India panel says N-power programme too ambitious

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

India panel says N-power programme too ambitious
  
NEW DELHI, April 18 (Reuters) - Indian lawmakers said in a report on 
Tuesday that a government programme to generate 20,000 megawatts of 
nuclear power in 20 years time was too ambitious and must be 
reviewed. 

``This appears to be an over-ambitious and unrealistic programme 
considering the fact that the total cost involved in this venture is 
a whopping 964 billion rupees ($22 billion)...,'' parliament's 
standing committee on energy said in a report on the state-run atomic 
energy department. 

India's ten civilian nuclear power stations produce 1,840 megawatts 
of power, which is barely 2 percent of the country's total power 
generation. 

The atomic energy department has set a target of lifting nuclear 
power capacity to 20,000 megawatts by 2020, but the parliamentary 
committee felt targets must be practical. 

``The Committee therefore feel that it would be better if the 
department draw up a plan fixing short and achievable targets to be 
achieved in the short time-frames and to make concerted efforts to 
achieve those targets which could ultimately lead to their target of 
20,000 megawatts,'' the report presented to the lower house of 
parliament said. 

India's forty-year civilian nuclear programme has been dogged by lack 
of international funding and technology because of a parallel nuclear 
weapons programme. 

In May 1998, India carried out a series of nuclear explosions 
triggering a slew of economic and technological sanctions by the 
United States. 

The parliamentary committee urged the government to consider building 
nuclear power stations in the eastern and northeastern parts of the 
country. Currently, the ten power stations are located in the 
southern, western and northern regions. 

``They should make a detailed and in-depth study of various aspects 
such as economic, strategic, environmental, safety involved in the 
process and may consider such sites for their future projects,'' the 
report said. 

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