Nuclear power for civilian use is well established in India. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is a government owned entity under the Department of Atomic Energy that monitors and owns the civilian nuclear sites throughout India. The cooperation is responsible for designing, operating and managing its many nuclear plants. India's civil nuclear strategy has been directed towards complete independence in the nuclear fuel cycle, necessary because India is excluded from the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) due to acquiring nuclear weapons capability after 1970. Thus India's nuclear reactors are the most unique in the world because it can work using Thorium with extremely small amounts of Uranium, making India a self-sufficient nuclear power without the need for International Help. In fact, India's nuclear reactors (both military and civilian) are “home grown” entirely without foreign aid because of UN and US sanctions on India due to its failure to sign the NPT.
Currently, 69% of the nation's electricity needs are supplied through coal but this is inefficient because of India's recent growth. In 2002, India has to supply 534 billion kilowatt hours of electricity - a figure that is 2 times the amount India produced in the 90s. According to International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) nuclear analyst Alan McDonald, “China and India have booming economies, booming populations, growing energy demand. They basically need to develop all the energy sources they can. Right now, nuclear electricity is only a small percentage, 2% in China, 3% of electricity in India. But China plans a five-fold increase by 2020 and India plans an eight-fold increase by 2022.” That means India wants to see its nuclear powered reactors provide 25% of the countries rising energy needs in the foreseeable future.
In 1995, India build 9 operating nuclear power plants with a total power capacity of 1,800 Megawatts or 3% of India's power output. And during the late 90s, India had 7 more nuclear plants under construction which has the potential to bring 2,320 megawatts of energy. India also has plans for 10 other reactors to be established mostly in northern parts of India and 1 reactor in Tamil Nadu. Such a system will bring in more than 5000 megawatts energy to a starved power system. In the 90s, India wanted to increase its power capacity to 10,000 Megawatts by 2000 and this goal has been met. Currently, India has over 15 small reactors, 2 medium sized reactors, 6 still under construction which includes 2 large reactors and a fast breeding reactor. India also has plans to expand its capacity further to a goal of 20,000 Megawatts energy by 2020. However, this goal can only be met if the international community allows India to import Uranium from other nations because Thorium reaction cycle cannot sustain such a high-yield reaction rate for too long.
For this India needs Uranium and since 1995, India has been importing small amounts of Uranium from China even though China is not supposed to sell India uranium under the NPT agreement. India has the largest Thorium reserves in the world and is the only nation with a nuclear reactor program designed for a thorium based cycle so even if international help with uranium is not given, India can use its own technology and fuel for quite a long time. However, if India were allowed to get large amounts of Uranium, I am sure the nuclear power capacity and output would sky-rocket. Other nuclear powers in Asia do not have the amount of nuclear reactors or power production like India. Even Pakistan only has 2 reactors compared to India's arsenal of nuclear reactors. China comes in 2nd with regards to nuclear energy production and amount of nuclear reactors in the nation. Then Japan and South Korea. Overall, Asia is the next biggest field for nuclear reactor technology and their development as these nations are faced with growing energy crisis and a bursting population starving for energy.
