Their support for the nuclear deal has been explicit and unwavering. Now that India has been allowed to rejoin the global trade in nuclear materials after three decades, big business is licking its chops: it's payback time. Or so it would seem, going by the rash of statements and projections being thrown about.

India is unlikely to open up nuclear power for the private sector

No sooner had the Nuclear Suppliers Group approved India-specific waivers than the private sector announced a number of projects. But this enthusiasm may be short-lived as India does not allow the private sector in nuclear power, keeping the domain strictly for Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL).

To Build

Even as wires remain crossed between New Delhi and Washington over whether India can be assured of uninterrupted nuclear fuel supplies, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) has said that its

For the first time, a top executive of the Indian nuclear power establishment has urged early conclusion of the nuclear deal with the United States to help ease the acute shortage of uranium fuel, which now is causing a steep drop in nuclear power production to less than 50 per cent of capacity.

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd has received the first consignment of uranium fuel from the Russia Federation for unit-1 of 1,000-MW Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, according to a release issued by the corporation. The project, located in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli district, comprises two units of 1,000-MW each. It is being built with technical collaboration from the Russian Federation.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding to float a joint venture company for executing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for nuclear power projects in India and abroad. The ownership of the proposed firm and the financial details would be worked out by the two partners in due course. The venture, which is expected to be operationalised around the end of 2009, is likely to rope in a technology partner.

The centre's decision to set up five new nuclear power projects has caused concern among anti-nuclear activists. They say these projects will feed India's weapons programme. "India's nuclear programme has always been used as a cover for its weapons programme,' says Suren Gadekar, an anti-nuclear activist.

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd runs 16 plants capable of producing 3,900 MW of power. Seven more with a combined capacity of 3,000 MW are nearly over.

In the presence of Atomic Energy Commission (aec) chairman Anil Kakodkar and India's distinguished nuclear scientists and personnel who had made this possible, Unit 3 of the 540 mw Tarapur Atomic Power Station (taps) attained criticality (nuclear parlance for an atomic plant becoming operational), with the start of a self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction in the reactor core.