invested in using the latest technology to explore multiple states for Uranium. He said Uranium exploration is on in of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya and other regions.