Indo-US N-Deal not to affect indigenous programme: Kakodkar

Irrespective of the outcome of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, the country will push ahead with indigenous atomic programme using different fuels, the Atomic Energy Commission chief said on Friday.

AEC Chairman Anil Kakodkar said the Department of Atomic Energy would move ahead with its second and third stage programmes using mixed oxide fuel for fast breeder nuclear reactors, and thorium for advanced heavy water reactors.

Kakodkar was speaking at the golden jubilee celebrations of a Bhabha Atomic Research Centre unit in Tarapur, about 100 km from Mumbai.

He said though there was a mismatch of fuel for the pressurised heavy water reactors, India is "gearing up the second and third stage of our nuclear programme by augmenting the MOX fuel for fast breeder reactors and thorium for advanced heavy water reactors".

"We want to get imported fuel for our reactors to meet our ever increasing power demand and will be giving priority to MOX fuel for our fast breeder reactors due to its high energy efficiency.

The uranium fuel can be imported," said Kakodkar, one of the architects of the July 2005 agreement with Washington.

If ratified by the US Congress, the pact will allow New Delhi to tap the global market for nuclear fuel and technology. At the same time, India is "making efforts to augment our own uranium production by Uranium Corporation of India Ltd", he said.