The Indo-US nuclear deal is yet to materialize but already the Indian nuclear industry is dreaming of the pie in the sky and hoping to do a brisk business once it comes through.

According to a senior official of the Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd (NPCIL), there is enough demand for the Indian reactors abroad and once the deal is struck, it would clear the deck for such exports.

Harsh Kapoor, the site director of Kaiga atomic station in Karnataka, did not reveal the potential customers but said there were enough offers.

He said;

We have received requests from a few countries for building them on turnkey basis.

India still does not have the sanction to export nuclear technology and the industry here is keenly waiting for the outcome of the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Kapoor also gave an idea about the probable export model and said it would not be much different from the existing 220-MW units in Kaiga, where natural uranium is used as fuel and heavy water as moderator.

State-owned NPCIL builds nuclear power plants across India and in Karnataka itself, it has three functional 220-MW power reactors, apart from the fourth nearing completion in Kaiga.

Photo: Zee News