Govt. exploring opportunities to set up nuclear power plants in U'khand, Punjab and Haryana, says Dr Jitendra Singh

New Delhi [India], Sep 28 (ANI): The government is exploring possibilities of establishing nuclear power plants in northern states of Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana, union Minister for Atomic Energy, Dr Jitendra Singh said at an ASSOCHAM event. "The present government can stake claim of having set up an atomic energy plant in Gorakhpur in Haryana, so we have brought atomic energy northwards which it had been waiting for 60-70 years and we made it to cross through Delhi because atomic energy never had the opportunity to see the capital of this country," said Dr Singh while inaugurating an ASSOCHAM conference on nuclear power in India. He said that atomic energy remained confined only to Maharashtra, the western coast, Tamil Nadu, parts of Andhra Pradesh. So now we are exploring the possibilities of having such establishments in other possible places for example, near Dehradun in Uttarakhand, in Punjab near Patiala and in Bhiwandi in Haryana are being explored as venues for atomic plants. Highlighting the cost-effective aspect of nuclear energy, he said "The nuclear power plant being set up in Haryana will become operational by about next year at the cost of just Rs. six per unit." "Atomic energy had remained confined to certain parts of the country, in Tarapur for obvious reasons because Dr Bhabha had set up his first establishment in Mumbai then we had south but we hardly had any presence in north India," he said. He also said that the government had diversified nuclear energy and got it into a huge way in academics through Bhabha National Institute. "The Bhabha National Institute has got into an understanding with Tata Atomic Institute in Mumbai and we are now helping it to award degrees in cancer," said the Minister. He also said that within a period of next ten years India will have at least 25 percent source of energy from nuclear sector. "That is going to be a remarkable achievement because energy needs of the country are growing very fast and it is going to be cost-effective." "The challenge would be to how best to put it (nuclear energy) to use," said Dr Singh. He also said that the government was using space technology to safeguard the thorium which will come to be utilized very soon in the years to come when India will have new sets of nuclear reactors. "While we will have this advantage of being the part of the Department of Atomic Energy which was perhaps not so visible earlier, we will also have the challenge and responsibility about how best to use this increasing availability of energy with wider application and how to safeguard the pilferage of the energy as well as the energy source by way of pilferage," said the minister. He also said that Dr Homi J. Bhabha had a vision to establish a nuclear centre and also to declare to the world that it would be devoted to the peaceful purposes at a time when peaceful purposes of nuclear energy were hardly known and it was only known as a creator of atomic bomb. (ANI)