Nuke deal moving satisfactorily: Kakodkar

After becoming operational, the Indo-US civil nuclear deal is moving "satisfactorily" with the government now negotiating with nuclear vendors, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar said on Tuesday.

"The deal is moving satisfactorily. We are talking to the vendors and a lot of preparatory work is going on," he told reporters after delivering the fourth Raja Ramanna Lecture at the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre here.

"In order to start a project, you have to understand the technical and techno-commercial details and the regulatory aspects. You will have to understand the implementation. All these activities are on," Kakodkar said.

Stating that construction of the heavy water reactor (HWR) would begin this year, he said large-scale deployment of thorium would be done later after sufficiently enhancing the capacity of the fast reactor.

Asked whether the Department of Atomic Energy had plans to construct a fourth generation reactor, he said, "The HWR will meet all the objectives of the fourth generation reactor. So it is all there."

Earlier, delivering the Ramanna Lecture on 'Technological Empowerment of India', Kakodkar lamented the absence of initiative in the country to translate scientific research into commercially-viable technology.

Pointing out that in 90 per cent of cases there was a "disconnect" between scientists and technologists, Kakodkar stressed the need for an environment where India could have its own appropriate technology based on indigenous research to make the country technologically empowered.

Admitting that even the Department of Atomic Energy was not using enough indigenous technology, Kakodkar, who is the department secretary, said its success was due to an integrated system that translated nuclear research into commercial and societal value.

"We have been able to achieve what we have because of the heritage of Dr (Homi Jehangir) Bhaba who had a clear idea of how to meet the country's energy requirements. He realised that thorium can address the energy requirement and he chalked out a plan accordingly," Kakodkar said.

He said while maintaining autonomy in its nuclear programme, India had the dual advantage of using its own resources and also new technology like the one that enabled use of thorium in reactors as a substitute for uranium.

"Very few people realise that while thorium is India's necessity today, it will become the world's necessity tomorrow," he said.

Earlier, Kakodkar attended the foundation day celebration of the VECC along with its director Bikash Sinha and West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi.