India will Tuesday host a global meet on nuclear energy here that will
offer networking and marketing opportunities for international firms and
agencies, an official said Sunday.
The three-day 4th India
Nuclear Energy Summit (INES-2012) will see participation from all top
players in the nuclear power generation sector, apart from debates and
speeches by leading experts on a variety of issues concerning the
industry.
"Nuclear power generation is a global enterprise and
the Fukushima Daiichi accident in 2011 amply illustrated that it has
international ramifications in the business of making electricity," the
official said.
India, being the world's fastest growing economy
that is home to over a billion people, has made significant strides in
increasing its nuclear power generation capacity over the past few
years.
Ranked sixth globally in terms of nuclear energy after the
US, France, Japan, Russia and South Korea, India hopes to increasing
the contribution of nuclear power to overall electricity generation
capacity from 3.2 percent to 9 percent in 25 years.
It also planned to have a 20,000 MW installed nuclear power generation capacity by 2020.
At
present, there are 439 nuclear reactors in operation around the world
in over 30 countries, meeting 16 percent of the world's electricity
requirements.
In view of the rapid expansion in the Indian
nuclear power sector, the INES-2012 will bring the Indian know-how and
resources together with global nuclear skills and experience to
introduce a new dimension to the upcoming nuclear power projects, the
official said.
Among the issues to be debated at INES-2012
include engineering and construction of nuclear power plants along with
safety and challenges involved.
"It will provide a global
platform to address key issues, offer opportunities and identify
challenges, as the world prepares to move towards competitive efficiency
in the nuclear energy sector," the official noted.
Among the
speakers at INES-2012 will be experts and scientists from the Indian
Department of Atomic Energy (DEA), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC),
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and French Nuclear
Association.
The big names at the event would include Srikanta K.
Panigrahi, Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Strategic
Knowledge Mission; S. Duraisamy, Vice-Chairman of Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board; Srikumar Banerjee, former chairman of Atomic Energy
Commission; Bertrand Constensoux, ALSTOM vice President (Nuclear - India
and Russia Region); and M.V. Kotwal, Larsen and Toubro director and
president (heavy engineering).
Others to speak at the meet are:
G.R. Srinivasan, GMR Energy's nuclear power business advisor; Rajnish
Prakash, Heavy Water Board (HWB) Chairman and Chief Executive; N.
Saibaba, Nuclear Fuel Complex Chief Executive; and K.V. Subramanian,
Tata Consulting Engineers Limited General Manager.
