INDIA / NUCLEAR POWER

India generates just 80 watts of electricity per capita - that's one light bulb's worth per person. With the population projected to hit 1.5 billion by mid-century, the country is turning to nuclear power to meet its rising energy needs. Six new reactors are being built, with another 13 to come. IAEA

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:49
• Production Date: 20 April 2009
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY - IAEA
• Subject Topical: NUCLEAR SCIENCE
• Geographic Subject: INDIA
• MAMS Id: U090420b

Description

STORY: INDIA / NUCLEAR POWER
TRT: 2.49
SOURCE: IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 10-22 FEBRUARY 2009, MUMBAI / KALPAKKAM / KADAKULAM, INDIA / 24 MARCH 2009, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

Shotlist

10-22 FEBRUARY 2009, MUMBAI / KALPAKKAM / KADAKULAM, INDIA

1. Zoom in, nuclear power plant
2. Wide shot, nuclear power plant under construction
3. Wide shot, workers on ground
4. Wide shot, workers working on construction
5. Med shot, worker welding
6. Med shot, workers fixing construction wires.
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Swapnesh Malhotra, Head, Public Awareness, Department of Atomic Energy, India:
“In addition, we have an ambitious plan that through the international civil nuclear commerce, we would go for additional 40,000 megawatt installed capacity which could be, let us say, 40 plants of 1,000 megawatts each.”
8. Wide shot, street scene in Mumbai
9. Med shot, local pedestrians walking on Mumbai street
10. Wide shot, ‘Gateway of India’
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, India:
“There have been occasion when students couldn’t get light to study even when their exam is tomorrow.”
12. Wide shot, poor residential area
13. Wide shot, men washing clothes
14. Wide shot, poor residential street
15. Zoom in, city street to people
16. Med shot, local people swimming in river
17. Wide shot, poor suburb area
18. Med shot, wind turbine propeller
19. Wide shot, wind turbine propellers
20. Wide shot, wind turbine propellers
21. Med shot, market street with bus and group of women
22. Med shot, schoolchildren

24 MARCH 2009, VIENNA, AUSTRIA

23. SOUNDBITE (English) Alan McDonald, IAEA Nuclear Energy Analyst:
“Now at the moment they get about two thirds of the electricity from coal and you can’t expand coal forever plus it’s dirty. It’s not good for the locals and it’s not good for the planet. Nuclear they know, they’re good at it and it’s got a lot of expansion potential.”

10-22 FEBRUARY 2009, MUMBAI / KALPAKKAM / KADAKULAM, INDIA

24. Wide shot, construction site by the sea
25. Wide shot, construction site
26. Wide shot, ground construction site with truck
27. Med shot, worker welding
28. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Baldev Raj, Director Indira Gandhi Centre of Atomic Research:
“You realize that these reactors are going to be extremely important because we can use uranium resources at least 60 times more efficiently. And we can bring down the toxicity of nuclear waste, especially high-level nuclear waste to a level where after 500 years the level of the toxicity will be equivalent to natural radiation levels. So these kind of reactors have much for the world to look forward to from the sustainability and nuclear waste management and public acceptance point of view.”
29. Wide shot, exterior of test reactor
30. Med shot, fountain with Fast Breeder test reactor behind it
31. Med shot, workers opening a steel door
32. Wide shot, reactor
33. Med shot, workers on the controls
34. Wide shot, control room
35. SOUNDBITE (English) Prabhat Kumar, Project Director, BHAVINI
“Very important for the country, the pride of the nation based on the high-end of the technology, and this will pave the way for making fast breeder reactors for the world.”
36. Wide shot, construction site

Storyline

This is a view you will see in few countries today: A nuclear power plant under construction. It’s one of six now being built in India, with another 13 to come.

SOUNDBITE (English) Swapnesh Malhotra, Head, Public Awareness, Department of Atomic Energy, India:
“In addition, we have an ambitious plan that through the international civil nuclear commerce, we would go for additional 40,000 megawatt installed capacity which could be, let us say, 40 plants of 1,000 megawatts each.”

It’s to help power mega-cities like Mumbai, already short on electricity.

Power cuts are common in large parts of India, says the Chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, India:
“There have been occasion when students couldn’t get light to study even when their exam is tomorrow.”

India generates about 80 watts of electricity per capita – that’s one light bulb’s worth per person.

Even with all electricity options on the table the country faces enormous energy challenges. By mid-century, the population is projected to hit 1.5 billion.

Tomorrow’s bigger population will also be more developed, and therefore more energy-hungry than today’s. India will need to diversify its electricity sources, according to IAEA Nuclear Energy Analyst Alan McDonald.

SOUNDBITE (English) Alan McDonald, IAEA Nuclear Energy Analyst:
“Now at the moment they get about two thirds of the electricity from coal and you can’t expand coal forever plus it’s dirty. It’s not good for the locals and it’s not good for the planet. Nuclear they know, they’re good at it and it’s got a lot of expansion potential.”

Finding innovative solutions is vital if the country is going to achieve energy security. Fast breeder nuclear reactors, like this one being built in Kalpakkam, are part of that plan.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Baldev Raj, Director Indira Gandhi Centre of Atomic Research:
“You realize that these reactors are going to be extremely important because we can use uranium resources at least 60 times more efficiently. And we can bring down the toxicity of nuclear waste, especially high-level nuclear waste to a level where after 500 years the level of the toxicity will be equivalent to natural radiation levels. So these kind of reactors have much for the world to look forward to from the sustainability and nuclear waste management and public acceptance point of view.”

India has scant uranium resources, but rich deposits of thorium. It hopes to one day use thorium to fuel the reactor. But it’s a huge scientific challenge.

SOUNDBITE (English) Prabhat Kumar, Project Director, BHAVINI
“Very important for the country, the pride of the nation based on the high-end of the technology, and this will pave the way for making fast breeder reactors for the world.”