India's nuclear energy industry is poised for a major expansion which would provide huge opportunities for the global nuclear industry, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday. India's nuclear programme had the potential of yielding 470,000 megawatts of power by 2050, Singh told an international conference on nuclear energy in Delhi.
Currently, India produces 4,120 megawatts of nuclear power which meets just about 4 percent of the ever-increasing energy needs of the fast-growing economy, with the rest met largely by fossil fuels. The nuclear energy programme would be a major contribution to global efforts to combat climate change as it would reduce the country's dependence on fossil fuels, Singh added.
India imports 70 percent of its oil requirements and Singh has been consistently pressing for expansion in use of nuclear and solar energy. Its nuclear energy programme was long hampered by an international ban on nuclear trade with the country after it tested a series of nuclear weapons in 1978. The ban was lifted in 2008 after India signed a landmark civilian nuclear agreement with the United States.
The Nuclear Suppliers Group and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) changed their rules to make an exception for India, which is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. India, which is under pressure to sign the treaty, is committed to the complete elimination of nuclear weapons and proud of its non-proliferation record, Singh said.
"We are committed to a voluntary, unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing," he said, noting that the treaty has not stopped the spread of nuclear weapons. "Its deficiencies, in fact, have had an adverse impact on our security. "Global non-proliferation, to be successful, should be universal, comprehensive and non-discriminatory and linked to the goal of complete nuclear disarmament." States with substantial nuclear arsenals should take meaningful steps on nuclear disarmament, Singh added.
IAEA chief Mohamed El-Baradei, who is attending the Delhi conference, said there was increasing global recognition that nuclear weapons were a threat to all and there was broad momentum for their complete abolition. He said it was encouraging that Russia and the US were negotiating significant cuts in their nuclear arsenals. Singh also said the spectre of nuclear terrorism was a formidable challenge facing the global community and welcomed US President Barak Obama's initiative to convene a global summit on nuclear security in 2010.
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