संवाद # 190: Nuclear Scientist explains how License Raj is killing India's nuclear energy sector

Nitendra SINGH is a nuclear engineer with expertise in nuclear safety and design working at ITER organization as a Project Associate responsible for the safety assessment of Tritium Breeding Blanket Systems (TBBS). He holds a Doctorate in Nuclear Engineering from Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), India; a Master in Nuclear Engineering from Université Paris Sud-XI (now, Paris-Saclay), France and a Master of Technology in Nuclear Science and Technology from the University of Delhi, India. He has management diplomas in Nuclear Energy Management from IAEA, Austria, and in Nuclear Knowledge Management from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI), Russia.
His technical expertise includes Nuclear Severe Accident Management, Nuclear Safety Design and Passive Systems, Tritium Breeding Blanket Systems, and Advanced Nuclear Reactor Core Design. He has authored several publications in severe accident safety design, and fast breeder reactor core design
His book “Basic Concepts Behind Fast Breeder Reactor Core Design” sets an example for advanced second stage of the India’s three stage Nuclear Program. He is the only scientist in the country who has performed the hands-on experimental program on melt-water interaction towards the design of indigenous core catcher. The innovative severe accident safety system is key to address Fukushima kind of scenarios.
His design study on long-life core fuel pin design for the Indian fast breeder reactor using internal breeding gain concept, set up a basis for long-term utilisation of reactor core. This concept will be backbone of “Sookshma”.
In addition, he is an avid speaker on advanced nuclear systems, fusion technology, nuclear and fusion policy, and climate change actions. He is the founder of the Indian Youth Nuclear Society (IYNS) and the Women in Nuclear in India association (WiN-India) and co-founded the Women in Fusion (WiF) international organization, Nuclear4Climate initiative, and InFusEd (International Fusion Energy Education) initiatives at ITER. Furthermore, he is the founder and CEO of “IYNS: Tech-Solutions” and working towards design of India’s First Micro Reactor “SUK-M (Sookshma)”.
0:00 Intro
1:03 India’s nuclear policy status today
6:28 India needs 1000 nuclear reactors?
13:09 Problem with Solar energy
15:42 Nuclear reactors isn’t expensive
17:22 Biggest myth about Nuclear Waste
23:17 Learn from France, not Germany
27:43 Why Nuclear is critical for ‘Make In India’
29:09 Myth - Nuclear isn’t SAFE
36:38 Four big reasons for India’s nuclear failure
43:11 License Permit Quota Raj in India’s nuclear space
45:17 Role of PMO
47:49 Even UAE is doing better than India
49:22 New modern nuclear reactors - where is India?
53:05 Cost of nuclear reactors & case for private sector
57:22 The root of problem in India’s nuclear sector
1:00:10 Fusion technology - India is lagging behind?
1:01:30 Fusion Vs Fission nuclear energy explained
1:07:02 India’s brain drain & Nuclear sector
1:11:23 India’s own micro nuclear reactor when?

[@nahushaacharya7470]

Another correction India is not currently building any 220 MW reactor, India is now building 700MW 2 reactors running Kakrapar

[@Pumbasur]

KAPP 3&4 (2X700 MW) are located at Kakrapar in Surat district of Gujarat, adjacent to the existing reactors KAPS 1&2 (2X220 MW).

[@Pumbasur]

KAPP-4 is the second in the series of sixteen indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) of 700 MW each being set up in the country

[@ayushmeena977]

every time it surprises me...topics taken by vaad hats off....far far better than any other podcasts in india

[@satishsaty]

Sure, it's superb to listen

[@veerswami7175]

And also charvaka podcast

[@chandansarma0]

Bhakti utar gaya iski😂😂

[@MOHIT836]

Bhai saree dukan ka overhyped owner hai woh😂​@@veerswami7175

[@mahinderkumar1013]

Arre wah ji wah.Just keep your mind open😂 and then you will find far better topics and experts on other you tube channels.😅

[@shubhamdwivedi277]

Bhai sahaab.....kya gajab topic aur kitna important topic has been chosen for podcast. Salute and respect to you man. 😮😮

[@siddharth_behere]

NGO gang par koi question nahi puchha. Biggest issue is NGO gang.

[@yushpi]

Thorium pe bhi puchna reh gaye

[@vaibhavyadav9912]

Sabse pehle call it out for what it really is. NGO gang ❌ Xtian gang ✅

[@Clairee17-]

Seriously I am so annoyed by those fear mongers

[@Dinesh-bc2ly]

we not build nuclear for that reason

[@Shubham-by3sh]

Vaad is the best nationalistic podcast of all. No jingoism ,no rhetorics ,only real issues.Thank you arihant bhai. Hope someone in the government is listening

[@rratedgabru5349]

You cover all important issues India is dealing with. A proper intellectual, a proper thinker. This is the most important channel for people of care about the future of the people of this nation.

[@NRAMPAL13]

Kudos Arihant bhai, Doing wonders and Going places. Just 1 regret, please don't free pass to your guest, thoda cross question kiya karo bus.

[@shivamsharmaji]

What a fantastic pod! In a world of noisy, low quality content it always makes me happy to come across quality and meaningful podcasts. And a special shout-out to Dr. Nitendra for covering the topic in depth and in a manner EVERYONE could understand. Thank you.

[@GODEW]

Thanks to Dr. Nitendra Singh pushing the limits for Nuclear in India. Well informative interview 🙏

[@ganeshdore]

Good Clear discussion. 1. Thorium as a fuel was not discussed 2. Plutonium Fast Breeder reactors were not discussed 3. Sea water cooling is probably mandatory ,,,That was not discussed 4. Is investment capital an issue. Perhaps Nuclear is 3X cost per installed MW capacity vs Coal Fired Power Plants. ++++++++++++++++ Isnt Kudankulam 1000 mw each , 2 working , 2 in construction why harp on 220 MW units.

[@ganeshdore]

Agree 100 percent 1. Thorium as a fuel was not discussed 2. Plutonium Fast Breeder reactors were not discussed 3. Sea water cooling is probably mandatory ,,,That was not discussed 4. Is investment capital an issue. Perhaps Nuclear is 3X cost per installed MW capacity vs Coal Fired Power Plants ++++++++++++++++++++ Isnt Kudankulam 1000 mw each , 2 working , 2 in construction why harp on 220 MW units.

[@chitrayan4099]

Two things were not touched... 1. Present geopolitical scenario stops supplying fuel grade uranium to India 2. The hypocrisy of NGOs and organisations who advocate for green energy and environment but try their best to stop nuclear power plant project

[@user-eq2hm5pp7v]

There are around 20 reactors under various stages of construction and pre commissioning activities in Bharat. This is second only to China. Government is doing work on nuclear. More work is being done now than last 70 years. Two main issues for slow pace which the scientist failed to mention are: Technical: It's not just about building reactors. Indian Nuclear Energy needs a whole pipeline, from fuel and heavy water fabrication facilities to de titration and storage facilites. Work is under progress on this whole chain. Non-technical: Andolanjeevi It won't even take a small nuclear accident for the whole china funded andolanjevi gang to shut down our whole nuclear program. We have seen what they can do in farmer law protest. So the government needs to go slow and steady without making much noise. And this factor is the biggest, these andolan jeevi are shutting down Europe's nuclear power plants based on 40 yr old Chernobyl disaster. Even Japan is going reverse gear in nuclear after fukushima, and USA just talks on SMR and stuff. He is praising France and US, But the reality is that whole west has no replacement plan for the hundreds of reactors that were build in 70s and 80s, which will retire within a decade. US built only 2 & France built ZERO new nuclear reactors in last 25 years. He also mentioned private sector. The government opened nuclear to private sector for medical and agricultural application years back. And NPCIL collaborates with private players like L&T and Tata for reactor construction. This PPP mode is better because we can see that pure private players like GE, Westing House, Toshiba & Mitsubishi are failing in nuclear sector. If we see in comparison to rest of the world, Bharat is doing great. We are developing our whole technology chain and building reactors on our own.

[@nileshmore90]

Thanks for the useful information brother just need some govt websites,links,any documents to check this progress

[@user-eq2hm5pp7v]

@@nileshmore90 You can check the projects section of NPCIL website.

[@ankitpoddar]

Any good paper you can refer too on this and more than one is welcome... Side note podcasts are great vut in technical things either self research or counter point of view is absolutely needs to conveyed...

[@arpansaxena137]

देश और दुनिया को परमाणु ऊर्जा की बहुत आवश्यकता है। देश वाशियो को भी इसका महत्व समझा होगा ।

[@VivekSingh-rr3fr]

भाई देखने में इतने साधारण लगते हो परंतु ऐसे असाधारण विचारों पर चर्चा कैसे कर लेते हो 🔥🙏💐

[@sidddddddddddddd]

It’s crazy expensive. Salal dam was constructed at a cost of 929 crores and its output is 690 MW which is Rs. 1.34 crore/MW. That means constructing a nuclear power plant is almost 13 times more expensive than hydropower plants.

[@hrushikeshavachat900]

It works for 60 to 80 years. So, over the lifetime if it is cheaper. We need to find ways to reduce the cost of finance of the high initial cost. Once, the same is achieved, it will be a huge achievement. Also, of the investment, a large chunk was raised through debt. So, the cost of the project should be spread over the tenure of the loan. So, if we have taken a loan 696 crores (around 75% of project cost) at 15 percent interest, for 20 years, the total outflow per year is 9.16 crore and initial in pocket expense of Rs 233 Crores which can also be spread over 20 years (80 years life, so 20 years is completely logical). So out of pocket cost of 11.65 crores. So, the cost is around 21.46 crores per year. This means a cost of around Rs 0.32 per watt for 20 years except maintainence cost. I have considered the highest rate of interest at 15 percent and tenure of loan of only around 20 years. If we consider around 9 percent interest (possible for government to raise funds at 9 percent) it will be even lower. This can be further reduced if we consider a tenure 9f 80 years, the put of pocket cost will further drop to 2.92 crores, total cost of loan at 9 percent and 20 years loan will be 6.26 crores. Total cost will be 9.18 crore per year, per watt cost of 0.14 per watt.

[@rishigarg8069]

I thank Vaad for making such informative podcasts. I really enjoy watching them and actually gaining insights. Keep up the good work!!

[@ManojSingh-bg9ue]

Respectfully, Dr. Nitendra Singh should have emphasised more on our lack of domestic nuclear reserves and non-membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) severely restrict our nuclear supply. Ch*na blocked our NSG membership bid to slowdown our progress as they don't want another competing manufacturing power. Consequently, all our nuclear reactors operate below capacity, and even if we increase their number, we won't be able to fuel them adequately unless we get the NSG membership. The only remaining option is to fast-track our three-stage nuclear program, which eliminates the need to import uranium. In the third stage, fissile uranium is produced from thorium reactions, enabling us to fuel our nuclear plants making the process self sustaining.

[@ganeshdore]

Agree 100 percent 1. Thorium as a fuel was not discussed 2. Plutonium Fast Breeder reactors were not discussed 3. Sea water cooling is probably mandatory ,,,That was not discussed 4. Is investment capital an issue. Perhaps Nuclear is 3X cost per installed MW capacity vs Coal Fired Power Plants ++++++++++++++++++++ Isnt Kudankulam 1000 mw each , 2 working , 2 in construction why harp on 220 MW units.

[@gurdeepsingh1403]

As I can assume there no fast track.. it' will take it's time...

[@ganeshdore]

@@gurdeepsingh1403 Currently 10000 MW Nuclear power is installed with 75 percent availability I think 8000 MW in new plants is coming on line in next 4 years ? Local opposition to Nuclear Power is a huge headache. What does Gurdeep Singh recommend ? Nation did manage to deal with Summer heat this year and meet record power demand. Could have been wayyyyy worse,

[@ganeshdore]

Manoj Singh reply has clarity . ll I would add is Sea water cooling . No Fresh water . Take the transmission grid loss as " cost of doing business "

[@gurdeepsingh1403]

Yes you may right 👍👍👍👍👍

[@swapnilkadam5325]

Topics taken by this channel are always in the interest of the country and citizens ......

[@praghavkumar4566]

India has rich reserves of Thorium. But due to eagle eye of China and US we are going slow. Once we start Thorium based efficient nuclear reactors with a bang, we have to face other consequences from the super powers

[@crazydrifter13]

Costs. Delays in construction of plants. Nuclear + renewables are the answer. Most of the power demand is in during the day in India. Hybrid of solar, nuclear, wind almost eliminates need for huge batteries (almost). Ground source cooling & stopping copying glass building designs from abroad will keep energy demand reasonable and availability high for productive use of energy.

[@AMITPatel-be1lp]

He is not formal staff in ITER . He is just associate and formally such policies are decided by Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India .

[@sagartahasildar]

Very good podcast. Kudos to Dr Singh ji for providing these details as well as mentioning all the initiatives he and his team is taking in India 🙏🏼

[@scorpionmithun]

Very informative.... thanks Vaad🙏🚩🇮🇳

[@OrsoRaggiante]

बहुत खूब...

[@vyomchaudhary5929]

Vaad is an amazing podcast, tries to look into the future. Constructively critical. I have a question to the guest (if he can see) 1) Why is our nuclear lobby not pushing for it (I am assuming we don't have a strong lobby) 2) small modular reactors- Can we develop it individually?

[@priyanshsinghal37]

We are making good progess on nuclear. We don't need a lobby for this. SMRs are nice for talk, but developing a cost effective, safe & indigenous SMR is hard

[@PodClipsGalore108]

Very important video. Thanks for bringing this up.

[@ManishSPatel]

Really eyeopener from Dr. Nitendra for creating an awareness on climate change challenges and addressing clean energy. I believe Nuclear program need to expand as quickly as possible. Request government to find out way out for nation energy security. All best Dr. Nitendra and team I with your ideas.

[@anuragshrivastava8737]

Wow such a smart person with so much clarity! would like to see him again.

[@sandy12890]

Why this kind of discussions are not being made in national media.

[@rajatbhardwaj4728]

Good choice of Guest. Keep it up Bro!

[@user-th8dq1ev2l]

Great to see such videos on your channel

[@piyushsikka12]

Glad that I have got the chance to meet him in person. Proud of his success

[@Indica2658]

Bahot badhiya Podcast Arihantji Jai Hind 🙏🏻

[@LakhwinderSingh-vf8jc]

Excellent topic and highly experienced person cleared all doubts

[@himanshulambatpatil5966]

Appreciate vaad for taking Unthinkable topics

[@sharan50000]

Brilliant podcast. Thanks to both of you 👌🏽😊🇮🇳

[@Grow.YT.Views.363]

The editing in this video is on point! 🎬✂️

[@contemporarymatters8106]

Very informative discussion.

[@kamalgupta5954]

Amazing session ❤

[@TheIndraprastha8]

Hii team vaad Twitted this podcast to pmo let's see what happened. ❤ for topic 👍🙏

[@mayankagnihotri9804]

It's so good to see U Sir. Regards.

[@prevasive1]

Very important topic.. thank you Arihant for doing this podcast

[@madhavpriyo2735]

ARIHANT Bhai, aapke Gyaan ko pranaam hai.

[@arjunsinghchauhan4383]

थोरियम आधारित न्यूक्लियर रिएक्टर डिस्कस नही किया आपने। थोरियम भारत के पास काफी है। इसमें शायद इंडिया कुछ कर रहा है।

[@user-fp5nb5pr1i]

indian nuclear 3rd Stage mai hai nuclear power plan

[@Yuvi_p]

Breeder reactor wahi h 👍🏻

[@SunnyKumar-yi9cs]

Bhai yeh aadmi jitna simplify karke bol raha hain utna simplei nahi hain. India plants isliye nahi laga raha hain kyonki supply of uranium is very less. India ka 3 stage nuclear programme hain jo thorium ka use karega. Isme geopolitics bhi involve hain. India mein uranium kaafi kam hain hame cannada yeh west par kaafi dependent hona padega aise hein oil ke dependency kaafi zyada hain . Abhi hum 2nd stage complete karenge. He is talking most nonsensical thing

[@ankurchaudhary3515]

Russia se lelo ? Even USA imports uranium from Russia due to cheap price

[@vijayshankertamrakar2586]

No babudom in this sector. Chairman of DAE is secretary to GOI reporting directly to PM via incharge minister.

[@abhinavranga8355]

Nice discussion, informative

[@bsnagashetti513]

Wonderful conversation It is high time to switch over to Nuclear energy.

[@mak29mba15]

You missed the NGOs which are opposing this with the help of local farmers

[@subratmohapatra6658]

VAAD prodcasting is based on ground reality Indian govt should also watch this channel for the reality of ground situation.Vaad is doing excellent work.

[@utpalkumar5148]

Structure of DAE needs to be reviewed

[@rahuldeshpande1378]

good discussion

[@anantpawar9980]

Sir, I loved your podcast and guests are coming. Please use more shorts to attract new viewer and traffic. I think it will improve our community.

[@yashvasveliya4957]

Informative

[@avinashkulkarni8559]

Wow...he is our protector

[@AnkitShukla-dr3ol]

Very nice topic picked by VAAD TEAM

[@biswajitmishra1762]

Private industry want to contribute in nuclear energy but when it comes to insurance part they aren't ready. If this issue resolved they we can achieve any target in record time.

[@historyandmore9555]

Nuclear energy is clean energy, kurzgesagt has made a great video on busting myths around nuclear energy.

[@petepatel1234]

Very knowledgeable podcast

[@MrXperx]

Very nice guest.

[@Jai_Bharat_7000]

Need more awareness on topic like these.

[@jimandeka705]

After listening to you sir, only one thing screaming in mind...is desh mein kuch nahi hoyega...

[@rohankapil1730]

😂

[@akarshpandey2560]

Yeh soch ke sath kuch bhi nhi hoga

[@yadav-r]

Exactly. Indians are not ready to accept this, but bro, just look at us. 2100 m bhi India developing nation rahega. painful but truth.

[@priyanshsinghal37]

Modi ke 15 saal mei, Desh mei nuclear mei itna kaam ho rha hai jitna pichle 70 saalo mei nahi hua.

[@nannugill89]

Super bro sooo interesting and i awakening podcast

[@sunilet2009]

Very Good Podcast ..

[@K_ME_sarvottam]

your camera quality is awsome

[@sayantan777]

We need at least 100GW Nuclear power by 2047 .

[@user-lu8ul9hl3t]

Very good god help you

[@the_bhartiya_spirit]

Vaad is way ahead of other podcast ❤

[@AbsolutezeroK0]

Who brought this guy. Learned nothing from this fellow. He's providing information which is already in public domain and he was not backing up his claims with Data.

[@sohamkundu6763]

awesome vaad,thank you,29:00 topic relatable because america made it,in dark knight rises movie it was shown that batman made nuclear reactor for energy but movie villian bane made it nuclear bomb,american government has control of hollywood

[@abhidelight]

Best podcast of india

[@person12345_]

India is ranked 159 out of the 180 nations considered in the 2024 press freedom index

[@niraj2020]

How the supply side of uranium ensured especially processed uranium. Uranium process, raw materials is complicated and assured supply which we depend on other countries. How india going to manage even we faced trouble for BARC, Tarapur and other plants.

[@hrushikeshavachat900]

Sir, India has now shifted to 700 MW reactors from 220 MW. So, if we have 4 reactors at one place, we will have around 2.8 GW of electricity from a single location. It's still less than 1000 MW reactor but better than 220 MW.

[@netlokesh]

Good conversation but lacking these essential discussion area - (1) Radiation exposure to people working in the reactor (2) Radiation exposure due to air strike (3) Location of reactor to population considering huge population density and T&D loss.

[@Anish61097]

Bring Ajay Shah to your podcast

[@shashibhushan-wd4fl]

Comments on nuclear solar and wind are incorrect He needs to do more research Nuclear waste is just the size of one football field all around the world- where is the research on this Solar panel life and area required- research? France it self can’t make a new nuclear reactor(are they financially feasible? Just check their energy rate vs other sources). Just check their track record in last 30 years

[@dr.prabhatpandey4967]

Everytime VAAD comes with a totally new idea for development and vision

[@rajinderhans7168]

Sir ji, BHARAT me NGO , activities, Sedha Supreme kotha pohanch jaate hai, Apke ak project ko hi 20 saal Late karwa denge, SAT SHREE AKAL 🙏🏽 JAI HIND 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

[@Pumbasur]

KAPP 3&4 (2X700 MW) are located at Kakrapar in Surat district of Gujarat, adjacent to the existing reactors KAPS 1&2 (2X220 MW). KAPP-4 is the second in the series of sixteen indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) of 700 MW each being set up in the country.

[@user-jf4yw4ry7x]

Jay Bharat 🙏 ❤

[@rverma5125]

Main problem hai ki uranium (fuel) kahan se aayega??

[@ayushgarg7033]

Ha bt itna difficult bhi nhi h

[@rverma5125]

@@ayushgarg7033 Jo bhi uranium Mila hai uska bomb banana hai, Bijli banana secondary priority hai, I think government bhi yahi sochti hai, Bijli to koyla se ban hi jayegi lekin koyla se bomb nahin banega. Aur global warming ki aisi taisi

[@rscsingh7848]

Jamshedpur se. Baaki huge shortfall will be covered by Thorium. 2 out of 3 phases of Fast Breeder reactors are complete. 😊😊😊

[@shaangaming350]

55:54 1:00:11

[@623Dip]

That is why developed countries has privatised certain industries. Indians are only concerned about govt jobs because they know no one monitors efficiency there. And people in India just want to do the minimum required. Govt should start privatising such industries slowly and then only focus on governance. Let businessmen run businesses.

[@sharadbravo]

Wokeness to energy create nahi karti, bohot badhiya.

[@keshavkishan2764]

❤❤❤

[@shaangaming350]

26:16 thats a good point , we are not create , tangible

[@ayushmankar4100]

Kundamkilam nuclear power plant should be reopened 😊😊😊😊

[@user-eq2hm5pp7v]

It is working. And reactors 3-6 are under construction

[@premkrdas9149]

Sir How Megha Engineering type of company get Neuclear Projects Please make a video on that

[@anujagrawal5243]

What is costing of nuclear power electricity??

[@bhupindersinghkanwar5681]

Talk of present issues and present system than future

[@bsahoo3127]

Kaha sa milta hai yeah information that 27 people died in chernobyl 😅

[@SrAuNz]

Another major difference between Fission and Fusion is that Fusion is radiation free.

[@sidddddddddddddd]

We are ready to pay for a bit expensive electricity provided it’s not forever and as soon as they break even, the price should be brought down plus there should be no load shedding! Even in 2024, our capital cities are having load shedding. What can be sadder than this? 😢

[@vijayshankertamrakar2586]

Hv u developed 1000mw designed?

[@harenderpaliwal1442]

Really the best video i saw.but what are those 80 cr.people who want free rashan every month from the government.always blaming government policies is not a solution.solution is to grow up our public from current free biz mentality.then government have sufficient funds for this type of projects.

[@vikas__patel24]

Yaar .. 3.3 kv ki solar system haiere ghar pe .. do balti paani lagta hai.. roj saaf nahi karna padta.. mahine me ek-do baar enough hai.. 200 sq feet space it took. It's revolutionary.. it generated 4500 units electricity last year at my home.

[@paritoshsingh8905]

Ghr pr lekin on field it required more

[@sushantbhardwaj670]

Unless some big entrepreneur or industrialist gets in the business of nuclear energy, I don't see the government putting any money or resources in it and even if they did then we have andolans n dharnas which the Govt is literally trying to avoid. I don't see the gut n intent in the govt for clean nuclear energy.

[@justathinker8669]

58:40 Problem is people are not "walking the talk". Lack of Leadership to take decisions and execute is the problem.

[@divyeshkashiyani5976]

for household solar # here in gujarat all major city , solar panel has more cover than green cover