The AP High Court on Monday directed the counsels representing the state and the Centre to inform it within a week their stand on a petition that challenged the setting up of a nuclear power plant

Emphasising the importance of science and technology, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has announced “substantial’’ increases in the budget for the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Departments of Atomic Energy and Space for the coming year.

While Rs. 6,275 crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Science & Technology; Rs. 5,615 crore has been allocated to the Department of Space; and Rs. 5, 880 crore to the Department of Atomic Energy.

Manmohan Singh presents lifetime achievement award to four DAE scientists

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday reiterated that while the Centre went ahead with its nuclear energy programme to meet the growing energy needs of the country, it would continue to ensure that nuclear power remained totally safe. “The Fukushima incident in 2011 [has] raised justifiable safety concerns about nuclear power … We will ensure that the safety and livelihoods of people are not jeopardised in our pursuit of nuclear power,” Dr. Singh said.

Stating that the country was on the threshold of a new milestone in its quest for civil nuclear energy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today announced that the first nuclear reactor with Russian collaboration at Kudankulam would start operating soon with the second reactor to follow later in the current year.

''As we pursue our national growth objectives to meet the rising aspirations of our people, the supply of affordable clean energy will be one of our foremost national challenges and a key priority for our government. Nuclear energy will remain an essential and increasingly important element of our energy mix. We are in the process of expanding our indigenous nuclear power programme,'' he said on the occasion of Department of Atomic Energy's Lifetime Achievement Awards for 2011 here.

Visakhapatnam: The department of atomic energy, under the aegis of the Prime Minister, has accepted the proposal of the Nuclear Power Corpo-ration of India Limited to increase capacity of the Kovvada Nuclear Park from 6,000 MW to 9,500 MW.

According to DAE’s earlier clearances, the nuclear park’s capacity was barely 6,000 MW, since the DAE had, in principle, allowed the capacity of each reactor to produce above 1,000 MW. With the aim of utilising the maximum capacity of the generation-II technology of GE reactors made in the US, which are to be installed in the Kovvada Nuclear Park, NPCIL authorities have recently held talks with the ministry of environment and forests to hike KNP’s capacity.

Asserting that “third generation plus” safety features had been incorporated in the reactors of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, Union Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office V. Narayanasamy on Sunday said the first 1,000 MWe reactor would start generating power by December-end.

He told reporters that the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), which were keen on guaranteeing the safety and security of the people living around the KKNPP site, had ensured the incorporation of state-of-the-art seven-tier safety features in the reactors.

SHILLONG: The biggest challenge of this era is to meet the growing energy requirements. The increasing extraction and continued usage of carbon based fuels, the energy resources are fast depleting.

The issues were addressed by Dr Chaitanyamoy Ganguly in a guest lecture titled ‘Prospects and challenges of Nuclear Power and related cycle’ organized by the Department of Physics, St Edmund’s College here on Friday.

Indian industry expects a way forward in liability issue

With Barack Obama re-elected the President of the US, the Indian nuclear industry and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) officials hope the continuity in the administration would boost nuclear cooperation between the two countries. Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd (NPCIL) is already in talks with US companies such as GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Westinghouse Electric Co for the supply of nuclear reactors for India’s ongoing nuclear capacity addition programme. The status quo in Washington will boost these talks as well, say industry officials.

More than 2,00,000 tonnes of precious thorium oxide, which could have met at least half the energy requirements of the country for more than 50 years, is missing from India.

KOLKATA, 19 SEPT: Protests against the nuclear plant at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu have reached Kolkata, with health and environment experts speaking out against India's development of nuclear energ