Nuclear Energy for UPSC
Three Stage Programme
A Long-Term Vision for Energy
In the 1950s, India faced a critical energy dilemma. The nation needed a reliable power source for its development, but it had very limited domestic reserves of uranium, the standard fuel for nuclear reactors. However, it possessed some of the world's largest deposits of thorium, found in the monazite sands along its southern coasts. This resource imbalance shaped the country's entire nuclear strategy.
India’s three-stage nuclear power programme was formulated by Homi Bhabha in the 1950s to secure the country’s long term energy independence, through the use of uranium and thorium reserves found in the monazite sands of coastal regions of South India.