India wants more nuclear power, has pledged over $2 billion toward research and will change laws to boost investment to do it.
The pledges were made by India's finance minister earlier this month as part of a plan to expand electricity generation and reduce emissions. Nuclear power is a way to make electricity that doesn't emit planet-warming gases, although it does create radioactive waste. India is one of the world’s biggest emitters of planet-heating gases and over 75% of its power is still generated by burning fossil fuels, mostly coal. India wants to install 100 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2047 — enough to power nearly 60 million Indian homes a year.
Energy experts say that for the world to move away from carbon-polluting fuels like coal, oil and gas, sources like nuclear that don't rely on the sun and the wind — which aren't always available — are needed. But some are skeptical about India's ambitions as the country's nuclear sector is still very small, and negative public perceptions about the industry remain.
To grow the sector, Shayak Sengupta, a senior research associate at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, said the new Trump administration's desire to reconfigure trade could be beneficial. India's nuclear growth plan provides “ample opportunity” for U.S. exports, as the nuclear power sector there is much more mature, and companies are working on developments in the technology, like smaller and cheaper nuclear reactors. India is also investing in small reactors.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s is set to meet President Trump on Wednesday. The pair are expected to discuss nuclear power, among other topics, according to India's oil minister.
Nuclear power is around three times as expensive as solar energy in India and can take up to six years to install as opposed to similar amounts of solar that usually take less than a year. Newer small modular reactors are cheaper and faster to build, but they also make less electricity.
India has managed to double the amount of nuclear power installed in the country in the last decade, but it still makes up just 3% of its electricity.
Still, “the first challenge remains convincing the public to let the projects get deployed in their vicinity,” said Ruchita Shah, an energy analyst at the climate think-tank, Ember. Local communities have protested at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in southern India and at proposed nuclear sites in the western state of Maharashtra in the last decade, citing security and environmental concerns.
But for investors and governments, “the level of interest (in nuclear power) now is the highest it's been since the oil crises in the 1970s,” said Brent Wanner, head of the power sector unit at the International Energy Agency. That's because it's reliable and clean, he said.
The IEA found that 63 nuclear reactors are currently under construction globally, the most since 1990.
Wanner said governments are critical in getting nuclear power projects underway and India's plan “very positive” for the nuclear industry.
Even with its eye on nuclear, India shouldn't forget about other sources of energy that don't emit greenhouse gases, said Madhura Joshi, from the climate think tank E3G.
“Solar, other renewables and storage can come up much faster and quicker," Joshi said, delivering “the immediate solutions that are needed.”