India and World Nuclear Report 2013

In brief :

 

1. Fourteen countries are currently building nuclear power plants and as of July 2013, 66 reactors are under construction.Two-thirds (44) of the units under construction are located in three countries: China, India and Russia.

2. China, Germany and Japan, three of the world's four largest economies, as well as India, now generate more power from renewables than from nuclear power.For the first time in 2012 China and India generated more power from wind than from nuclear plants.

3. Four reactors have been listed as "under-construction" for over 10 years. These are two Taiwanese units at Lungmen for about 14 years and two Indian units at Kudankulam for around 10 years

 

Nuclear Reactors "Under Construction" (as of 1 July 2013) 

Country	Units	MWe (net)	Construction Start	Grid Connection
China	28	27,790	2008-2013	2013-2017
Russia	9	7,273	1983-2019	2014-2019
India	7	4,824	2002-2011	2013-2016
South Korea	5	6,320	2008-2013	2013-2017
USA	3	3,399	1972-2013	2015-2017
Pakistan	2	630	2011	2016-2017
Slovakia	2	880	1985	2014-2015
Taiwan	2	2,600	1999	2014-2015
UAE	2	2,690	2012-2013	2017-2018
Ukraine	2	1,900	1986-1987	2015-2016
Argentina	1	692	1981	2013
Brazil	1	1,245	2010	2016
Finland	1	1,600	2005	2016
France	1	1,600	2007	2016
Total	66	63,443	1972-2013	2013-2019

Source : IAEA-PRIS, MSC, 2013

4. All 34 reactors that started up over the past decade are located in Asia (China, India, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea), Eastern Europe (Romania, Russia, Ukraine) or the Middle East (Iran). Not a single unit was started up in the Western world during that period. With 11 units China, started up the largest fleet, followed by India (6), and South Korea (5).

5. China has been by far the largest investor in renewable energies in 2012 with over $65 billion. Some big players reduced expenditures significantly over the previous year, including the U.S., Germany, Italy and India. On the other hand, some countries had very large growth rates. South Africa boosted spendings by a factor of two hundred to $5.5 billion, while Japan increased investements by three quarters

Renewable Energy Investment in Top 10 Countries 2011-2012 (in billion US$) 

Country	2012	2011
China	65.1	54.1
United States	35.6	56.8
Germany	22.8	31.3
Rest of EU*	16.3	17.7
Japan	16.3	9.3
Italy	14.7	30.1
U.K.	8.3	10.0
India	6.9	10.2
South Africa	5.5	0.03
Brazil	5.3	7.8

Note: *Rest of EU is including all of the EU countries besides Germany, Italy and the U.K.

 

6. In India, too, modern renewable energy sources (wind, solar, biomass) generated 51.2 TWh during the fiscal year 2011-2012 , about 5.5% of the total electricity generated in the country, as compared to nuclear power that generated 3.5% of the total.  Preliminary estimates for 2012-13 are 6.4% of the total from renewable energy and 3.7% from nuclear energy.

7. India operates 20 nuclear power reactors with a total capacity of 4.4 GW; the majority of these have a capacity of 220 MW per unit. In 2012, nuclear power provided a record 29.6 TWh that covered just 3.6 percent of India's electricity, slightly below the record level of 3.7 percent already achieved in 2001/02 when nuclear generation was only around 17 TWh.

8. India lists seven units as under construction with a total of 4.8 GW. Most currently operating reactors experienced construction delays, and operational targets have rarely been achieved. India's lifetime nuclear load factor is only 59.3 percent as of the end of 2012, the lowest of any country operating more than two units.

9.  India's 1974 nuclear weapons test triggered the end of most official foreign nuclear cooperation, including invaluable Canadian assistance. The nuclear weapons tests in 1998 came as a shock to the international community and triggered a new phase of instability in the region, including a subsequent nuclear test series by Pakistan. Various (and different) international sanctions were imposed on the two countries.

This state of affairs started to change under U.S. Bush administration's announcement in 2005 of what became known as the U.S.-India deal. Following intense lobbying by the United States, supported by France and Russia, the IAEA approved a "safeguards agreement" with India in August 2008, and on 6 September 2008 the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a 45-country group regulating international commerce to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, granted an exception to its own rules. Thus, although India is a non-signatory of the NPT, has developed and maintains a nuclear weapons program, and refuses full-scope safeguards, [433] it is still permitted to receive nuclear assistance and to carry out nuclear commerce with other nations. The reasons for this deviation from the previous nonproliferation consensus appear to be geopolitical and commercial. France has abstained from any criticism of India's nuclear weapons program and has strongly encouraged the NSG to grant India access to international cooperation.

Nuclear Power in India: Planning, Projection or Fantasy?

Indian Forecasting	Capacity "planned"	Capacity installed	Share realized
in 1984 for 2000	10 GW	2.7 GW  in ca. 15 years	27%
in 2005 for 2012	11 GW	4.8 GW  in ca. 30 years	43%
in 2012 for 2017	10 GW	10 GW max  in ca. 35 years	?
in 2012 for 2023	27 GW	+12.7 GW  in ca. 10 years?	?
in 2012 for 2032	63 GW	+58 GW  in ca. 20 years?	?
in 2009 for 2050	470 GW	x 100  in 40 years?	?

© Mycle Schneider Consulting
Sources: various, assembled by MSC

10. India added 2.3 GW of wind turbines in 2012 (the fourth largest addition in the world) and now has an installed capacity of wind power of 18.4 GW, compared to 4.8 GW of nuclear capacity with the contribution of the wind sector to electricity supply having overtaken that of nuclear power in 2012.

 

For more details pls see  World Nuclear Report 2013 http://www.worldnuclearreport.org/World-Nuclear-Report-2013.html