Nuclear Power and Net-Zero

Subject – Environment

Context – India cannot meet the net-zero emission target without nuclear power: Kakodkar

Concept –

India cannot meet its net-zero emission commitments without nuclear power, says eminent nuclear physicist and former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Dr Anil Kakodkar.
Nuclear power alone could provide low-cost power and help in grid balancing.
By redesigning the fuels so that they take longer time to burn-up (or exhaust themselves), it is possible to make nuclear power plants flexible – their generation could be raised or lowered depending upon the demand.
- Nuclear power plants can be tweaked to “load-follow mode”, something which is common in France, where 75 per cent of the energy is met by nuclear plants.
High-temperature nuclear reactors could be used to generate heat, which could be used for thermochemical splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen.

To know about Nuclear power plants in India, please refer September 2021 DPN.

To know about Nuclear power and the environment, please refer November 2021 DPN.