• 100 MW nuclear reactors proposed for Hambantota, Colombo, Trincomalee
• Rosatom proposal forwarded to AG’s Department by Atomic Energy Authority
• Renewable energy experts, environmentalists express concerns over new plan
• Board has not convened for months, next meeting on 10 April: Padmasiri

The Government is evaluating the possibility of installing three 100 MW small mobile nuclear reactors in Hambantota, Colombo, and Trincomalee as a solution to the longstanding power crisis in the country, with a proposal from Russian energy giant Rosatom now before the Attorney General’s (AG) Department for evaluation, The Sunday Morning learns.

Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rosatom – a Russian State-owned corporation specialising in nuclear energy – last December, the Government is now considering launching a pilot project that will generate 300 MW of nuclear energy. Sri Lanka has also sought technical assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the matter during the last decade.

The MoU was signed between Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Levan Dzhagaryan and Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera.

Rosatom is a global actor in the world’s nuclear technology market. It incorporates companies from all stages of the technological chain, such as uranium mining and enrichment, nuclear fuel fabrication, equipment manufacture and engineering, operation of nuclear power plants, and management of spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste.

It is reliably learnt that the Russian company has already submitted the proposal, which has now been forwarded by the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Authority (SLAEA) to the Attorney General’s Department for its concurrence.

A source close to the subject told The Sunday Morning that although the Government was considering the installation of nuclear reactors in Hambantota, Colombo, and Trincomalee, the locations were yet to be finalised. It is understood that the three destinations were considered based on an evaluation of the current energy shortage, demand mapping, and accessibility.

Nuclear power progress in SL

According to the Ceylon Electricity Board’s (CEB) Long Term Generation Expansion Plan (LTGEP), nuclear power is listed to be considered and explored as an alternative thermal generation option to avoid excessive dependence on other imported fossil fuels for the power sector in Sri Lanka.

Cabinet approval was received on 8 September 2010 to consider nuclear power as an option to meet the future energy demand and also to consider nuclear power in the generation planning exercise and to carry out a pre-feasibility study on it.

Accordingly, the Government had requested and subsequently received IAEA assistance through the technical cooperation programmes as follows: 

• IAEA TC Project SRL/2/008 (2012/2013 period): Supporting energy planning and pre-feasibility study for nuclear power and human resources development in nuclear power engineering 
• IAEA TC Project SRL/2/010 (2018/2020 period): Establishing a roadmap for nuclear power programme in Sri Lanka 

Under the purview of Ministry of Power, the CEB, Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Board (SLAEB), and Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Regulatory Council (SLAERC) contributed as the leading institutions for the project of ‘Establishing a Roadmap for the Nuclear Power Programme in Sri Lanka’. The project’s objective was to provide a strong technological, financial, environmental, and social understanding for policymakers to take firm decisions on nuclear power development in Sri Lanka.

The Project Management Unit to ‘Study the Nuclear Power Option in Sri Lanka’ under the Ministry of Power acted as the Nuclear Energy Programme Implementing Organisation (NEPIO). The main task of the project was to prepare a comprehensive report addressing the 19 milestones, according to Phase 1 of the IAEA milestones approach.

IAEA assistance was obtained on nine major areas to prepare the comprehensive report covering the 19 milestones for nuclear power development.

From the LTGEP perspective, accommodating a relatively large nuclear power unit for the Sri Lankan grid is the most significant technical challenge, as capacity of the proven and widely adopted nuclear power plant designs are in the range of 600-1,650 MW.

In future scenarios where the development of cross-border interconnection with India and the planned pumped storage hydro units come into effect, the system’s capability will change in favour of accommodating a larger unit.

SLAEA receives green light from Govt.

SLAEA Director General (DG) Kamal Padmasiri told The Sunday Morning that the Government had given the green light to commence the programme with Russia.

“However, we have a long way until we get there. We have sent an agreement to the Attorney General’s Department for clearance. We are yet to demarcate the places. Russia gave its proposal. The board was not convened in the last few months because of the absence of some of the members,” he said.

Elaborating further, the DG said: “Nuclear is clean energy. There is no effect on the environment but we should take precautionary measures. We have not decided the capacity of the plant we should obtain for Sri Lanka. As a pilot project, we thought of 300 MW. This is still under discussion. We can’t sign an agreement without the AG’s consent. Thereafter we will submit it to the Cabinet.”

Concerns about nuclear energy

Nevertheless, the Government’s attempts were criticised by renewable energy developers, who claim that the country’s landmass is not sufficient to install high-risk nuclear reactors.

During a recent interview with The Sunday Morning, Renewable Energy Council National Chamber Chairman Lakmal Fernando said that the country was already in a debt trap of $ 62 billion and that nuclear energy was of a different magnitude altogether.

“The current discussions are over a 55 MW plant for around $ 1.1-4 billion. Let’s take the lowest value – the CapEx alone will cost consumers 6 cents (USD) per kWh. If it hits the maximum, it will cost around $ 2. This is a 50-year plant. Generally, the implementation cost is way lower than what you have to spend to remove it. 

“Right now, Russia has said they will take it back. They have already defaulted on many international conventions. If they can default on international conventions, what does that mean for us? If, after 50 years, they say that they don’t want the plant and for us to keep it, what will we do?” he questioned.

“Sri Lanka has attempted to do many things that it doesn’t have the capacity to do. Therefore, this has to be stopped at the right time. This is a decision that will affect three future generations. This is the danger zone we are in. It should not be done. If this kind of decision is going to be made, it should be done with a referendum. What right do we have to make this kind of decision? 

“All developed economies are moving away from nuclear energy. At Fukushima, they had all the technologies and barriers. Barge-mounted nuclear power plants are now being discussed. This will affect a massive landmass. We protested when they were planning to establish a nuclear plant somewhere near Sri Lanka and now we are going to have one in Sri Lanka,” he said.

Meanwhile, environmentalists have also raised concerns over the Government’s nuclear plans, claiming that since the country had excess solar energy, it should utilise the available low-risk solar power without focusing on high-risk energy sources such as nuclear energy.

Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) Executive Director Hemantha Withanage said: “This is a threat to the country. There are chances of an accident and in case of an accident, the entire country will face a risk. Therefore, this is not the ideal solution for the country’s ongoing energy crisis. Moreover, we should have sovereignty over energy sources. If we go ahead with Russia, we will be entirely dependent on them for nuclear energy.”