By IANS,
Mumbai : India will Tuesday host a global meet on nuclear energy here that will offer networking and marketing opportunities for international firms and agencies, an official said Sunday.
The three-day 4th India Nuclear Energy Summit (INES-2012) will see participation from all top players in the nuclear power generation sector, apart from debates and speeches by leading experts on a variety of issues concerning the industry.
“Nuclear power generation is a global enterprise and the Fukushima Daiichi accident in 2011 amply illustrated that it has international ramifications in the business of making electricity,” the official said.
India, being the world’s fastest growing economy that is home to over a billion people, has made significant strides in increasing its nuclear power generation capacity over the past few years.
Ranked sixth globally in terms of nuclear energy after the US, France, Japan, Russia and South Korea, India hopes to increasing the contribution of nuclear power to overall electricity generation capacity from 3.2 percent to 9 percent in 25 years.
It also planned to have a 20,000 MW installed nuclear power generation capacity by 2020.
At present, there are 439 nuclear reactors in operation around the world in over 30 countries, meeting 16 percent of the world’s electricity requirements.
In view of the rapid expansion in the Indian nuclear power sector, the INES-2012 will bring the Indian know-how and resources together with global nuclear skills and experience to introduce a new dimension to the upcoming nuclear power projects, the official said.
Among the issues to be debated at INES-2012 include engineering and construction of nuclear power plants along with safety and challenges involved.
“It will provide a global platform to address key issues, offer opportunities and identify challenges, as the world prepares to move towards competitive efficiency in the nuclear energy sector,” the official noted.
Among the speakers at INES-2012 will be experts and scientists from the Indian Department of Atomic Energy (DEA), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and French Nuclear Association.
The big names at the event would include Srikanta K. Panigrahi, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Strategic Knowledge Mission; S. Duraisamy, Vice-Chairman of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board; Srikumar Banerjee, former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission; Bertrand Constensoux, ALSTOM vice President (Nuclear – India and Russia Region); and M.V. Kotwal, Larsen and Toubro director and president (heavy engineering).
Others to speak at the meet are: G.R. Srinivasan, GMR Energy’s nuclear power business advisor; Rajnish Prakash, Heavy Water Board (HWB) Chairman and Chief Executive; N. Saibaba, Nuclear Fuel Complex Chief Executive; and K.V. Subramanian, Tata Consulting Engineers Limited General Manager.