The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. Photo: Wikimedia Commons It is heartening to see indigenously developed pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) finally getting into the mainstream of India’s energy push towards a net-zero compliant Viksit Bharat . The 100 GWe (gigawatt electric) nuclear energy mission launched by the Government is to be realised by 2047. The high rate of capacity addition necessary for such a deployment would need a credible implementation framework as well as standardised technologies that are mature and commercially competitive. PHWRs are a fit case for the purpose. The attendant steep increase in uranium imports is, however, a matter of concern. Given the current uranium demand-supply mismatch, expected rise in uranium demand consequent to global nuclear generation growing three to four times as is being projected, and complexities of nuclear-related geopolitics, nuclear fuel supply security could be at risk in about 10-15 years.…