India coal

(Reuters) -Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's group will build and operate a $3 billion coal-fired power plant in Bihar state with a 2.4-gigawatt capacity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is targeting increasing the country's coal-based capacity by 80 GW, or more than a third, by 2032 to more than 290 GW, saying it was necessary to ensure reliable, round-the-clock power. One GW is the power of a large nuclear power plant. India like most countries has large coal reserves and they plan to use them. Their reasoning is sound. The West, including the US, use coal to develop their industries throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and now it is India’s turn. If the US would start building small nuclear reactors (SMR’s) on an assembly line basis these could be sold to India and they would not have to rely so much on coal. China already has plans underway to produce and sell SMR’s around the world. Several private companies in the US are in the process of installing SMR’s to power their data centers. The US government is helping by reducing the regulations on nuclear power. More and more scientists are coming around to the understanding that nuclear power is the future.