Higher nuclear capacity after tie up for fuel supply; Shahi

Gangtok, Nov 20 (UNI) India will go for higher nuclear power capacity only after a tie up for fuel supply to its nuclear power plants is done, Union Power Secretary R V Shahi said.

''At present we have fuel shortage for the existing capacity of 3,000 MW. Once we are able to tie up with some foreign countries for import of fuel and exploit the domestic sources, we will go for higher nuclear power capacity,'' he said.

Mr Shahi, who was here on a two-day visit to the state to assess the progress of various power projects and montior the steps taken for power reform, said in the integrated power policy ''we project a rise in the generation of nuclear power from the present less than three per cent to about seven per cent of the total capacity by 2032.'' In next 25 years a capacity addition of 50,000 MW from nuclear sources is expected, he added.

The Teesta stage five hydro-electric project in Sikkim will be commissioned in six to seven months, Mr Shahi said.

The Union Power Secretary who is here on a two-day visit to the state told newspersons here last night, that three units of the 510 mw project are ready.

At least 3000 MW is expected in the first few months of the 11th five year plan, Mr Shahi added.

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