Nuclear power is safe and can meet increasing energy demand: VP addresses AMD

Hyderabad, May 17: "Nuclear electricity could significantly reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and has the potential to meet increasing energy demand in the country", The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu said while addressing scientists.

Addressing Scientists and the Staff of Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), in Hyderabad on May 16, on the occasion of 70 years of exploration and research by the organization, he pointed out that climate change was one of the foremost environmental concerns today.

While Stating that the need of the hour was to ensure that modern technologies were safer and reliable, the Vice President expressed, nuclear power was one of the reliable and safe energy options and commended India’s record of operating our nuclear fleet for over 40 years without any serious incident.

VP Naidu said," India’s abiding interest in nuclear energy grew out of a deep conviction that the power of atom could be harnessed to help the country to achieve human and societal development".

Further, He said, India has consciously made a strategic choice to pursue a low-carbon growth model in the coming decades and added that reducing pollution was a major challenge.

Appreciating the efforts of AMD in adopting state-of-the-art exploration techniques in search of different strategic minerals, the VP said, it was heartening to know about the availability of more than 3 lakh tonnes of uranium oxide reserves and around 1200 million tonnes of Beach sand Mineral resources in our country.

“More significantly, the quantum leap in Uranium resource augmentation by AMD from around 1 lakh tonnes during first 60 years of activities and subsequent addition of around 2 lakh tonnes in the next 10 years is really commendable”, he added.

VP Naidu also expressed confidence that exploration efforts of AMD in different parts of the country, including Cuddapah Basin would lead to more uranium mines.

With several favorable geological domains spread across length and breadth of the country which can host potential Uranium, Rare Metals, and REE deposits, the Vice President said it would be possible to achieve self-sufficiency in atomic mineral resources for sustainable growth of our Nuclear Power Programme.

Considering the steep demand for power in the country, the role of nuclear energy in the future would be quite significant. “We need to develop new and more efficient technologies to utilize our resources to the maximum”, he added.

The Vice President also unveiled a plaque on ‘Cuddapah Monolith’ to commemorate 70 years of exploration and research by AMD.