M.R. Srinivasan 123 agreement specifically recognises the continuing existence of India's strategic programme. Abdul Kalam, former President of India, spoke recently at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai. For the first time, he openly endorsed India entering into civil nuclear energy cooperation with the United States of America and other advanced countries. In his earlier statements, he had emphasised the importance of developing thorium as a source of energy production in view of its relative abundance in India. From the time of Homi Bhabha, the long-term importance of t horium has been well recognised. But what some of the nuclear experts who have suggested that we should shun the uranium option and work solely on the thorium option have overlooked is this basic fact. An adequate programme of first generation nuclear reactors using natural or enriched uranium is an inescapable technological necessity if we are to produce plutonium in adequate quantities to launch a substantial programme of thorium utilisation. The presently known resources of uranium can support only a programme of 10,000 mw of first generation reactors (of the heavy water type, that is, PHWR). In the projections made in the 1980s, India was expected to have installed by 2000 all of this 10,000 mw. The reality however is that we have around 4000 mw in operation. This results in a slow build-up of a plutonium inventory to achieve a significant fast reactor capacity. We should also bear in mind that the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) will only enter into service in 2012 or thereabouts. Our first thorium-uranium-233 system is likely to go into service not earlier than 2015. Under these circumstances, it is misleading to chart out a