India's Nuclear Energy Mission: Managing Radioactive Waste for Sustainable Growth

India's plan to achieve 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047 requires careful management of the nuclear waste generated from these plants. The government ensures that nuclear waste is disposed of safely, in accordance with international practices following the guidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The management philosophy is to treat, concentrate, compact, and immobilize radioactive waste in solid materials like cement, disposing it in specially constructed structures.

Key Takeaways:

• Radioactive waste management is a comprehensive process in India, taking into account operational capability and regulatory oversight.
• The government has established a roadmap for achieving the goal of 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047, which includes policy, legal, and regulatory reforms.
• The Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and the Atomic Energy (Safe Disposal of Radioactive Wastes) Rules, 1987, govern the safe disposal of nuclear waste.
• India follows a closed nuclear fuel cycle, where domestic spent fuel is reprocessed and most of its components are recycled back as fuel for future reactors.
• The nuclear energy mission aims to create an outlay of INR 20,000 Crores for the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) to meet the funding requirements for research and development.
• Nuclear energy is recognized as part of India's climate action in the Climate Finance Taxonomy (Draft), making it eligible for climate finance to ease funding requirements.

Statistics:

• Radioactive solid wastes arising from nuclear power plants to be disposed of at site during the lifetime, including decommissioning, is within 0.15 cubic meters/year/MW (Source: Government of India).
• India has established a closed nuclear fuel cycle, where domestic spent fuel is reprocessed, and most of its components are recycled back as fuel for future reactors.
• The nuclear energy mission aims to achieve 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047, which will require an outlay of INR 20,000 Crores for the development of SMRs.

Sources:

• Government of India, PIB Delhi, Management of nuclear waste (no date).
• Atomic Energy Act, 1962.
• Atomic Energy (Safe Disposal of Radioactive Wastes) Rules, 1987.
• Climate Finance Taxonomy (Draft).
• Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today (no date).