Resurgence of Nuclear Power : Challenges and Opportunities for Asia

This book focuses on the issue of ‘resurgence of nuclear power’ and discusses the feasibility of nuclear in the energy mix of Asian economies. It discusses nuclear energy sector in detail in the context of India, a country where currently overseas supply of hydrocarbon fuels plays a major role in meeting the domestic energy needs. The book presents an in-depth analysis of nuclear energy policy as well as regional and global politics surrounding the nuclear industry, and the relevance of nuclear energy from the low-carbon energy perspective. To do so, it explores three different perspectives.

To start with, the resurgence of nuclear power is discussed from a global energy perspective to understand whether and how it has been increasingly gaining policy attention among Asian economies. Secondly, it highlights the role of nuclear power in Asia and examines how the collaboration with the global nuclear sector is influencing that role. While the epicentre of nuclear power growth can be seen shifting to the Global East, there is a growing need for strengthening the industry, its legal and regulatory infrastructure and knowledge management. The third perspective focuses on the challenges and opportunities for the nuclear power industry and explores, to what extent the public perception is in favor of nuclear sector in the region. The perceived risks of nuclear power, public perception related to legal and regulatory issues, and concerns regarding land acquisition for nuclear facilities are also discussed. The book contains contributions from specialists in the global energy and nuclear sector, and examines some of the most sought-after topics related to the energy policy studies, especially in the Asian context.

Nandakumar Janardhanan teaches in the Energy Studies Programme of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India. He specializes in energy and climate policy. The areas of his work include nuclear power, energy security and geopolitics, climate policy, low carbon development and renewable energy. He has worked with several policy think tanks and research organizations of international repute. Dr. Janardhanan was a Fellow with the ‘Climate CoLab’ of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2014–2015) and one of the lecturing staff for the Nuclear Energy training conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (2011–2014). He has been associated with the Institute of Chinese Studies (India) as Adjunct Fellow, as Member of Teaching and Advisory team at Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance of the University of Strathclyde (Scotland) and as Fellow with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (Japan). 

Girijesh Pant is former Dean,School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India. After receiving his PhD from the JNU, he began his career with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), New Delhi. He then joined the JNU and taught for more than three decades. He was Vice Chancellor of the Doon University, Dehradun, India and GGD University. His areas of research interest include political economy of development, West Asian economies, international energy affairs and India’s energy security. He has been a senior Fulbright Visiting Fellow at the University of Illinois and has written extensively and travelled widely. He has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Centre for Southeast Asian and Pacific Studies, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, India. He has been associated with the UGC Area studies programme, Indian Council of World Affairs, Indian Academy of Social Science and many non-governmental organizations (NGOs). 

Ravi B.Grover occupies Homi Bhabha Chair instituted by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and is a member of the Atomic Energy Commission. He studied mechanical engineering at the Delhi College of Engineering, nuclear engineering at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and received a PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

He has been working in the DAE for about four and a half decades and was the Principal Adviser during October 2010 to February 2013. As a nuclear engineer in BARC, key contributions made by him include thermal hydraulic analysis of the fuel and the core of a research reactor, process design of primary systems and equipments for a compact reactor, and studies related to growth in electricity requirements in India.

He conceptualized the setting up of the Homi Bhabha National Institute, which he subsequently led for eleven years, as a university-level institute and concurrent with other responsibilities. He participated in negotiations with other countries and international agencies leading to the opening of international civil nuclear trade with India.

He is a fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering and the World Academy of Art and Science. For his outstanding contributions, he was conferred with a Padma Shri in 2014 by Government of India.