Losing Independence And Redeeming It By : GR Srinivasan

Abstract :

Nuclear Explotion (1974) was a landmark achievement in independent India. There was euphoria all around. But startled western world slapped many embargos on India. Neo-Colonial machinations came into play. We seem to loose our freedom of choice and action. We were tacitly suppressed in a circuitous way.

But we had rooted our feet to the ground to face that challenge upfront. The costs were huge, the risk was enormous, there was uncertainties galore in the untreaded path. But with clenched teeth, our people waded through the imposed adversities. And we have come out successful in building our own capabilities to make for what was denied by the west. We have, in true sense, redeemed our missed out independence. Here is the story)

It is heartening to see such stories getting repeated more frequently and in more areas of development.

This is the success story of Nuclear Power Corporation and how it was achieved against all odds:

Nuclear power was born in early 1970s in India. But soon we ran into a difficult period. The 1974 nuclear explosion brought in an embargo when both the Rajasthan and Tarapur Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) were in their infancies. Indigenisation was always in the mind of Dr Bhabha and his three-stage program is tailored for it. After India exploded the nuclear bomb in 1974, Indigenisation picked up as there was no other alternative with embargo on. Thus Indigenisation of nuclear industry picked up due to compelling circumstances. Necessity is the mother of invention. At the time of country’s independence in 1947 and for several years thereafter, the industry’s capability was limited to manufacturing and supply of equipment for cement and sugar industry. By 1974, things had improved but not adequately enough to serve the nuclear industry. However, we sensed that we can win with what is available and we did win.  This victory was due to never say die spirit and determination of DAE staff, Innovativeness of many Indians, strong political support, ever fighting manufacturers and constructors and public support. Who says there is no excellence in India? There are pockets of excellence in our country, and this is what we tapped. Once the contract is made for making new equipment for the first time, the barriers between the purchasers and vendor vanished and everybody worked together. This has been a great learning and achieving experience. From those we have graduated to a phase where now we benefit from several new innovations that take place in the industry. So, there is a certain degree of national competence, which is source of great strength and which helped us to win. Later we became a Corporation from a Government department and realised that this was not a cosmetic change. We have become Managers from scientists, develop financial acumen and commercial culture, defeat pitfalls of public sector companies, develop modern management practices within the framework of public sector procedures etc. What was the result? We make the cheapest, reliable, viable, safe and secure NPPs. We achieved excellence in operating NPPs. One of our NPPS, at Kaiga, Karnataka, beat the then world record of operating 962 days continuously. There were 35 runs of more than one year in the 23 NPPs that are operating now. Our NPPs, fondly called INDUs as against CANDUs (Canadian Deuterium Reactors), have been operating as per international bench marks with respect to performance, safety and nuclear security. The Radiation dose to Public adds less than 1% to the natural background which the public will get anyway, nuclear or no nuclear. Realising that for meeting our Nationally Determined Commitment (NDC) under climate change of phasing out fossil fuel by 2070, nuclear is inevitable, the country wants NPCIL to build 21 more NPPs by 2031, in fleet mode. Nuclear being the only bulk green energy, its operation in a hybrid manner in the grids with Renewables (which is rightly being given a big push) is a must. I am sure NPCIL will achieve this target. NPCIL is ready for industry 4.0.

About Author

G.R.Srinivasan, has more than six decades of experience in nuclear industry. His last three positions were (1) Director (Projects),NPCIL, (2) Vice-Chairman, AERB and (3) Advisor, Nuclear Power Business, GMR Infrastructure company.