'Economic growth will need massive energy. Will we allow an accident in Japan, in a 40-year-old reactor at Fukushima, arising out of extreme natural stresses, to derail our dreams to be an economically developed nation?'
Every single atom in the universe carries an unimaginably powerful battery within its heart, called the nucleus. This form of energy, often called Type-1 fuel, is hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of times more powerful than the conventional Type-0 fuels, which are basically dead plants and animals existing in the form of coal, petroleum, natural gas and other forms of fossil fuel. To put things in perspective, imagine a kilometre-long train, with about 50 freight bogies, all fully laden with the most typical fossil fuel — about 10,000 tonnes of coal. The same amount of energy can be generated by 500 kgi of Type-1 fuel, naturally occurring Uranium, enough to barely fill the boot of a small car. When the technology is fully realised, one can do even better with naturally occurring Thorium, in which case the material required would be much less, about 62.5 kg, or even less according to some estimatesii, and thus enough to fit in a small bagiii. (Note: 500 kg of naturally occurring Uranium would contain about 3.5 kg of Uranium-235 fuel.)
Energy and economy
Energy is the most fundamental requirement of every society or nation as it progresses through the ladder of development. Of course, once it reaches a relative degree of development, the energy demand becomes more stable. There is a distinct and categorical correlation between the energy consumption and income of a nation — each reinforcing the other. Look around you: every step into progress comes with an addition of demand for energy — cars, ships and aircraft to move, hospitals to give quality healthcare, education, as it follows the model of e-connectivity, production of more and better goods, irrigation for better farming. In fact, every element of our lives is increasingly going to become energy-intensive — that is a necessary prerequisite for development. This is clearly reflected in the average energy consumption per person across nations — for instance, an average American consumes more than 15 times the energy consumed by an average Indian (see Figure 1)iv
Today, India finds itself going through a phase of rapid ascent in economic empowerment. Industries are evolving at a significantly higher rate since liberalisation. Our focus for this decade will be on the development of key infrastructure and the uplifting of the 600,000 villages where 750 million people live, as vibrant engines of the economy. In 2008, we crossed the trillion-dollar mark, and it took more than six decades for us to reach that milestone. However, it is predicted that the Indian economy will double again, to reach the $2-trillion mark by 2016, and then again redouble, to reach the $4 trillion milestone by 2025v. All this economic growth will need massive energy. It is predicted that the total electricity demand will grow from the current 150,000 MW to at least over 950,000 MW by the year 2030vi — which will still be less than one-fourth of the current U.S. per capita energy need. In fact, by 2050, in all likelihood the demand could go even higher, and the per capita energy demand would be equal to the current French or Russian figure of about 6000 W per capita.
Analysing the international scenario on nuclear energy
So, will we allow an accident in Japan, in a 40-year-old reactor at Fukushima, arising out of extreme natural stresses, to derail our dreams to be an economically developed nation? When a few European countries, particularly Germany, decide to phase out nuclear power, that should not become a blanket argument to take a view against our nuclear programme.
A few things need to be put in context here. The decision of Germany suits its current scenario which goes beyond mere concerns of risk posed by nuclear power. Germany is a developed nation, a power-surplus nation — so it can afford to lose a few plants. More important, Germany has completely exhausted its nuclear resources. Against a total demand of 3,332 tonnes (2006-08)vii it was able to produce only 68 tonnes (Note: This was the production in 2006) of Uranium, and for the deficit it was relying on importsviii. Thus, nuclear energy never fits into its goal of energy independence. India, on the other hand, is the leader of the new resource of nuclear fuel called Thorium, which is considered to be the nuclear fuel of the future.
The Indian population is misled when it is said that some Western nations have ended their nuclear programme, or that Japan is reconsidering nuclear power plant expansion. Study the accompanying Table, which shows what share of energy these advanced nations are generating by means of nuclear power.
The study indicates that most of the prosperous nations are extracting about 30-40 per cent of power from nuclear power and it constitutes a significant part of their clean energy portfolio, reducing the burden of combating climate change and the health hazards associated with pollution. Meanwhile in India, we are not generating even 5000 MW of nuclear power from the total of about 150 GW of electricity generation, most of it coming from coal.
We should be careful not to be carried away by the barrage of anti-nuclear news often being generated by many of the same nations that are enjoying the maximum benefits from it. The economically developed world has a well-trained habit of presenting their success in a distorted context to misguide emerging nations like India, which are a potential challenge to their neo-age proxy-imperial economic subjugation. What is needed for our India, we Indians have to decide.
Hence, we and we alone will decide what is the best needed action for our economic prosperity, based on our context and resource profile. India is blessed with the rare, and very important, nuclear fuel of the future – Thorium. We cannot afford to lose the opportunity to emerge as the energy capital of the world, which coupled with the largest youth power, will be our answer to emerge as the leading economy of the world. India has the potential to be the first nation to realise the dream of a fossil fuel-free nation, which will also relieve the nation of about $100 billion annually which we spend in importing petroleum and coal. Besides the billions spent on importing coal or oil, we are also importing millions of tonnes of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, which are a hazard to the environment and human health. It is noteworthy that in 2010-11, India imported about 82 billion tonnes of coalxii, a large fraction of which was for the thermal power plants. Experts believe that this number will continue to rise exponentially in the times ahead, as shown in Figure 3xiii.
The greenest sources of power are definitely solar and wind. With abundant sunshine and places of high wind velocity, the nation definitely has potential for these forms of energy. But solar and wind power, despite all their advantages, are not stable and are dependent excessively on weather and sunshine conditions. Nuclear power, on the other hand, provides a relatively clean, high-density source of reliable energy with an international presence. Today, there are 29 countries operating 441 nuclear power plants, with a total capacity of about 375 GW(e). The industry now has more than 14,000 reactor-years of experience. Sixty more units, with a total target capacity of 58.6 GW, were under construction. (Note: This is according to data from 2010.)
Much of the destructive power of nuclear accidents is compared against the benchmarks of the atomic bombing of Japan by the U.S. forces during the Second World War. Pictures of mushroom clouds looming over cities, charred buildings, and massive death scenes are awakened to form our opinion of nuclear dangers and disasters. But that is far from the reality. It is poor judgment and a deliberate act of spreading fear to compare a nuclear bomb with a nuclear plant. The bomb is designed to deliver a large amount of energy over a very short period of time, leading to explosions, firestorms and massive heat energy generated to obliterate every object in its path. That is what a bomb is supposed to do!
Civilian nuclear applications in the form of a power plant, on the other hand, are designed to deliver small amounts of energy in a sustainable manner over a far larger time frame. It is designed with systems to control and cool the nuclear reaction. There are safety procedures and back-ups, and even in the event of failures, as in the 2011 disaster, the destructive might will never be even a fraction of what happens in the case of a nuclear bomb.
Nuclear risks
We need to put the Fukushima-Daiichi events in the historic frame of nuclear accidents and analyse them. While there was huge loss to property and disruption of normal life, there was no direct loss of life due to the accident or during the operation in its aftermath to contain it. As a silver lining, the way the accident was handled — compared to the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 — showed how much progress we have achieved in nuclear emergency management over a period of two and half decades. The Fukushima-Daiichi plant was almost five times as big in terms of power generation and, more significantly, contained about nine times the nuclear fuel at the time of the accident. Yet, with better emergency management learnt over the years, the maximum radiation was less than 0.4 per cent of that released during the Chernobyl disaster. So, while the Fukushima-Daiichi accident was unfortunate and needs review, one must also acknowledge the advancement of national and international capabilities to manage nuclear emergencies now.
Another argument which surrounds the nuclear debate is that nuclear accidents and the radiation fallout as the aftermath would not only harm the exposed generation but also continue to impact generations to come. If available facts and scientific inquiry was given more weightage than mere conjectures and comic-bookish imagination, this argument will in all probability be proved a myth. The strongest case of human exposure and destruction due to radiation is, without argument, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings of 1945. These are the only two occasions when nuclear force was intentionally developed and deployed to kill human life. Post the bombing, the U.S. government established the Atomic Bombing Casualty Commission (ABCC) in 1946 to assess the late-effects of radiation among the atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It operated for 30 years until, in 1974, it was reconstituted as a joint venture between the U.S. and Japan under the name of Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF). It is operational even today. The ABCC and the RERF have extensively studied the long-term impact of radiation and nuclear disaster across generations for over six decades now, and the findings throw light on the possible effects of radiation. Its report says that chronic (sustained) exposure of about 100 millisieverts (mSv, which is the international unit to measure radiation), increases cancer risk by 0.5 per cent to 0.7 per cent. Notably, the areas in close proximity of Fukushima had a peak exposure of 800 mSvxiv.
Of course, there is some correlation between radiation exposure and cancer risk, which must be acknowledged. But the notable aspect is that, contrary to popular belief, the findings clearly state that the effect of such exposure is limited only to the exposed generation. To quote the report, “Our studies have not found thus far any inherited genetic effects from parental radiation exposure among the children of A-bomb survivors.”xv (Note: A-bomb stands for the atom bomb. Two atomic bombs were dropped by the U.S. on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, as part of the Second World War.) Thus, while radiation due to a nuclear disaster is dangerous, it would amount to wrong propaganda to state that nuclear disasters will affect generations to come. Of course, the technology has been advancing over the decades and the human capability to contain nuclear disasters has definitely advanced.
There is no doubt that nuclear power is superior along three dimensions, namely, energy density, effect on improved quality of living, and the economic benefits. Now let us look at the key challenges which pertain to the sector, especially in the wake of the recent natural disaster impacting the Daiichi plant in Fukushima. Two concerns are prominent here. The first is that of safety against the plant's disaster, and the second relates to the environmental impact and the nuclear waste which the plant generates.
Let us consider the second issue first.
Opportunity cost of nuclear energy
a) Abstinence from nuclear power is an incomplete response without the logical alternative. If we look at the complete picture of alternative measures, we will have to endorse the fact that our current and future energy demands have to be met. In economics, there is a concept called “opportunity cost,” which refers to the cost incurred when one chooses the next alternative. So what happens if we pronounce a total ban on nuclear energy generation? Some part of the future need, although only a small fraction, would come from solar and wind sources, with great unpredictability as pointed out earlier. A part would be offset by hydro-power too. But in all probability we will continue to increase our reliance on fossil-based fuel power generation methods, at least in the near and mid-term future. And that is where the problem lies.
Every year, human activities are adding about 30 billion tonnes of CO2 xvi into the atmosphere. The IPCC estimates that 26 per cent of this emission (about 7.6 billion tonnes) is a direct consequence of electricity generation requirements. This is not really air pollution but it adds to the risk of climate change, which is exhibited in changing rainfall patterns, sea levels and temperatures, leading to food shortages, malnutrition, and disease alterations. The WHO estimates that about 1.3 million peoplexvii lose their lives as a result of urban outdoor air pollution alone, and about 140,000 are causalities to adaptation challenges of climate changexviii. (Note: Additionally, about two million lives are lost due to indoor pollution, the primary victims being women, and children under the age of five.) Thus, the pollution caused by power generation activities, and the climate change associated with them, are directly or indirectly responsible for about 481,000 deaths every year. Comparatively, in the case of the worst civilian nuclear disaster ever at Chernobyl, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic radiation (UNSCEAR) predicted up to 4,000 cancerxix cases (often curable) due to the accident, besides 57 direct causalities. Unclean fossil energy is definitely not sustainable in the future. Moreover, fossil-based fuels are fast depleting, and their scarcity is inspiring geopolitical instabilities around the world.
Furthermore, it is believed that the changing climate patterns will carry a costly adaptation price tag in the future — an enormous $300 billion every year, which will be a huge drain on the global GDPxx. All these issues can be addressed only when we graduate from Type-0 fuels to the next-generation fuels — the most prominent amongst them being nuclear fuels, which will also power our deep space missions of the future. A standard approximate comparison between a 1000-MW coal plant and a similar nuclear plant is given in Table 6.
Safety issues of nuclear power
b) Now, let us delve more into the other issue — that of plant safety. Throughout the history of nuclear power generation there have been four major incidents of plant failure — the Kyshtym accident in fuel reprocessing in 1957, the relatively smaller Three Mile Island meltdown (United States), the much bigger Chernobyl accident (USSR, 1986) and the recent Japanese incident at Fukushima. The first accident was purely due to underdeveloped technology, and much of the blame for the next two disasters is attributed to human error. Even in the case of the Fukushima disaster of 2011, there were extraordinary natural forces in action — the rare occurrence of the tremendous stress load of an earthquake coupled with the unprecedented shear load of a tsunami. Of course, there is a need for better technology and more stable plant design across the world, but the occurrence of four failures in six decades cannot be made out as a case for completely disbanding the technology — which is one of our foremost keys to graduating beyond the fossil fuel-based low-end energy. The best of technological progress, while being the biggest ally of mankind, does come at an incremental risk. The key is to learn and evolve to mitigate the risk, rather than use the first incident as an excuse to disband science.
Let us take a few examples. In 1903, the Wright brothers translated into reality the remarkable dream of controlled human flight. Not more than half a decade later, in 1908, the first flight disaster occurred, which severely injured Orville Wright and killed his co-passenger. Many accidents followed, and even today air accidents kill more than 1,500 people every year. Imagine whether we would be flying between distant cities, across oceans and continents, if the incident of 1908, or the ones later, were used as a reason to disband human flight? When the mighty ship Titanic set sail in 1912, it was heralded as the pioneering mission in the field of large and comfortable ocean liners. But on its first voyage it struck an iceberg and sank, killing more than 1,500 people, more than two-thirds of those on board. But that never stopped our quest for bigger and faster means of ocean travel. The very first attempt to send man to the moon, Apollo-1, met with an accident and killed three prominent astronauts. It took another 10 missions, with mixed results, before Apollo-11 finally made it to the moon in 1969, with Neil Armstrong setting foot on the lunar surface and declaring to the world those never-to-be-forgotten words: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Indeed, that small step was preceded by many a stumble.
The Indian space programme, which is now ranked among the best in the world, started with a failure in 1979 when our first rocket, instead of putting the satellite into a near-earth orbit, went into the Bay of Bengal. I was the Mission Director of the launch, and we were accused of putting a few crores of rupees into the sea. We did not wind up our dreams with that one accident and the criticism. The mission continued and the next year we were successful. Today, that programme, which started with a failure, is the first and only one to discover the presence of water on the moon with its Chandrayan mission, and is now a pride of the nation. The argument is, of course, that all failures and accidents propel us to think and develop better and safer technologies towards better service. And in the case of nuclear power, we do acknowledge that the effects of radiation can reach a wider impact zone. But then, improvement, and not escapism, should be our step forward.
Nuclear fuel of the future: Thorium
Let us introduce a lesser-known member among radioactive materials — Thorium. It is perhaps the best solution possible in the future and would be technologically and commercially the best option in another two decades. Thorium, the 90th element in the Periodic Table, is slightly lighter than Uranium. Thorium is far more abundant, by about four timesxxvi, than the traditional nuclear fuel, Uranium, and occurs in a far purer form, too. It is believed that the amount of energy contained in the Thorium reserves on earth is more than the combined total energy that is left in petroleum, coal, other fossil fuels and Uranium, all put together. And information revealed in an IAEA Report (2005) on Thorium fuels indicates that India might have the largest reserves of Thorium in the world, with over 650,000 tonnes. (Note: The IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is the world's centre of cooperation in the nuclear field. It was set up in 1957 as the world's ‘Atoms for Peace' organisation within the U.N. family.) This is more than one-fourth of the total deposits of Thorium; in comparison, we have barely 1 per cent of the world's Uranium deposits, which is currently being put to effective use, our having opted for the closed fuel cycle technology. Thorium has many other advantages. It is estimated that Thorium may be able to generate (through Uranium-233 that could be produced from it) eight times the amount of energy per unit mass compared to (natural) Uraniumxxvii. In the much debated issue of waste generation also, Thorium has a relative advantage. It produces waste that is relatively less toxic due to the absence of minor actinides (that are associated with Uranium).
At the same time, it is acknowledged that the long-lived high-level waste from Uranium, especially in light of the Indian strategy of adopting the closed fuel cycle involving reprocessing for the recovery of Plutonium and Uranium, can be effectively managed using technologies available today. Indian nuclear experts tell us that the relatively small volumes of such waste (long-term storage space of less than a quarter of the size of a football field is adequate for the estimated waste from a 1000 MWe plant) can be safely stored after vitrification for hundreds of years without causing any risk to the environment or the people.
One question that crops up is, why then has Uranium rather than Thorium become the popular choice for nuclear energy programmes across the world? There are two reasons: one is technological and the other is historical.
The technological reason stems from the simple fact that at first one needs to produce Uranium-233 from Thorium, and for this, reactors based on the naturally available nuclear fuel material, Uranium-235, are required. In addition, the recovery of Uranium-233 by large-scale reprocessing of irradiated thorium, as well as the likely presence of hard gamma emitting Uranium-232, pose certain practical hurdles. But according to experts, all these can be overcome technologically.
The second and the historical reason why Thorium has lagged behind in the ladder of development, comes from its advantage of being able to provide Thorium-based fuel, as seen from the context of the relatively unstable geopolitical conditions — which is that Thorium cannot be weaponised. Unlike Uranium, which is always on a tight-rope walk between being a power source and finding destructive applications, Thorium bombs just cannot be made. Here history steps in. It must be remembered that much of the current civil nuclear applications are direct offshoots of the military nuclear technologies of the Cold War period. So, the first significant outcome of nuclear technology was the Manhattan Project during the Second World War, which ultimately culminated in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing of 1945 by the U.S.
A nuclear weapon is different from a nuclear plant, as in the former there is no need to control or slow down the reactions that lead to a catastrophic energy release in a short time interval — which is the essence of a bomb. However, a nuclear plant needs moderation of the reaction to sustain a steady but controlled release of energy. It was only by the end of 1951 that some noteworthy work was done in controlled nuclear power generation at the EBR-1 experiment in Idaho to produce 100 KW of nuclear power. This “weapon first” approach to nuclear technology led to the fact that there was little focus on developing methods to energise from Thorium, which is non-weaponisable, and a larger focus on Uranium, which can be weaponised.
But now, being the largest owner of Thorium, and also being amongst the nations which will see the highest surge in power demand with its growth, the opportunity is for India to pursue its existing nuclear programme with a special focus on research and development on the Thorium route as the long term sustainable option, which we are already undertaking. For this purpose, it is imperative to continue to implement the current Indian plan of making use of the uranium and plutonium-based fuel cycle technologies as well as irradiate larger amounts of Thorium in fast reactors to breed Uranium-233 fuel as it graduates to the Thorium-based plants. It is noteworthy that the Indian plan for an advanced heavy water reactor (AHWR) is an important step to launch early commencement of Thorium utilisation in India, while considerable further efforts to use Thorium in both thermal and fast reactors would be essential to harness sustainable energy from Thorium-generated Uranium-233.
Various technologies for Thorium-based plants are already being developed and deployed on a test basis across the world including in India, which have a promising future. These include first breeding it to fissile Uranium-233 isotope in the conventional reactors or through the revived interest in technologies like the Molten Salt Reactors (MSR) which use salts to trap the fissile material and do not react with air or burn in air or water. In this technology, the operational pressure is near the ordinary atmospheric pressure, and hence the cost of construction is low and there is no risk of a pressure explosionxxviii.
A significantly large quantity of highly active nuclear material exists, and will continue to exist in the form of nuclear armaments — which was the mother programme of the nuclear energy programme. In 2010, there were about 22,000 nuclear warheads spanning at least nine countries of the world, and 8,000xxix of them are in active state, carrying a risk far greater than controlled nuclear power reactors. If the argument of risk is to be used to eliminate the peaceful energy generation programme, then the nuclear opposition factions must first direct their efforts at Washington and Moscow, the owners of 90 per cent of the world's nuclear warheads, to disband their nuclear arsenal — which is, by design, intended to be hostile. Would that happen? Unlikely, at least in the foreseeable future. Our aim should be to minimise the risks associated with nuclear power.
The power of the nucleus is mighty and the future of humanity lies in harnessing it in a safe and efficient manner. In the years to come, it will fuel not only our earth-based needs but also our space missions and perhaps even our civilisation's reach to other planets for habitation. Our current nuclear projects will expand into better and safer materials, like Thorium, and later on, into better reactions like fusion, which once completely developed, will be able to generate hundreds of times more of power than current fission methods. Affordable, clean and abundant energy provided by nuclear sources is our gateway to a future that is healthy, learned and connected — a future that will span deep into space and crosses the boundaries of current human imagination.
Coalfields and burning earth
The Jharia coalfields in Jharkhand constitute the richest coal-bearing area in the country: they contain large quantities of high-grade coking coal. But the presence of this natural resource has been a curse for the local tribal villagers. The Jharia area also has a large number of ongoing mine fires, which have a history of more than a century and have been causing great loss to life and property.
I am reminded of an incident that happened when I was President of India. I was travelling from Sindri to Dhanbad. Hundreds of villagers rushed to my car. We immediately stopped and listened to them. They narrated the heating and spot-fire which regularly take place near their houses. A major challenge to the mining community is that of tackling fires, which have engulfed large and densely populated coal-bearing areas. I and my team visited their houses, where we discovered intense, unbearable heat, emanating not from the skies but the ground below. Occasionally, jets of flames would spurt out from the ground, scorching the earth.
The entire area has been destroyed by the mining activity and rendered uninhabitable for humans or any other life form. Sadly, it can never be restored, at least not for the next million years. Much of the coal mined today is used for electricity generation across the world, and there are many more Jharias being created across the rural and forest lands of earth. These will continue to swell in numbers and size — unless we find sustainable alternative fuel sources to replace fossil fuels.
Pollution, outdoor and indoor
Urban Outdoor Pollution (UOP): It refers to the air pollution experienced by people living in and around urban areas, generally in open space, for example, roads.
Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) refers to pollutants found indoors, generally due to inefficient fuel consumption, chemical pollution to building material, and so on. UOP contributes to IAP. Nearly two million lives are lost due to Indoor Air Pollution, the most common victims being women, and children under the age 5.
Endnotes
i http://www.world-nuclear.org/education/whyu.htm
ii Thorium as a Secure Nuclear Fuel Alternative, A Canon Bryan, 23-April-2009, Journal of Energy Security (available at http://www.ensec.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id= 187:thorium-as-a-secure-nuclear-fuel-alternative&catid= 94:0409content&Itemid=342)
iii Steve Kirsch, The Most Important Investment that We Aren’t Making to Mitigate the Climate Crisis, 26.12.2009 Huff Post Green, (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-kirsch/the-most-important-invest_b_402685.html)
iv Data from World Resources Institute (for 2003)
v India and China, Raghav Behal
vi India envisages about 950,000 MW power requirement by 2030, http://bit.ly/vTv5Qx
vii “World Nuclear Power Reactors 2006-08 and Uranium Requirements.” World Nuclear Association. 2008-01-14.
viii “World Uranium Production U3O8/ million lbs.” Ux Consulting Company, LLC
ix World Nuclear Power Reactors & Uranium Requirements, World Nuclear Association (21 October 2011) (available at http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/reactors.html) Data is for 2010
x Nuclear Power Plant Information, IAEA PRIS (2010), available at http://www.iaea.org/cgi-bin/db.page.pl/pris.nucshare.htm
xi International Monetary Fund, 2010
xii India 2011/12 coal import needs may jump to 114 mln T, Reuters, September 27, 2011
xiii Rise of the Coal Bill, RN Bhaskar, Forbes India Magazine (April 2010)
xiv Matters elucidated thus far by RERF studies, http://www.rerf.or.jp/rerfrad_e.pdf
xv Matters elucidated thus far by RERF studies, http://www.rerf.or.jp/rerfrad_e.pdf
xvi IPCC Reports on climate change
xvii Air quality and health, Fact Sheet, WHO (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en /index.html)
xviii Climate Change and Health, WHO 2010, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs266/en/
xix “UNSCEAR assessment of the Chernobyl accident.” Unscear.org.
xx Climate change fight to cost $300 billion a year, Alister Doyle (12-August-2009), OneWorld (available at http://southasia.oneworld.net/globalheadlines/climate-change-fight-to-cost-300-billion-a-year)
xxi How Coal Works, Union of Concerned Scientists (available at http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/coalvswind/brief_coal.html)
xxii Each kg of coal generates about 2.93 kg of CO2
xxiii Considering the following calculations. About 30,000 million tons of CO2 is responsible for the casualties of about 1.3 million lives per year. (1 billion ton = 1000 million ton). Thus, 1 MT corresponds to about 43.33 causalities per year. And 8.37 million tons would be responsible (by interpolation) for about 362 lives being lost.
xxiv Similar to the above derivation
xxv Based on the eight fold mass to energy advantage we have earlier cited from the article: Thorium as a Secure Nuclear Fuel Alternative, A Canon Bryan, 23-April-2009, Journal of Energy Security
xxvi IAEA, 2005
xxvii Extracted from http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf62.html
xxviii Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2010/4/liquid-fluoride-thorium-reactors Thorium Fuel for Nuclear Energy, http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/thorium-fuel-for-nuclear-energy/3
xxix “Federation of American Scientists: Status of World Nuclear Forces.” Fas.org.
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the 11th President of India, from 2002 to 2007, and pioneered the Vision for an Economically Developed India by 2020. He is at apj@abdulkalam.com
Srijan Pal Singh is an expert in the area of sustainable development and is an Electrical Engineer with an MBA from the IIMA. He is at 7srijanpal@iimahd.ernet.in
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Keywords: Nuclear energy, nuclear power, clean energy, energy crisis, nuclear safety, nuclear weapons
It's a good post.
Obviously an article written by an ardent spokesman of the nuclear industry.
Nuclear power will provide only a tiny fraction of India's power needs and yet it is
fraught with immense danger for the population of India. The author does not
mention a single word about the dangers of the radioactive waste that will be
generated by the the nuclear plants. We will be creating a poisonous environment,
that will be radioactive for over 300,000 years. He does not mention a word about
the method of storage as no country has solved this problem. We will merely
transfer our problems to unborn generations. Nuclear energy is neither clean nor
sustainable, it is just a short term fix. Unless India harnesses renewable energy on
a war footing we will not be able to power future generations.
I admit the sincerity of the author. No one can say that the nuclear plants based on uranium fuel are 100% safe. Any accident will create intolerable harm to humans and nature. We cannot say the solar and wind power are not stable. We cannot say that we cannot depend solely on solar and wind power or on any other renewal energy source. Power produced from these sources (renewable energy) can be stored temporarily by pumping water to higher altitudes and later converted into hydropower later in nights or when the power from solar and wind are in short supply.
An elaborate and extensive study on nuclear Power Plants. I hope this will dispel the apprehensions in the minds of the people about the safety and viability of nuclear power plants. The article may please be translated in all Indian languages and published in all the papers to educate the people. Let us make a beginning and the the extensive research on the further safety measures to be adopted to tap the enormous source of energy to be utilized for the welfare of the mankind. Thank you Kalam Sir!
Thanks to Dr. KALAM for making a clear picture that how much nuclear
power essential for fast growth of India and it is not harmful upto that
extent as people thinks. Till date very very few people had died due to
radiation exposure by power plant. Indian government should promote
nuclear power plant.
What an article to come at this point of time!The facts presented in this page should be explained to the laymans protesting at koodankulam in simple terms.Everyone knows that there are vested interests behind this protest and these should be dealt accordingly.Bringing Kalam into solving this is a good move.And we only hope that the plant becomes active very soon.
We need a stubborn leader to lead the thorium based Nuclear Power Plants to provide the power to Indian villages, but how would they going to handled it's side effects? Jai Hind
First I thank Dr.Kalam for giving wonderful awareness.And I am expecting our government should give assurance about how the nuclear wast are going to be handled safely???
This is a historical article written by Mr kalam. This article rightly points out the need for atomic energy and answers all the questions related to the dangers of this energy
My appeal to the Editor of The Hindu. Kindly get one full page article
from Dr.Abdulkallam, the scientific genious, the need of the Nuclear
power, how the safety norms are adhered and dispel all doubts about the
safety aspect.
In the interest of the country and State,a full page details and signed
by leading Nuclear Scientists like Dr.Prasad, the former BARC director
and Dr. Chidambaram. Your action in this direction will take your News
paper to a greater glory.
Excellent exposition of Technical facts of Energy needs of the country and the merits and demerits of various options available.As a true scientist they leave the readers to take a stand. Justifying advantages are explained in a lucid manner to an educated reader. Arguments are so convincing! Instead of disposing of the criticism by activists opposing nuclear plants, they tried to realistically put the disadvantages in the right perspective and pose the true question of "what is the alternative or feasible option?"
Often in a debate, listing of benefits and problems are done by both
sides vehemently but not the assessment of magnitude and scale or
sense of proportion of demerits. To a discerning mind, this grey area
or silence on the proportion of demerits and the ambiguity on best
alternative option is a predicament and the majority of Indian
populations who are “fence sitters” leave the arena without taking a
responsible stand.Then the power of politics and activism that takes
over.
thorium is the logical way ahead. people are criticising nuclear power but do they bring out any alternatives? wind and hydro? well they are no match for the benefits of a nuclear plant and hydro power is even even more vulnerable to natural disasters as compared to nuclear plants. wind? solar? well its higher investment and lower gain. and the fact that air pollution is killing more people every year as compared to a combined death toll of hiroshima nagasaki and chernobyl every year.
Dr.Kalam has presented a one-sided view of Nuclear plant problems and hence many people who do bnot live in thde zone of its impaxct naturally praise the writers as the people who bear the impacts will surely oppose the reactors.Honest people must have common sense and answer the Question that if Nuclear power is safe why should the Foreign suppliers of Reactors and the Indian plant operators must refuse to take responsibility to pay compensation to the victims of an accident to an extent of Rs.60,000 crores as pwer US estimates or Rs4 lakh crores as estimated by Japan for its Fukushima accident?
why should not Nuclear plant operators or their suppliers firstly convince theinsurance companies and take insurance for the accident as proof of their promises on safety of the reactors.Why should Plant operators force the Prime Minister to xcollect this huge amount of compensation from the poor tax payers to subsidise the Nuclear plant by penalising the common people ?Let readers think?
First, we need to thank our Professor Kalam Sir, for coming forward to
provide such an detailed explaination about the 'ongoing debatable,
most confusing... "Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant" ...
While I completely agree to the detailed explanation of our Professor
Kalam Sir and raise my hands that this plant must be operationable at
the earliest, I would also like to see that all the questions and
doubts are properly clarified to the 'on-ground protesting people'.
Definitely, I believe their protest have a purpose and it is the
responsibility of Indian Government to display all the valid PROOF of
the security features and thus ensure that every questions of
protesting people are properly answered.
I'm really worried on the way that our 'TAMILNADU GOVERNMENT' and
'GOVT OF INDIA' is handling this situation...
If they have implemented all the proper security measures in place,
I'm unable to understand what is the reason that they are taking such
a long time to just display and explain
Dear Dr.Kalam,How come the Kalpakkam unit doesn't invite such safety scrutiny? Technically speaking, how is the Kalpakkam (atomic) plant different from Kudankulam (nuclear)?
It is nothing but a hoax, India is still poorer than the poorest nation of Africa. Nobody can predict what will be the future economy of India. From my point of view the economy will be worst than ever.
Nuclear plants are just silent killers of mankind and Natural lfe systems on land and in the oceans as confirmed by intelligent Nobel Laureates since three decades.It is surprising why Dr.Kalam did not find it convenient to make a review of the hundreds of pulished papers i n IAEA magazines on hazards of radiation and the Disaster management scenarios presented by scientists and professional groups and also the environmental impacts of actual accidents at Three Mile Island Nuclear plant and the postulated accident scenario for the Sizewell Reactor located 150km.North-East of London.Dr.Kalam should have studied the Disastrous impacts of atleast Chernobyl and Fukushima Reactors whose radiation effects are still borne by people in several countries.It is estimated that Japan is payingabout Rs.four lakh crores towards compensations to victims of Fukushima Explosion and for decommissioning and cleaning costs that may extend for 3 decades.Dr.Kalam should save people of his own motherland.
We all know how the Japanese were affected by radiations since
WWII,the Hiroshima and Nagasaki disaster.But still they had no fear in
setting up the Fukushima power plant."Fear destroys our ability to
bring the best out of our capability..".Fukushima might have been
affected..yeah that happens for such a calamity like the Tsunami but
we Indians have more safety precautions than what the Japanese
had..These words have come from a great person,Dr.Kalam,who knows more
than what we do.It is to be given importance for he really cares about
our nation and the people.I do not say that it is cent percent safe
but when we are running short of the fuel power,utilising such forms
of energy is necessary..To those people who are against the
KKNPP:"Give our country a chance this time.Success we get,not only our
country will prosper but also our future generation is gonna prosper
with more power in their hand.Do not waste our resource potent,stating
it's failure somewhere else..THINK AND ACT WISE"..
Read the comments of Jenny from Texas. It is nice a US citizen is showing keen interest in reading our National daily 'The Hindu' and comments on important articles therein. I have a query towards Jenny, on behalf of current global generation and all future ones to come: Which alternate energy source u suggest please. Scientifically, dooms day will be billions of years far.
Great narration as always, from a true son of our soil. In the initial lines, he should have thrown more light on to the size of atom and the energy it can release in case of successful fission or fusion, for the benefit of common people. Our public is 'well educated' by great Politicians about its distructive power and reasons to avoid future plants, instead of teaching them about the benefits it can have on mankind. I wish our country makes many small steps today, which will be great leaps for future generations....
The people of India should run FAR from such propaganda! Multi-national nuclear-energy corporations spend huge sums of money pouring out such garbage! Your ex-President (with all due respect to the Indian people) is no different than our US President...and the president before him...and so on! They are ALL members of an elite group of Malthusian-oligarchs and they have NO respect for human-life! >In fact, we're being used, the world-over, by these thugs! They spin the truth for a web of lies, deceiving the people as a pretext for more wars. Yes...it is true...these nuclear facilities CAN and WILL be used for weaponization materials. Some theories being expressed suggest Fukushims is a result of fission underground, leaking from the plant's chamber and combining with natural gas and methane which is chain reacting with nuclear plants around the world! This is happening in the US NOW! WE've suffered dreadfully because of this! I urge the Indian people to think AGAIN!
It will be the first target during World wars! Reactors cannot resist highscale Earthquake, Tsunami! When the reactor blasts, entire South India would disappear! There would be no trace of life then! This is why KERALA has opposed Nuclear Reactors in their land! Kalam Sir, please dont give excuses . Life lost cannot be reverted back.
excellent analytical articlle by the most intelligent respected non political leader and President of India with no selfish agenda advising us not to shun nuclear power for fear of unknown and it is foolish to build and then debate to open does not make any sense.
Where were all the demonstrators when the plant was being built. After such a heavy investment and when we are about to kick-it off, they want the whole thing to be closed! We have demonstrated with Kalpakkan and the Trombay nuclear installations that India can manage the nuclear power plants well enough, without any incidents. Need to cut off power to the whole Kudankulam area where the demonstrators come from. Let them go to the dark ages and use stones to light fires...
Whatever Mr.Kalam and others saying is correct.But we tamilians dont want to tae risk.Pls do it in other states.If it is really good project means why west bengal and kerala rejected this project.If you are very genuine as we believe, you should try to explain to those two states and make it happen there.
It is right. But in case of India where population is over 1.15 crs and its poverty level is about 60%. The usage of and starting of nuclear power project in a radom way may cause human life in India if proper modern and sophisticated technique/technologies are not used. In Japan due to tsunami and heavy earth quake, it lost more. Japan is an advanced and developed civilised nation in the world. It has very advanced techniques/robot/advanced infrstructure and way of live style is completely differnet than that of India. India still now a most poor country. It has still lack of proper usage of modern/sophisticated technique/technologies. Though usage of nuclear power is urgent like India, a country. But govt. has to give first emphasis on modern inputs for installation of nuclear power plants in a radom way so that any mishap does not arise like Japan & Cheronobyl, Russia. India still is incapable of various advanced technique/technologies etc. It has to think for better.....
Sorry to differ. Nuclear power for India is not safe and alternative harmless sources like Abundant solar and wind has not been exhausted. All said and done NUCLEAR IS NOT AT ALL SAFE and I am sorry I do not agree with you because country like India with such huge population will not be able to cope a nuclear emergency and million are likely to suffer. Why the Govt and Scientists are not concentrating on improving SOLAR and Wind power generation instead of going Nuclear. It is alright for countries which do not have adequate solar radiation.Nature has given us the wonderful sun and let us utilize it instead of splitting atoms and with all its inherent risks of getting stolen in the wrong hands and utilized for wrongful purposes. India does not need nuclear power because it cannot handle it. Please Go with NATURE.
Nice article by DR.Kalam. But the article does not talk about the core issue of power transmission losses (34% in india)and power theft. We lose 50% of our power generated because of transmission losses and power theft. By using smart grids and reducing power theft this can be avoided. Why are the power sector reforms not working. This is a very inefficient way of managing things. what is the point of producing power and loosing 50% of it? Population density per square KM is very high in india and if you plan to have reactors all over india till 2035 sufficient sustainable safety practices are required. cleaning up nuclear mess after a disaster will cost billions of dollars and will cripple our economy(japan's first installment of 12 billion dollars was approved last week). what about the terrorism threat. Is security fool proof? More over thorium technology is not developed well >yet and till then you have to import uranium from other countries.
No country has found the technology to safely do away with nuclear waste. With half-lives in thousands of years, nuclear materials carry the risk of multi-generational genetic and environmental catastrophe. To compare this risk to the Titanic or the Wright brothers' flight is infantile.Dr. Kalamity wants us to put entire communities in jeopardy for hundreds of years so that we can enjoy some more big-screen TV's or air-conditioning. Some visionary!
Fist let us eradicate poverty, illiteracy dowry, women-harassing in India. With all respect to APJ Abdul Kalam , he is not a mother, he is not having a family and children. And he is a true scientist with technology as his focal point. He made ballistic missiles and war weapons. Why do we need so much of energy ? For cities and the wealthy 1% to squander? For their A.Cs, shopping malls,room heaters and other power consuming gadgets? We have only one Earth in the universe.Let us save Earth!! Not those who carves for India to become economic power in-spite that 80% of Indians are under poverty line.
Kudangulam project is not swayambu which has come over night. Everyone believes--if not aware--that all aspects would have been discussed and analysed prior to going ahead with the execution of the project. Then why this much of hue and cry.That is Indian politics.The politicians and the people at large should stop at Parliament. Once any project is approved by parliament or an assembly there shall not be any impediment in its execution. I am talking of democracy which is the best form of governance but worst suited to Indian conditions.If not, will a person like Abdulkalam sir be ignored and summarily rejected when he sought for the second term of the Presidentship. Neither we will share our river waters nor will agree for the integration of the perennial rivers or even subscribe to family planning .We agitate and create stumbling blocks enjoying voting right .emphasis can be made to ensure safety for the public, but there is no alternate opinion to Dr.Kalam.
Congrats Mr.Kalam and The Hindu. The article is exhaustive and sincere.
I do not know nuclear plant is still opposed. The comments like why should I suffer for the prosperity of others is baffling. Electrical energy uplifts every citizen. Use of energy is indicator of prosperity of all. Let everybody keep this in mind. GOI should also educate the people and assure the safety of plant and ensure safety by entrusting the safety of the plant to highly qualified and dedicated team.
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam's elucidation is very useful, and logically and rationally convincing to all. And, then why the Koodankulam publics are against the Nuclear power plant, the right person has to find out the reason who is behind this big mess, then things will be ok, since begining of the project, the sorrouned people only supported by supplying the all kind of construction materials and logistics supports, now on opening stage why they are protesting, that means somebody is politicizing the subject to gain soemthing in each step. Whatever the issue, a true Indian will not do these kind of politics to stop the our beloved country's developments. Therefore, Govt. should move forward to run the plant in order to produce the Energy by giving safety measures with reasonable compensation as per the market trend. God bless them all whoever involving in this project. If we do good and God will do good for us.
Mr. Kalam: You sound more like a lobbyist or a broker rather than a scientist. This article could be a good example of high school project but nothing more. Figures quoted are obviously correct but conclusions are mostly convenient. Issue here is safety of nuclear plants. Why talk about economics here. Will sound economics will ensure safety? While you were pushing the economic argument how come you forgot to mention the cost , economic cost at least. Investment per megawatt or cost per unit? As for disaster cost, your intentions are suspect. What kind of argument is it that we cannot bother about accident in a 40 year old plant? Will this plant never be 40 one day ? This whole attempt to mislead is unhealthy.
Very informative with all relevant strcutured details . Sir if you could write on procedure of dispoal of nuclear waste, it may be much useful and do away with fear among people.
An outstanding way of proving to people who have no idea of what a nuclear plant is, yet protesting for the sake of protesting. Dr. Kalam ingeniously, has done everything for the UPA government in the matter of Kudangulam agitations over the safety of the plant. It is time all political parties get together and explain the merits of this plant against the least probable nature of accidents that could be contained. The arguments put forth by the Scientist President are marvellous. I am so subdued by his prevailing command and knowledge of the subject and the merits of the project for the nation and the people.
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, With Due respect to you sir, A great and informative article a must read for every citizen of the country. Need of the hour is the vision and benefits for nuclear plants across the country. Its time politicians think about the benefits of our country men over their votes and seats.I sincerely hope koodankulam nuclear plant issue is resolved,people are well educated and clarified in this matter and koodankulam should become a reality having got safety signals in few assessments including from Dr kalam and take india forward.
Much of our opposition to nuclear plants or for that matter against anything, comes from lack of knowledge. Dr Kalam has honestly placed the facts, the pros and cons of not having nuclear plants. How many of us knew that radiation from Fukushima was only 0.5 percent of that from Chernobil? Dr Kalam has brilliantly brought out the fallout from not harnessing the nuclear energy in India. The nation should take advantage of his wisdom and the credibility that he enjoys among the Indian public, to ward off the misgivings on nuclear plants. It would be worth translating this article in all Indian languages to present the facts before the public. Solar and wind are not viable at all and a huge sum of money is being spent with too little energy generation. Those who oppose the nuclear plants have a duty to give other viable alternatives towards meeting our increasing energy needs.
Please ensure Madam Jayalalitha reads this article and other recommendations of Dr.Kalam to ensure people round this new power reactor live a comfortable life. Assure the people around this plant that they will never face any power shortage in the future.
excellent write up. and this could only come from the nation's richest scientific mind! Dr. Kalam you are just truly commendable. I really would like that this article be shown to all the members in the parliament who oppose the nuclear reforms by getting blinded by foreign super powers. India needs a firing start now, a spark is no longer enough to raise our view in the 7 billion crowd.
Nuclear power is not the answer to our power problems. We have to find solutions in sources like biogass,co-generative power,solar power and wind power.It is also possible to develop technologies to generate power from water.Power should be cheap and inexpensive and made available to every remote corner in the country.Innovators in India have also been able to develop power solutions from mechanical means like cycles etc.Power can also be genrated from gas.
Well put! And glad you mentioned the Thorium Molten Salt Reactor. If you're looking for a free documentary on this subject, THORIUM REMIX 2011 is released under a Creative Commons license and has been Closed Captioned on YouTube. It was created to promote Thorium-MSR specifically, but it does include a historic re-cap of Alvin Weinberg's preference for MSR over LWR, and ultimate dismissal. I'm sort of hoping future pieces on this subject (when presented online) might include an embedded copy of the video. Being Creative Commons licensed, it is possible to pull an excerpt over to your own YouTube channel (see YouTube's Online Video Editor). Good luck with AHWR.
Dr Kalam envisions an India where per capita electricity consumption goes from current 150W to 15 times this amount. At today's 150W per capita, a family of four would consume 15 units (KWHr) a day and incur an electricity bill of Rs 40/day....an amount most Indians cannot afford. This begs the question: Who will pay for 15 times this electricity -- costing Rs 600 per day per family in not so distant a future? Moreover, total energy consumption today is 682W per Indian -- roughly 4 times the electricity, costing Rs 160/day now and 15 times this amount in future!
Surely this is vision only for the most privileged class. Only they can afford the energy now and only they will afford in future. Dr Kalam's arguments confuse cause and effect -- because developed nations consume more, it doesn't mean for development so much more energy is needed. Focusing only on the supply side of energy and not on other aspects is a continuing problem with our policy makers.
Hats off, Kalam Sir! When a debate on nuclear energy is on, it is such articles that help in clearing the doubts of a common man, thus helping him/her gain a wider perspective of the issue. However, there needs to be more discussion on nuclear safety and how we as a nation is geared and equipped in case of an emergency.
The article is very informative & an eye opener on the various issues concerning Nuclear Power. Now that issues are analysed in depth by none less than a person of eminence as Dr. Kalam, this article should be a "GAME CHANGER" for Nuclear Power in the Country. The on-going debate & the deadlock over kudankulam should help the nuclear estblishment to convert this oppurtunity to reinforce the need, inevitability & the essence of Nuclear Power for our country!
While I respect Dr Kalam as a senior citizen and a renowned scientist and his views are well founded, I have difficulty in accepting a guarantee from him on the safety of the nuclear power plant. Being an engineer with over 42 years of experience, I know as much as all others that any project has to be evaluated on the risk vs benefit factor. For the nuclear energy project the benefits are immense and also the risks very high. A normal industrial accident has serious impact but such impact is short lived. Humanity can overcome effects of such accidents in a relatively short time. A nuclear disaster is not one like that even if the chances are very slim.
Why not some of the senior politician and scientist offer to build their homes and live among the community to show their willingness to be part of the risky living?
This article is the need of the hour for every citizens of India which is having more literacy but not having the energy knowledge for the growth of our country. The article also explains about the threats posed in the thermal energy which is slow the poison of making hole in the ozone layer. Thanks to our beloved former president of India.
With all respect, Sir, I want ask you a simple question: You stated that around 10,000 tons of coal produces the same power as 500 kg of Uranium Type-1 Fuel or 62.5 kg of Thorium. It looks WoW but it is not true: how many thousands of tons of uranium ore require to produce 500 kg of Uranium? What type of pollutants are released in to atmosphere during the mining; processing - tailpond maintenance, etc? How many stages are involved in the nuclear power production process -- before and after? How much is the hidden subsidy that goes into these process and how much equipment is required in all these process? How much of this equipment is imported and how much pollution is released in to the manufacturing process? Do we have Uranium reserve or import it? Why our present plants are running at very low capacity and why?
About Thorium, we don't have technology and Thorium create sea shore collapses which is highly dangerous.
Dear Mr. Ex President & Scientist, I admire you for the positions you were in and respect the country. Did you think about if a Nuclear accident happen in India how it will be dealt with, do you have a Trained and emergency Management team in place or atleast have a plan to create one? When there was Mumbai Terrerist attack it took more than 24 hours for emergency management team to be despatched. What happend in crisis management of high court and Parlement attack, still unsolved and who is in Jail also not hanged yet. I suggest a better emergency management team who can reach any part of country in 1 hour time. can it happen in next 100 years? All the waste water from the Kudamkulam and other plants near sea will be pumped to SEA near them, right? What is radio active materials are in that and this goes to the sea, enitre Western sea shores will be impacted? What will happen to Sea salt which is distributed with radioactive which is made from Sea side fields all over India from TN?
I have no qualms about the progress of the country with the nuclear technology and neither do I deny the words of Dr.Kalam that the risk is minute if all the safety procedures are strictly followed. But, it's the negligence of the officials that I am worried about which can put lives of innocent villagers into trouble.
Of course, there is some correlation between radiation exposure and cancer risk, which must be acknowledged. But the notable aspect is that, contrary to popular belief, the findings clearly state that the effect of such exposure is limited only to the exposed generation. .---- is this not enough to stop the nuclear plant.It is the layman living in the vicinity who must make a decision and not any other politician or sicentist .
Excellent,hope India will be fossil free country in near future.Awesome
article,hats off to the Sir A.P.J Abdul Kalam.
India needs Nuclear Power! ‘Hindu’ must be complimented for giving a legitimate platform for former president hon’ble Dr. Abdul Kalam for articulating his vision through a special essay ‘Nuclear Power is a gateway to our prosperous future’.The article is indeed an eye-opener by any yardsticks & one cannot help, but only admire and adore the visionary thoughts elucidated by Dr. Kalam. The very fact that, the essay is published in ‘Hindu' lends lots more weight and credence & one must thank both Dr Kalam and ‘The Hindu’ for the above effort. An emerging economy such as India definitely needs to embrace Nuclear Power as an unqualified answer to its growing demand of electricity & Dr. Kalam’s article rightly articulates this need. The very fact that, nuclear plants do not emit any green house gases, it makes all the more sense for a power starved country as ours, as rightly underlined in the article, to adopt & nurture it as an answer to global warming!Let's go NUCLEAR..Let's go green!
We should use nuclear power but not at the cost of human life. We should use nuclear energy after taking into account the pros and cons of the system.
Mr Kalam as far as his educational qualities go is just an aeronautical engineer and I wonder how he suddenly acquired national status as a nuclear scientist. One doesn't become a nuclear scientist with just a BSC in Science and in being involved in inventing a few missiles. Nuclear power plants are a totally different game altogether and to expect someone who wrote some poetry books and sided with the establishment to get ahead politically to really analyse the workings of a nuclear power plant and compute all various dangers associated with it is like asking a pharmacist to give the advice that only a doctor can give. Obviously the article contains MAJOR LIES as to the degree of damage at Fukushima as over 200 workers are today not accounted for. Some have died on duty and women are at the doors of govt offices asking for closure of all nuclear plants as their kids cry themselves to sleep as they can't play outdoors due to high levels of radiation still spewing out of Fukushima!
I do not believe for moment that the factor of accident is ruled out.That leads me to the next question can we take that risk.What is this buzz about prosperity ? For whom, have we not been duped enough -all our prosperity going to the pockets of a few; the most UNDESERVING of people ??? And still we hasten to buy a theory for which posterity shall not forgive us.
First of all we think about the articles are more interesting when we read,but if any body involve into the scene then only ourself realised.Here no one had an idea about the past mistakes.In south india especially in Tamilnadu some 40 years back the govt was spreaded the juliflora plants in tamil says seemai karuvel for the economy of the backward distrists.Now the entire state is filled with that plant everywhere.The benefit of the plant tree is only giving wood coke.The plant has a tendency of extracting ground water at any level of its deep root system.It created the depletion of the ground water table not only the respective districts even the entire tamilnadu.It also caused impotency to the house hold animals.Now the people are worried about their gender failure also.like wise in Tiruppur more number of dyeing industries were established for the economic development of the state.But the soil fertility had been lost 100% in that district and the ground water was disappeared.
An excellent piece of information. Unfortunately in India, people protest without any understanding. The politicans are not far behind as they want to see how much ploitical advantage they can get by supporting the protesters. We cannot grow if such protests continue and we need a strong leadership who can take bold decisions. Dr.Kalam's vision of seeing India as a super power by 2020 is possible only if we have good power and other infrastructure facilities comparable at an international level.
Too Good. Too Wonderful. How I wish, how wonderful to have such a wonderful scientist belong to our generation and lead the country. Anyways, very informative and very knowledge-enhancing article. Really appreciable.
The Visit and comment of former president A.P.j. Abdul Kalam is an good attempt if he had explained the people or come forward with all possible positive and negative factors. This is not the matter who ever he is visiting that place it is the matter of life of people living there. These people can go there for a day and will come back. Those are who going to live there for generations. The way he answered was not either scientific or responsible, its like a politician who will answer for welfare schemes.
A thought provoking article!! A must read for every citizen before they make any conclusion regarding the future of Nuclear Energy in India. I wish we had such balanced discussions for all important issues in our country.
Our honourable ex president Dr.Abdul kalam's explanation about the generation of power through Nuclear resources is the apt one for the present day's power sistuation in India.He exercised his role as advisory and limited himself to the science and technology.I wish our present day political leaders too take a leaf out of his life and follow in true spirits for the benefit of the country without any personal motives.
With the scarcity of coal in india, increased cost of import coal, challenges ahead in handling of the ash generated, availability of land & problems related to land aquisition, atmospheric polltion due to the burning of coal or the ash generated during burning, damage that can be caused by the water spilling from the ash pond,power generation by Nuclear resources is to be encouraged in India.
The worry in India is corruption. In the initial site selection, design and margins of safety, scenario-building, impact assessment and disaster management system. Then in training and running the plant in full compliance with safety procedure and finally, in the ability to manage a disaster should there be one. Bhopal case is still not settled. Very few people believe that the government agencies can do a thorough, professional and objective job. Nuclear industry of course is an interested party. It is a fact that not many new plants are coming up in advanced countries; the share of power generated is mostly from plants built or committed before Chernobyl.
If nuclear plants were so 'safe' as Dr. Kalam says, then why do the equipment suppliers, the implementors/contractors and the operators are unwilling to accept unlimited civil liability? A very safe operation should be able to get very low cost insurance. There is something missing somewhere.
Congratulations to Bharat Ratna Dr. Abdul Kalam for his article which is indeed an eye-opener for every Indian. He has explained the need for nuclear power plants in a very simple manner and without using any jargons. Dr. Kalam is 100% correct when he says "What is needed for our India, we Indians have to decide." The Government of India (GOI) can decide the locations for nuclear plants in such a manner so that there is minimum risks for human lives. In the recently announced National Manufcturity Policy there is a proposal to set up National Investment and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) with a minimum area of 5000 hectares (about 12,500 acres). The GOI should plan to set up nuclear power plants adjacent to such NIMZs. Dr. Kalam has very well justified the need for sustainable alternative fuel sources to replace fossil fuels. One suggestion to the GOI, keep the politicians away from these things and allow the eminent scientists like Dr. Kalam to explain the facts to the people.
Now why doesn't our leadership have such clarity in vision? If their less-than-mediocre academic background and even lesser sensibilities does not allow them to reason for themselves, they should atleast listen to 'ignited minds' such as our esteemed former President and other well-meaning technocrats. With every political activity aimed at filling individuals' coffers, little will we develop to be a be a developed country - not in 2020, not even on 2220!
Exellent article, thoose who are fighting without understanding in details please read atleast the technology and need.
History repeats... Every growing empire meets challenges within and from outside. We all have to admit that our country was not carried away by the economy crisis. We prevailed. We did get a respectable growth rate in spite of power cuts. Imagine a situation without power cuts. Imagine the economic growth. Power cut not only delays our growth but allow cripples the system. For sustained growth we need power. We cant afford Solar or any other alternative methods. We need more Nuclear power plants. We were used to single lane traffic jams... with 6 lanes also we face the same. It shows our growth. We need power. For that Nuclear power is the safe bet. External and Internal sources plan and execute methods to derail our economic growth. We should not give room for those elements. We all should Support the Govt of India and Russian Govt for on time execution of the project.
Dr. kalam has chosen the best time to present this article. What better analysis can be presented than this enlightening article where the former President and the most successful nuclear scientist, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has advocated the inevitable requirement of nuclear energy to meet the burgeoning demand of energy for the progressive India. He has cleared all the doubts and apprehensions regarding the safety of Nuclear Plants through a point wise analysis.It is high time when all the political parties should come together and educate the villagers as well as the laymen who have formed a preconceived notion against the future of nuclear energy. Heartful thanks to the entire team to bring this article.
This is best article for Phd. thesis. and also bit of dreams of Mr.Abdukalam and useless for public awareness. he actually hiding real fact about danger of atomic fission and about disposable of waste.He dont bother about health human beings.we dont want energy from atomic bomb.as per his statement, "Japan don't have best technology than India".it is very interesting joke.
Former President of India Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam has thrown light on the nuclear power and current stand-off in Kuddankulam issue. After going through the article ‘Nuclear power our gateway to a prosperous future’, the following apprehensions have come in my mind
1. What is Development and Development goal? (The Tamil epic ‘Manimegalai’ sees our objective of development is to provide basic needs of food, cloth and shelter for all human beings of the world. Whereas here in India and else where generally development means ‘disparity’ and feeding the greedy and spillover only reaches the needy) 2. The Per Capita power consumption in USA (about 15 times more) is quoted as reference. Whether this tool is right to compare Indian condition where more than 1 billion people live? 3. I under stand that after effects of atomic bomb is different from accidents in a nuclear reactor. But what is the effect in case bombing nuclear facility even with conventional bomb? (There is always terrorist threat too). 4. Whether we have right technology w.r.t. ‘Nuclear waste management ‘. I understand that ‘half life period’ of a nuclear waste is far more than the life of the material of the container which are normally stored in under ground .The containers are subject to natural stress under various conditions. There were reports of damage to these containers even in USA nuclear waste storage facilities. These concerns need to be addressed.
In such issues the voice of the local Public and their vote should matter instead of Expert Opinions. Dr. Kalam's Standing and Knowledge is totally different matter.The locals have to live and earn their living, in the Surrounding Area. Thus, instead of central governments Dictat, Locals participation is more Important. The public has a stake in their Fishery, Agriculture, Forests, Water bodies which they will Exploit as per their own Needs. Their need should not become a Victim of Nuclear Establishment's Greed. The Nuclear Energy Project's Cost of Installation and Running costs must be Evaluated. The Rosy picture shown by the Vested Interest must be Examined and Evaluated by a Competent and Impartial Agency.
If it is such a wonderful idea, how come nuclear industry cannot get any funding from capital markets? Also, nuclear industry refuses to take total responsibility for possible catastrophic failures. Apparently, the cleanup of Fukushima disaster is going to take decades and will cost more than $ 1 Trillion to clean up. The nuclear energy has the added cost and danger of storing radioactive materials for thousands of years. Good news is that solar energy is less expensive than nuclear energy right now. 100% nuclear free and carbon-free renewable energy is possible now with the rapidly falling price of solar and wind energy. David Friedman, the energy industry expert and author of the book "Winning Our Energy Independence" and Arjun Makhijani, the author of the free ebook "Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free" have laid out the case for 100% fossil fuel free and nuclear free energy.
wonderful article with great explanation about neclear energy and plant by our great scientist and ex-president of india Dr A P J Abdulkalam.Thanking you sir, and also to hindu.
Already when Rs.100 cr is publicised for development of the region, I sincerely doubt that Dr. Kalam is inadvertently on the wrong side because of some old association and old ideas which were hijacked by Govt. He has not seen the world nuclear happenings as they occur - except with a colored glass. Also, in Petrozavodsk crash practically whole leadership of OKB Gidropress (Hydropress)united the designing bureau which designed this Koodankulam project was killed including its director and general designer Sergei Ryzhov, deputy director and chief designer Gennady Banyuk, and head designer and chief of branch Nikolai Trunov. It is a mystery. We cant get any guidance later on from the creators of this project. The Fukushima disaster had Official death toll is 7653, and 11,746 still unaccounted for. How many millions affected by nuclear material and how many oceanic organisms were affected we dont know.
Dr.Kalam argues that Rs.100 cr is the price for high risk-bomb sitting next door.
Great analysis. The content specified above is an eye opener for all the Indians. Me being an engineering student didn't know the pros and cons, the history of the nuclear power in so depth and the necessity for such kind of power generating sources. I can think of the awareness one has to spread in India and as said by Mr.Kalam we are the ones who should decide what is needed for India. And in the end I salute Mr.A P J Abdul Kalam, his team and The Hindu for bringing it to our notice.
The nuclear lobby found a famous enough local citizen to vouch for the Kudankulam plant. Does this mean there is a hunt for trusted persona to toe the nuclear line elsewhere in the country? But it is disappointing that such an illustrious person has not touched upon the need to encourage energy conservation, which would be a far more effective, meaningful-- and essential-- way of addressing the world's energy needs. Nuclear means of power production represents an alternative source of energy, but the costly installations are simply concrete proof that the nuclear industry is, at best, a "very pale shade of green".
Provoking thought, will the protestors understand this. Politicians please don't cry foul in this project, we don't understand much about the technology used in this but let's try to understand when people like Mr.Abdul Kalam says.
Excellent article providing tons of information besides boosting the importance of energy independence, especially for countries like INDIA. Really a "Ratna" from "Bharat Ratna"
The article by Dr. Kalam is enlightening and his foresight for an strong economic India is commendable. All the posting and the comments in favour and otherwise bring very high value to this topic. Arvind, Giri Pattabi and N. Krishnan has made valid comments. Our generations and their safety is equally important alongwith the economic prosperity. A careful evaluation should be made for not considering other environment friendly means of energy. Though, one may say that the protests are politically motivated, the establishment of the nuclear plant does carry adverse potential of accident, nuclear waste and safe removal. Bhopal gas tragedy is still fresh in our minds.
An excellent and thought provoking article by Dr.Kalam. Thanks to The Hindu for publishing it. But Dr.Kalam should address the concerns of Kudankulam people, like who will be liable if an accident happens. It should not be another Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
An excellent article by DrKALAM & SP SINGH. Today India's needs lot of power and the most clean and green power is obviously from nuclear power. Use of fossil fuels is causing irreparable damage to the environment. The germans have told earlier during chernobyl that they will phase out nuclear power by 2010. After fukushima they are saying that they will phase out by 2020. If they are serious why not immediately? There are 440 reactors operating round the world. All the neighbourhoods of the plants are very comfortable.
I pray god for a longlife to Dr APJ KALAM.
Why can't the project profits be shared at 10%(decreasing amount as the distance decreases from the plant) with the village's schools and college infrastructure. This way they will feel the need for the project to be there and also part ownership as a community.
well really these figures shows how safety the KNPP is.Mean while being a developing country we should take steps to meet our energy demand.unless we cant, it will become a hypothetical for us. So need to take quick actions for starting of this project.since requirement of energy is increasing vulnerably at each day. Finally i suggest that the implement of KNPP is one of the most safest methods in the world for generating electrical power.thanks to our DR.Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam.
The article does not speak anything about the serious concern regarding "Nuclear Waste Management". Plant safety does not include this aspect. It takes 3 million years for stored radioactive waste to decay to background levels. If this radioactivce material gets spilled by earthquakes or floods it will destroy all kind of life including all vegetation of the area on an unforeseeable magnitude. The available methods of nuclear waste disposal is only a technical fix. No technology can ever guarantee the safety against natural catastrophes or hazards. The cost of managing this nuclear waste material is over five-hundred billion dollars per year forever - which will erode all the benefits stated by the authors. It would rather force the world to drop ambitious social projects of health, education and poverty eradication.It would be very selfish of ourselves to put our future generations in jeopardy by burying their treasure and spending their inheritence. The article is an biased advocacy.
This could be one of the best editorial contribution to build our modern India and Wiosh each and every student of India, go through it and rflect to create a Great society of India. Thanks to Hindu for Publishing the total text online for everyone's benefit." what is good for India is good for the state ,what is good for the state is good for You and me. Keeping quiet when all our lifestyle is affected by the availability of Power, is the worst crime we can inflict ourselves in society."
Our inaction and quiet attitude at this times will determine whether Tamilnadu will remain as spectator and a lesser earning power among states in the country and the World. Without power even IT industries cannot be established . Solar power is safer, but you need Min10 acres to produce 1 MW power and even every layman knows land is the costliest of things in India/ Tamilnadu is not less . Few people are trying to make riches out of lands without working and these people are against Nuclear power. Wind is seasonal and cannot be dependent all the times.Industrialists. houses and service companies know what was the problem in the last two years because of interrupted power.
As some of the readers have pointed out, Dr.Kalam does not cover the following points:
i Why US has not set up reactors for over 5 decades? Why Germany is closing down it reactors?
ii.What is risk associated with disposal of nuclear waste after the life time of each reactor ahnd effectively it will be handled?
iii. Are there no alternatives to the risk laden nuclear power?
It will be interesting to recall criticism of his assessment of thermo nuclear explosion at Pokran by knowledgeable guys.
An excellent informative article I have ever read in the recent past. We are fortunate to have Dr.Kalam amongst us. The crux of the matter is how to disseminate this information to the people who agitate and the people who live around Kudankulam? I suggest that an audio/video documentary to be prepared by the science & technology ministry in consultation with Dr.Kalam sir & to be widely circulated among the people and we have to win their confidence & support. Thanks to DU.
thanks sir, for creating awareness about nuclear energy and some relevant facts about the Indian power consumption with other countries.
After going through his incisive and highly informative article I have definitely become enriched.But most of the people who are protesting against the nuclear installations in Koodankulam are poor fishermen most of whom are illiterates who are going to be affected in contingency and what they expect is not acquiring knowledge on nuclear power but safety of their precious lives.But when Dr.Kalam himself and for that reason any great nuclear scientist can assure 100% fool proof safety to the people in and around the nuclear installations in contingency,it is better we respect the sentiments of the innocent people and allow them to live in peace without dying in fear everyday.Let us look to other safe alternatives like solar energy to offset the power shortage.
Well thought and knit article. But the analogy with the other disasters like plane , ship is not correct. The difference it if a disaster occurs with plane or ship it holds on to that group of people who are involved. Nuclear disaster affects the generations. If Dr. Kalam has overseen (not overlooked) the safety arrangements and satisfied it is fine, but he should not be taken as a solemn advisory person. I think the involvement from the top stack (atleast what we consider as IIT / BITS / NIT), they should also be involved in the advisory committee .. They would definitely add more value.
As an Energy Consultant,I am a cautious supporter of Nuclear Energy. While Dr.Kalam's article is edifying, it is disconcerting for several reasons: 1. He is obsessed with economic prosperity while flippant about real nuclear threats. He chastises fearmongering with images of mushroom-clouds of the A-Bomb, while he fearmongers by insinuating foreign nations trying to subjugate India's energy ascendancy! Truth is nations like France & US are eager to earn India's huge nuclear-pie! 3. His cavalier attitude to nuclear safety is evident by equating a realistic threat of a cataclysmic nuclear event with his conjured folklore of first-flight accidents! 4. His deafening silence on terrorist-threats on nuclear plants is chilling, when India is on the seismic belt of terrorism. 5. Equating Japan's ER system to India's is an overstretch. 6. He's stoic on India's huge population density. 7. His dismissive attitude implies he thinks those who have concerns are Luddites.He is not right.
Respected Shri Abdul Kalam, This refers to your article on Nuclear Power plants published in the Hindu dt. 6.11.11. In this article you have mentioned about burning fires underneath Jharia Coal field. Also you have mentioned that such fields are being created everywhere. My objection is only to the statement that such fields are being created everywhere. The Jharia Coal field is a very old field when sadly the present shape of the problem was not appreciated/ over looked. Reason may be anything as it was in the hands of foreign private operators. Now the standard mining practice is sand stowing of vacant space as soon as coal is taken out. Govt. rules are very strict. Now you do not hear of such fields. Secondly now almost 2/3 rd coal is extracted by surface mining i.e. open mining. I am a Mining Engineer myself. It would have been better if example of Jharia was not given to score a point in favour of Nuclear energy. I fully agree to other reasons advanced in favour of Nuclear energy. They score points in favour of Nuclear energy. Also the finite resources like coal & Oil would not last long, hence to search other alternative is must for very survival of society with reasonable comfort.
The article Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam has written along with Mr. Srijan Pal Singh is highly enlightening. The authors succeeded in presenting the facts in favour of nuclear energy with help of science. The leadership of Kudankulam agitation should extricate themselves from the pulls and pressures of their regional and political commitments and analyse the issue scientifically.
I respect Dr. Kalam's Thoughts and I have questions. Have we ensured even the basic safety of Railway lines? Is Tamilnadu inert from Tsunami? Even if it is agreed that we are inert from Tsunami, Are we not highly vulnerable to Terrorists? Being a scientist myself, working at Max-Planck Institute Germany, I recently attended a lecture given by a member of German scientific advisory board that gave the bird's eye view of future energy sources. Wind and Solar can provide all the energy human kind may need for ever. Wind energy has already become cheaper than conventional and N sources. They proposed a Inter-European Windmill network to have a steady supply of power. I think it is not just a raw material factor for Germany that made it abstain from Nuke. Many nations do not have nuclear fuel beneath them. but it is the political will that has made it. There is not a single day in Germany without an Anti-Nuke protest. At least here the people's protests does have some influence.
The article advocating nuclear energy by the former President Abdul Kalam is worthy of deep consideration. At the same time, I would commend for consideration the article by eminent economist Paul Krugman in the New York Times under the title Here comes the Sun, dated 6th November. He commends tapping solar energy. Why not we in India try it?
Thanks to Dr. Abdul Kalam for taking all the pains at the advanced age when several people are directing people in obstructive politics instead of Nation building activities. Mere slogans do not take us to the status of developed nation unless we put our efforts towards nation building. Let us learn from the polices and progress made in China.Nations of similar challenges we should simply follow the policies of development from such nations.
It is a well crafted article. One critical point against nuclear power plant is the radiation impact on people and their generation to come when accident happen. Mr. Kalam dispels this fear with some statistical inputs viz human loss in chernobyl disaster. Further he comprehensively discussed the nuclear power plant management right from its raw material to end product and its cost effectiveness over custom made power plants. Now it is up to the government both center and state to convince the agitating people at kudankulam. India owes to him a lot.
Sir ,I fully agree with the headlines stating that Nuclear power is our gateway to a prosperous future.We should whole heartedly support India's nuclear programme and strengthen Dr Kalam's hands in making India strong and united on the matter of nuclear power.
Thanks a lot for your holistic dealing of nuclear energy.But as a `layman I have few questions to ask you: 1. Is there any technology to deal with Nuclear Waste coming out from the Nuclear Plants? These waste has radiation content lasting for thousands of years. How do you dispose them? 2. If we have better transmission system and the use of electricity we can save the present available energy 20 to 30 percent from 160000 MW. We need a better auditing of the present Electricity use. Why don't we go for that instead of going for a more expensive and dangerous nuclear energy? 3.We the public have no idea about the expenditure of Koodamkulam Nuclear plant. 4. If some accidents happen who is responsible and who is liable? Remember Bhopal Gas Tragedy? 5.Can Kalam explain why people were asked to move out of vicinity of the reactor at Kundankulam when they were testing? Nuclear Reactors are asuras. They can destroy many many generations to come. It will also kill precious marine life and destroy livelihoods. It will actually destroy the future and present generations. Nothing prosperous about it.
Shri.A.P.J.KALAM has done a great service to our nation.His article is very good eye-opener and even a lay man in our country can easily understand now,the importance of Nuclear Power.
I appreciate 'HINDU' also in this regard.
Excellent explanation. I would earnestly request 'The Hindu' to translate this message into Tamil and please endeavour to put it in other Tamil dailies for the reading of all people less aware of nuclear power and its advantages, for their knowledge, better appreciation and the need for the society.
I have the deepest respect for Mr.Kalam, but nuclear power is neither "affordable" nor "clean". The public thinks its affordable because of cooked up accounting and the fact that shut down costs are not factored in power costs. It is only "safe" till an accident happens.
Excellent article ."Nuclear Power is the need of the hour" Mr Udayakumar(Leader of the rival faction) must read the article and any doubts regarding K.N.P.P I wish this essay would be translated to all regional languages and made available to all the people of our Nation.
Excellent article; a practical approach to use of nuclear power. However the biggest problem is the disposal of waste material - if I remember right - one-third of the fuel pellets needs to be replaced every year. I have read that by the year 2000 the world's nuclear-friendly countries had already produced 50 million tons of nuclear waste! If only we could find a way to recycle the waste economically!
A real president. Its only because of paranoid unscientific conservatives that we still use fossil fuels. The technology is so old yet forgotten that if it were put to mainstream use it would've developed so much that we could have had even flying cars by now. Its high time that we move forward into the future and harness the clean and abundant energy that's all around us. Nuclear fuel is indeed the future. I am for the project.
Dr. APJ Kalam is an Engineer par excellence and not a scientist. Someone above commented that he is/was a Project Manager. I am glad that he was, because without strong Project Management skills, we would never have gotten to the triad of nuclear deterrence that our country needs. If we the citizens of India wish to see our future generations living in prosperity not bound by the whims and fancies of fossil fuel producing countries which impinge on our independence then we should support nuclear power production in this country and demand that we increase the budget for thorium based power plants.
A very comprehensive assessment of nuclear technology has done by Mr Kalam. In country like India ,which is energy deficient Nuclear technology is a boon. I think this article would be able to convince anti nuclear people about the advantages and potential of this technology.
The cabinet ministers should buy a house and stay in the localities where people are protesting. This might erase the fear of local people because no one trust ministers. So such step will show that ministers are not lying as they themselves are staying there. So if they really want to set up nuclear power plant they have to take such initiative.
Japanese are expert in producing nuclear power. They made a mistake by using old reactor. we are using similar old reactors, it may create problem in future. Nobody discussing about our old reactors. We are familiar only with small reactors. Quick scaling up with outer technology may help economy but it will not help people. If any problem we have to get help from russians. If timely help unavailable we will loss our people like bophal. Already we had received cryogenic engine from russia that creates problem and Programmes of isro delaying a decade.
God bless you Mr Kalam.
The article clearly shows Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam is being the change he want to see. Kalam want India to be the super power in 2020 for this change we need power.For that we need nuclear energy.When there is a concern on get this he step in voluntary and tries his best to create awareness among people and tries to solve the problem.He is not waiting for the central or the state government to invite him. Great.....
It is painful to see that the observation and opinions of Kalam Ji is disrespected and ignored. All Indians know that the Youth of India have great regards for Kalam Ji. That is because, APJ is known for his forthright honesty. His vision for India 2020 is being pursued and cherished by one and all. He being a Nuclear Scientist is undoubtedly The Best to opine on the Koodankulam Project and its safety. Denying his observation is rendering injustice to the Nation. I think it is time for people to raise their voice in favour of dedicating the Koodankulam Project. Jai Hind.
Very well written article with excellent scientific resources support. Unlike other popular news papers hindu often presents articles which has sold scientific background as well as presenting both sides of the coin. Thank you so much hindu and kudos to the author.
Dear Respected Dr. Kalam, We know that you are a nuclear scientist and you are the key person who developed weapon of mass destruction in India. There is nothing great about your backing on Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project and declare it is safe. There is lot of confusion over the nuclear waste by your well trained scientists who take care of KNPP. Dr. Jain says that we can make these nuclear waste into small balls and keep in our table ; and Dr. Balaji says that we can recycle this waste. Central Minister Mr. Narayanaswami says that we can take this waste to Tharapur; and you, your good self saying that we can easily dump in to the sand at Kudankulam. Which version we need to believe? We still remember that you refused to sign some documents about safety of the plant when a worker was killed while wall of KNPP collapsed when you visited earlier to this KNPP.
This article has eroded the myth of nuclear fuel being far more destructive. Its controlled use for getting energy is I think in no way posing a risk greater than what we face in our daily life. The learned thinker has given the risk factor involved in our other activities and a comparison with respect to the nuclear fuel. Actually what is going on in this regard at ground is only for the purpose of getting cheap political milage. Common people are not so much aware of the facts that this article has provided. Finally very enriched article.
The most important point here is that there are at present 149 comments on this article. Each comment is to be weighed on its own merit and i am interested in synthesis with other thoughts and comments. For example here from the other article on Hindu:"“Mr. Abdul Kalam is a nice man and we have great respect for him. But he has a greater responsibility when it comes to Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project and should not let himself become a tool in this gamble where thousands of people live in fear.”,comment from Tamil Nationalist Movement leader Mr. P. Nedumaran. I admit being ignorant about Mr.Nedumaran's past. But his statement alone (quite unemotional but respectful!) is worthy of attention. When you read into it, there we find the need for education and i for one have an opinion that no opinion can be made right now. This will have to stay and both the proponents and opponents have great reasoning. This is exactly what needs to be sorted out in a respectful and conscious manner.
I would like to comment on the special esssy by Dr. Kalam, in his essay he pointed out about jharia, as I am a resident of Dhanbad. I can tell you the miserable condition of the residents in and around jharia. they burn themselves for the service of nation and in in return they are getting nothing. There were severl policies made by BCCL and other organisation but no action has been actually taken only meetings cant solve the problem. Its the biggest question what should be in the fate of those people who always given everything for the nation now they are in a position that they cant even survive any lives are gifted to this calamity. I would like to request through THE HINDU please spread these message to the country please do something for these poor people.
Great Kalam shows the way to create awareness and generate favorable
opinion. All pro nuclear voices need to read this article for future
reference. I myself was confused whom to trust, now I know calamity can
strike any moment any place but that should not discourage us from
breathing with hope and prosperity.
Thanks Kalam Ji, I'll keep a print out of this article.
Solar and wind power are definitely the most clean sources of energy. Renewable enrgy sources alone cannot contribute singificantly to meet the ever increasing energy demand, these resources can replace fossil fuels to a small extent. The cost of energy produced by renewable energy sources is extremely high and no way can it be afforded by common people.
Political leadership now should take it forward and explain the safety measures incorporated to the residents in the vicinity of the plant.All efforts taken by Dr Abdul Kalam in explaining how disaster can be managed in simple language will go in vain if political leaders do not take advantage now.If the protest is due to fears of safety aspects, then this article explains their doubts.If the protest is politically motivated, then only political leaders should handle the situation with firmness.
Dr. Kalam's article argues forcefully and in a cool way in support of nuclear power. But the disposal of radio-active waste has been such a serious problem that many western countries are moving away from nuclear energy. Given our population density and snail-pace management of disasters, it is better to turn to solar energy and tidal power which are cleaner and more safe than nuclear power. People living in the remote areas or coastal areas are also people and can't be expected to pay the price in the event of disasters. The fears of the locals are genuine.We need not dismiss human rights or apprehensions about nuclear power as machinations to stop India from becoming a great power. More than a quarter million farmers committed suicide in the last fifteen years. Despite initial euphoria, Globalization has increased inequality and corruption. Mere economic growth minus equality can't make us a strong nation. I hope the enthusiastic supporters of nuclear power as the only gateway to growth realize this!
His clear message "Nuclear Power is the need of the hour" is pretty convincing.It is not proper to compare India with Japan.Germany's fear is unfounded.Except Japan, all other nuclear power tragedies are man made, including Chernoble.TN Chief Minister, known for bold decision should go by Dr.Kalaam's timely advice and give a green signal to Central Govt. to go ahead with Koodangulam project immediately.TN needs addional power urgently. Any delay will be at the peril of TN's economic and industrial growth.Anti national forces are against Koodangulam project. A tamil translation of this article should be circulated among all people at Koodangulam to allay people's unfounded fear.
People of kudankulam should be pacified immediately by the Central as well State Governments about the need of the day power requiement.
Article is very much informative and will take out all fears and doubts of the people about Nuclear Power Plant. Hope by this article nearby residents of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant will understand and join their hands for commissioning of plants and further up coming projects in Kudankulam. NPCIL has planned further projects in Jaitapur, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana etc. In construction stage only proper awareness about safety and security of plant is to be given to surrounding people and wipe off their fear.
A very interesting and informative article and a strong defense of nuclear power development at a time when the issue of the Kudankulam plant is in active debate. Large scale investments done in public interest remain underutilized or closed down on account of technical and environment related arguments that do not stand a proper scientific assessment. The fight against such wrong perceptions on science and technology developments shall stat at this point.
Kalam and Singh have put forth a cogent argument about the safety of the nuclear plant. A plant is safe if the risks are found to be acceptable, while risks themselves may be conceived as potential for something unwanted and harmful may occur.A ship in the dock is very safe,but it is not built for that; somebody can jump up and point out that a ship in harbor is not safe, when tsunami or typhoon occurs.If we were to avoid all risks totally, we will not be traveling in trains,flying in planes and would have shunned the use of electricity. Whenever public safety is being agitated the problem is more on the mental plane, rather than on the technological area.Fishing is one of the dangerous jobs; the risks are readily accepted by the fishermen because it is voluntary;in the N-plant case it is not so.The main reason for this is the built up anger,disbelief and detachment of the community both with central and state governments.
I totally agree with the thoughts of the Mr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam since it is proved beyond doubt that, all countries including developed and developing nations are increasingly relying on Nuclear power which is said to be the Energy Driver of the Future. India in particular has lot of competitive advantages when it comes to Nuclear energy, we should wisely commercialise it at the earliest duly keeping in mind the environmental concerns, to meet the burgeoning energy demands of the future.
The collective wisdom of common man who experiences first hand in particular area is thousands of times better than the Specialist acquired knowledge. The specialist acquired knowledge is skewed to one side. I have appreciation of our former President for lot of things.
I feel in this article, his specialist knowledge of atomic researh comes into focus. My writing is not particular about Koodankulam. The same kind of assurances were given to people when commissioning Chernobyl, Japan plants (by American Engineers and European Scientists) - The history tells us what happened.
When there is equal danger that of benefit- why should we go in such a path? There are great alternatives coming to light in the last 10 years - solar - wind energy is far far safe (Very ver cost effective - cheaper than this Atomic Plant) - no dangers at all and here the Atomic Energy Specialist is seems to be advocating his cause.I have seen magnetic energy power generator-Pl look outside the square Sir.
A great THANKS to ‘THE HINDU’ for publishing the most educative and
thought-provoking essay from the vivacious “the Iron Man of India”,
Dr. A.P.G. Abdul Kalam and Sri. Srijan Pal Singh on an issue that is
most apt in the current circumstance of the nation.
Belonging to a radiation-risk prone district of Kerala,
Thiruvananthapuram, I am really obliged for the details provided.
Hazards that a Nuclear Plant can induce, if met with an accident, has
made the people (including me) concerned about the Koodamkulam Nuclear
Plant development facet, which can affect parts of Tamil Nadu and
Kerala equally.
Our former president, himself cleared the confusion and enlightened
about the Nuclear energy status of India , our enormous reserves of
the element- Thorium, and also the nation’s plans for harnessing
sustainable energy. Being an electrical engineer, I do understand the
need of the hour. And how the scarcity of available energy source as
well as the increasing demand for n energy.
In 1948, more than 63 years ago, India established India nuclear research institution in Bombay. In 2011, India produces only 2.85% of its total energy needs from 20 nuclear reactors. Current installed capacity is 4.78 MWe. India has ambition of reaching 20 GWe by 2020 and 50 GWe by 2050. Like developed nations, India wants to generate nearly 20% of its energy needs from nuclear energy.
Is this manifold increase realizable?
It involves huge investment outlay and it cannot come without sacrifice elsewhere.Russia, France, and USA are willing to sell nuclear technology despite our position in nuclear security.
Their desire is to realize the sung cost in the nuclear research and dislocate the spent fuel from their soil. Another event like Fukushima or Chernobyl will stop the nuclear energy as risk not worth taking. Alternate energy cost is plummeting at faster rate. Nuclear technology creates dependency on uranium, a huge import like oil. Given the above, isn’t nuclear energy risky to bet?
Dr Kalam is a nuclear expert and knows his subject well. He is also a thoughtful leader who thinks longterm. Thorium makes a lot of sense for India but requires about 20 years of research and development to make a commercial plant safe and operational. But Indian politicians are corrupt and short term thinkers who want to exploit India for their personal enrichment without any care for the country's long term future. China has shown what patience and long term focus can achieve.
Great analysis and and excellent presentation of a difficult topic. Thank you Dr. Kalam for taking pains to educate the public and, 'The Hindu' for publishing the article. I think, there is a need for a consistent educational effort that provides unbiased and rational information for a layman/woman on such critical issues, which could otherwise be politicized. There must be an outreach cell that makes sure such information is passed along to general public. I, myself, a PhD from USA and serving as a faculty in a US university in another subject, have learned so much from this one article that I have a totally different opinion about nuclear energy now. The electronic media; tv and local press must also publish this and similar articles in regional languages. Thank you Dr. Kalam and S.P. Singh along with 'The Hindu' for the information.
Jai Hind.
Right article at a right time.Should be translated in Tamil and other
regional languages and should circulate among the people for allaying
the fears of prejudice about nuclear reactor..In the meantime ,the
welfare and concerns of the people around the nuclear reactors should be
addressed by the administration suitably and effectively.On the whole
,the article is more informative and convincing
Dr.Kalam has very lucidly presented the true facts (on our necessity
of building nuclear power plants) which is indeed absolutely timely
and admirable. When words come directly from the pen of one of India's
greatest scientists and a most respected citizen they must be
considered enough to put an end to the current controversies and
ambiguity on the subject. This essay should be translated in all major
Indian languages and very widely circulated by the Government, News
Media and NGOs. It is matter of life and death for the nation. While
we are looking for high economic growth it is sheer stupidity on the
part of some political elements to cater to vote bank politics which
will drag us to sheer backwardness. Immediate initiative must be taken
by the Prime Minister to forcefully implement the policy of building
large scale nuclear plants with most uptodate technologies for power
generation and fool-proof safety. But present regime is corrupt and
incompetent and needs to be changed soon.
Why waste money on Nuclear or Gas, When solar power is safe and FREE !!
What about mine fires. Is it solely due to mining. Should we not extract much as possible of the coal around these fires, as anyway CO2 is being released, and elsewhere too as coal is prone to catch fire. Where was all the CO2 before it got to be trapped in coal, oil and gas and how did it get to be formed in the first place. Would their have been food and forests if it was not for it. It is well known that change is what drives all of existence. There is no reason to fight climate change as major climate changes have obviously taken place in the past much before civilisation. We should worry about all kinds of pollution and not CO2 emissions as CO2 is not a pollutant. If Green-house gasses get to be termed for what they are then plain water vapour and moisture too are greenhouse gases. Besides nuclear resources should be our last resort as they too would be exhausted and we would then have to go back to fossil resources with the added burden of radioactive waste storage location maps.
The article is very much informative and hopefully is an answer for those who are against its establishment.
Article that states future of nuclear technology.I read one article few
days ago of New York Times about Germany breaking up from nuclear power
plants.Thus it seems that western countries are floating such news to
make other countries refrain from such energy resource.
The assumption that "More energy = more development" is incorrect. Why is USA in this condition right now after having enough energy? Nuclear energy has some merit, I agree with that.
Economic development for a few should not be equated to "Development of our nation". We are a part of a society where development was not strongly linked with financial resources.
Put yourself in the shoe of the protesters. Imagine yourself sharing a wall with a nuclear power plant. Or like another reader pointed out, let the plant itself be built next to the residential complex of the politicians who want to bring in nuclear power.
A wonderful article on the importance of Nuclear energy for a rapidly
developing country like India. This message has to reach the common man
and everyone in the nation has to know the importance of the future of
power generation.
I was critical of The Hindu on its role in paid news, patrician attitude towards few politicians, aiding fall of few others etc., still the two page special essay written by our beloved former President Abdul Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh on the highlights of Nuclear Power was published on 05.11.2011. I congratulate The Hindu for its role in bringing out such an eye-opener. It is a sure blow on cunning politicians who play vital role in destabilizing our national development fueling few hundreds of people behind them.
Why the "developed" countries including US and Japan reducing the use of nuclear power? Many developed countries in Europe are aiming to shut down all their nuclear power station
( - Information from wikipaedia)
This article has explained the whole scenario of nuclear energy. Abdul Kalam is distinguished personality of India. After this article people of kudamkulam think about the safety measure taken in the plant and may be they won't oppose the plant.
Very good article. I always wanted to know, why these protest are so active when the project is just about to finish and go-live. What were these protestors doing for the past so many years, when construction was started and going on for years? This makes me believe that some vested interest is behind the whole protest. We surely need to understand the safety in waste handling. We also want India to be energy independent. At the same time, We also want to ask the government to setup proper process and departments to deal with emergency situations. A person of IAS cadre or Judge should head the department for Nuclear Emergency Response.
Jai Hind.
Congralations to Hindu for publishing this excellent article authored by Dr.Abdul Kalam&S.P.Singh.The authors have suceeded in presenting an extremely complex and controversial subject with such clarity and comprehension, that even an ordinary reader is able to form an informed view on the matter.
We need our political leadership to initiate actions to educate the locals so that the Kudamkulam project can contribute to the urgent energy needs of Tamil Nadu at the earliest.
It is wonderful research which explains about Nuclear Power Plants. He belongs to the region and is a very humane personality .he is very concerned about the welfare of the community around Kudankulam NPP. I wish his article to be translated into into TAMIL and distributed to people resident in that locality around the the KKNPP. Unfortunately, local Politics (fanned by enimical agents to progress of India) is behind agitation. Using Fukishima event for Kundamkulam Site is JUST ABSURD to mislead innocent people. We can only convince those who are willing to listen.
WHO SAYS NUCLEAR POWER IS UNSAFE? THIS OPINION IS BASED ON POLITICS THAN
SCIENTIFIC FACTS.If you are careless you can even injure yourself
while striking a match stick.If managed properly nuclear power is one of
the best source of energy for a country like ours which has a large
population and limited fossil fuel reserves.Till we can economically
harness other alternate sources like solar,geothermal and ocean waves we
have to get a lot of power from nuclear.let this be understood by all
those who talk against nuclear
It is a very interesting remarks of APJ, who says that Nuclear Energy
is a gateway to progress. Whose Progress? When Indian People 1.4
billion do not have all the basic needs met. About 100 million do not
have even one meal a day? Even if it is the gate way to progress,
progress of a few at the expense of the vast majority. Are you talking
about the safety and progress of the vast majority or of a few? In any
case even if nuclear energy is produced it is not going to come to the
vast majority. It is meant for a few. Your argument on Germany already
developed so that they can close down Nuclear Plants, I cannot agree
with you. If they are developed through nuclear energy they are all
the more should go for it rather than closing down. People living
around the nuclear plants in Germany are running away and they cannot
even sell their property of nearby Nuclear Plants.
Timely intervention by the Great man of our age. "The problems today are
not the the evil actions of the bad people, but the appalling silence
and inaction of the good people. " ---Martin Luther. Let all those who
understand the import of his statement support and strengthen Dr.
Kalam's statement.
Kudos to Shri.APJ.Kalam.His article published in today 'HINDU' is really an eye-opener to everybody. Now a layman can easily understand about Nuclear Energy and its worth. It has destroyed all the hallow and empty opinions so far advertised by the anti nuclear groups. He has done a great service to this nation by the way of this article. At the same time I am also appreciating 'THE HINDU’ for this fabulous job
Excellent and highly informative. But couple of concerns obviously require attention. First excessive comparison is made to fossil fuel, which is limited and have environmental implications, and ignored possible clear and safe substitutes like solar and wind energy. At the productivity front solar or wind energy may not be that viable as nuclear energy, but why can't we invest time and resource in developing technology to leverage the potential of such energy sources. 4 incidents in 6 decades is not a reason to ignore dangers of a nuclear failure. Each and every life is precious and we can not afford to have even a single nuclear disaster as long as the life on earth exists. Consequences of a nuclear incident is unpredictable and can not be compared to aviation and marine accidents especially for densely populated country like India. There could be a political angle
to the entire episode, but safety should be on top of the list always.
Dr Abdul Kalam with his coauthor has painstakingly written an objective and logical article explaining about nuclear energy generation, moderation and how disasters can be managed in this nuclear plant.The article has been written as simple as possible to enable non technical people understand.What is required now a credible political leader to go and meet the people and explain and allay the fears of residents in the vicinity . The problem we have is who is the credible political leader? Every leader is interested in vote bank.
Because of weak leadership, gullible and innocent people have been given wrong information and fear has been created by deterrents of our economic growth.Dr Abdul Kalam has done his job by saying that he is satisfied on safety provisions. Will the political leadership both in the state and center take it forward?
Dr.Kalam has given what our Ministers and other politicians have failed -give a clear picture of what nuclear energy is, and how safe the Kuudankulam plant is. In democracy, people have every right to express their views and have them respectfully listened to & addressed. It is also the expectation of the same democracy that people should be fair & reasonable in addressing a public cause. Emotional reactions based on unwarranted fears would not help. Traffic fatal accidents are still the No.1 killers of accidental-deaths in India; are we going to ban automobiles, in the name of safety?
Excellent work by this excellent man for the people who had made a worse
conjecture about Nuclear Energy.I think this Article must be translated
in every language so that common people get to know about it.This is a
very good expert analysis.
Thanks to 'The Hindu'for this masterpiece.
I have no faith that India will be able to handle a nuclear disaster the
way Japan has handled. Small things like drinking water, food, roads are
not there to all. These corrupt governments will be able do nothing in
case of an emergency.
While Dr.Kalam peddles the "official view", he has not addressed the vital issues raised by those protesting against nuclear energy in general and Kudankulam in particular.
1. This power plant was thrust without taking the proper steps to put up such a plant of this magnitude.
a)There was no consultation with the locals.
b)They did not get the essential environmental clearances.
2.Why are you putting the onus of protection from the radiation of the waste material be passed on to future generations?
Let's suppose we get power for 50 to 60 years. That is 2 generations to the max. But we need to keep the waste safe for 1400 years so that it loses it's radiation and the destructive power of that radiation. Why would you put the future generations on such a huge risk?
3.His onus of asking us to hit upon Moscow and the US on nuclear weapons is at best a weak attempt. I can't bend US and Moscow. But I can at least stop those wastes piling up in my backyard,right?
I immensely enjoyed reading this.
In Indian context, in Rs/MegaWatt-Hour, what is the energy
cost at which electricity must be generated from a
specific source to break even, for nuclear sources as compared to that
from coal, natural gas, bio-fuels, wind and solar options?
At times, policy instruments for subsidizing power source options,
emerge from such analysis.
As we calculate opportunity costs and advocate buying insurance for the prosperity of our future generation, after due diligence, such cost comparison is good to share in any public policy debate.
Thank you for this opportunity.
Simple presentation. Highly learned as well as uneducated Indians will understand if they are not politically biased. Every living thing learns to improve from mistakes committed. Whoever was bold and improved themselves have contributed immensely to the progress of the world and are better remembered,adored and honoured by future generations, whether in a family, community, village, town, country or world.
We should start respecting the views of personalities such as these authors who do not solicit any popularity and ignore the advise of mere politicians whose ambitions are well known to all.
Thanks and Congrats to Ex-Prez for doing his job though he is out of office. Nice initiative by Kalam, more such leaders are enough to convince kudankulam agitators, ofcourse there are comments by few people who for sure havent made a glance at what he has written :) . GOD FORGIVE THEM
We cannot find in our times a person more humane in his approach than DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, towards the multifarious problems faced by the societies in India. By this excellent article he has, in a very convincing manner, allayed the apprehensions of people about safety and security issues related to nuclear power. As many other readers have pointed out, this article should be translated in all languages in FAQ format and distributed to the fear struck people, to make them appreciate in a dispassionate manner,the many plus factors with complementary risk mitigating/ management techniques that have been put in place and the upgradations contemplated on an ongoing basis in Kudankulam.
Thank you Hindu for publishing this very important Op-Ed. Thanks very much to Dr. Kalam and Mr. Singh for writing such cogent and reasoned article clarifying the various misconceptions around nuclear power. As the article pointed out there are far more deaths and illness every year due to the pollution from fossil fuel than there ever was from nuclear power plants. But people who have closed their minds they are blind to such proof and the political parties are playing along with such blind fear instead of providing leadership for the greater good and long term future of the country. Sad situation...
Former President Abdul Kalam has less mentioned about the constraint associated with nuclear waste disposal. He used very less space a number of words to mention about nuclear disasters occured in civilian nuclear stations; the recent one in Fukushima. In Kodunkulam, thousands of people are struggling for their right to live in a safer environment, they had witnessed the catastrophical consequence of Tsunami few years before and still they are not get rid of its fear. Here Mr. Abdul Kalam says that the location of Kudamkulam reactor is not in within the frequency of Seismic Zone. Recently nearly one hundred youths from north Kerala visited Kudamkulam to express their solidarity to the local community those who were protesting against the nuclear power plan commissioning says that the reactor is very close to the sea and even a layman can imagine how safe it will be. If nuclear bombs and weapons are really destructive and its radiation efffect is uncontrollable why we spent resources on it.
Plutonium is a man-made waste product of nuclear fission, which can be used either for fuel in nuclear power plants or for bombs. Less than 8 kilograms (about 18 pounds) of plutonium is enough for one Nagasaki-type bomb. Thus, in the year 2000 alone, enough plutonium was created to make more than 34,000 nuclear weapons. Most of the waste from nuclear reactors go into making of weapons, whose receipients are almost always humans. All the steps in the complex process of creating nuclear energy entail environmental hazards. The mining of uranium, as well as its refining and enrichment, and the production of plutonium produce radioactive isotopes that contaminate the surrounding area, including the groundwater, air, land, plants, and equipment. As a result, humans and the entire ecosystem are adversely and profoundly affected. Some of these radioactive isotopes are extraordinarily long-lived, remaining toxic for hundreds of thousands of years.
It would be terribly sad and definitely ignorant if we chose to ignore evidence and incidents around us and instead keep pushing the growth agenda placing no cost to value of life of our citizens. Where does this end? In a radiation mishap? I hope not.
The common renewable sources of energy's (solar,wind) though abundant in our country are not being harnessed in the appropriate manner.But this potential (nuclear energy) from thorium which is also an abundant resource in our country must not be misunderstood as a bane because the scenario and background events have been clearly substantiated (above).In my opinion, as our country can be a self sufficient one from the viewpoint of energy (if thorium is our mainstake), atleast a fraction of amount being currently spent on the imports of fuel can be set aside to conduct some awareness campaign so as to eradicate the myth that's around this precious resource.
An article that has come at the right time. However, who will explain the nuclear intricacies to the agitating masses - in a language that is understood by them? Its time Indians chose between Nuclear Economics and Nuclear Politics! We need a sequel to this article - exposing the vested interests who are encouraging the agitation.
1.) The article happens to be quite informative and convincing. Thanks for the data and other key information pertaining to the nuclear power generation. I agree, with Kalam ji and Singh ji, that India's economy is expanding and it needs more power for accelerating its speed. 2.) But there are some intriguing and genuine concerns related to the risks attached to it. a) A country, which is always on the hit-list of terrorist organisations, can't afford expanding its nuclear power project. I'm of the view that terrorist would certainly try to target the new nuclear power plants to show case their havoc and inflict maximum damage to India. b) Secondly, A country where administration and its people, too, are always in the state of carelessness, one could easily make a point that relying much on the nuclear power is hazardous. There are more chances of nuclear accidents going off in India. c) What about the nuclear wastes ?
A very good expert analysis on nuclear energy for India. It is quite understandable that the nuclear energy is the way forward for India to achieve all round development in a short span of time. There are inherent risks associated with nuclear power and that has been put in context. The greatest worry is nuclear waste management which finds little mention in the article - perhaps this article is not exhaustive to cover this aspect. Nuclear power is risky but so is electricity from whatever source. If we have effective and safe nuclear management systems in India, then, as the authors tell us, it is the way forward for India. Hope the authors' views are heard by decision makers.
In the context of Koodankulam: While the government should take into account all the facts and ideas that are projected through this article, it must also ensure the safety of the locals of Koodankulam by making them understand the 'What's' and 'Why's' of the project.This article proves to be an eye-opener for all those who were blindfolded by 'Nuke Myths'.
I salute the super scientist of our times. All studies show that nuclear power is the least accident prone. Hope more people read this classic analysis
Excellent article, more importantly this information has to reach to the protesters to allay their unwanted fears of nuclear power plant. If this doesn't answer quell their fear then nobody can do anything.
The article is quite informative. It increases awareness of the uranium vs thorium technology, nuclear bomb vs power-plant and argues for a cleaner and sustainable energy being a necessity for a fast-growing economy such as India. At best, the article forces people to think 'why not nuclear energy?' in a fresh light. That said, the present article does not provide answers to the following questions, necessary to form individual opinions on 'how well will nuclear energy work out for India':Q1. How many power plants do we need, and how long will current thorium supplies last?(After all we don't want to end up like Germany) Q2. At what developmental stage are we in, in making these reactors 100% safe and when can we expect them to be fully operational? (If it is to take 100 yrs.,
maybe it is not viable at this stage) Q3. How are we going to use this nuclear energy, say to run cars? (Do we need research in electrical energy storage as well?)Q4. At what locations do we build them?
There is nothing new at all in this rhetoric, which has been there in pro-nuclear writings since the 1970s. Nuclearization of India as well as other countries has always been promoted as part of nationalistic madness; the article doesn't mention at all the history of deception and lies of the nuclear industry worldwide: This is extremely well documented, both in journalism and academic writing. Further, this article says basically nothing about "nuclear waste" itself (which is already there in millions of tons in the world); choosing to focus, instead, solely on the harm from other sources. If these authors are serious about all this, then they should suggest setting up plants like that in Delhi itself (because the politicians there appear to want this technology, unlike the locals of this particular place). This is all pro-development madness couched in a rationalistic rhetoric. There is nothing new here at all!
A lot of thanks to Dr.Kalam and Dr. Singh for this valuable article. One can easily understand the difference between nuclear weapon and nuclear power plant. I came to know in our country India Thorium will be the safest energy yielding resource for sustainable development.
One of the best thought provoking articles published in The Hindu.
Renewal energy can provide million of jobs without the risk of nuclear waste, which cannot be eliminated. Ultimately nuclear energy cost much more than the investment in alternative sources. Let India take lead and show the path of alternative and innovations which are affordable for the developing world. This will also give huge potential for India to establish itself as the alternative to the monopoly of the developed countries. This will naturally enhance the prestige of the Indian people as well wishers of the world, ensuring safety and security.
I admit that article is supporting the NPP(Nuclear Power Plant) project bitwise and I am in favour too but think about the people of area where the project is being implanted. Consider the situation, an NPP is going to be built nearby area where you use to live, will you support the project devotionally ? Govt must have solid scheme for those habitants before setting up NPP.
Some of the important points missed out : 1) Germany has changed its nuclear policy 3 times in 3 years. Even today they have not planned to take out the fuel from the 9 reactors which they have shut down. Those which are still running are Ist Generation 0 30 years old. But we want to close the 3rd Generation Brand new reactors citing Germans as our Role Model ! What great wisdom we have! I an sure in another 2 years Germany will reverse its stand pasting black on our faces ! 2)Fukushima has in fact proved that Nuclear reactors can be built to withstand the worst Earthquake ever happened on earth. All the 15 Reactors which were operating at that time shut down promptly and there were no damages due to earth quake. The worst ever tsunami has been withstood by all reactors expect those 3 ill fated Reactors. Japan has 54Reactors which have seen hundreds of Earthquakes of intensities ranging from 5 to 8 in Rictor scale. 3) Almost all countries which have Life expectancy 70 years have Nuclear power share 20%. Moreover all these countries are so small and they have so many Reactors that most of the Reactors are very close to the high population density areas only. UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Czech, Slovakia, Slovania, Ukrain, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan,etc are examples. Only USA, Canada have higher life expectancy and they also have reasonable level of Nuclear energy. The other countries which have higher life expectancy are insignificant in terms of population. 4)The number of people who have died in Coal mine accidents in the past 60 years is about 540,000. The complete Nuclear fuel cycle related (Mining to Reprocessing) is hardly within 100 and another few thousands may have premature deaths due to cancer. There are another few lakhs who have lost their limbs in the coal mine accidents. They also need to be accounted. Even today atleast 1 person dies in India for every 2 million tons coal mining. That is about 350 people die of coal mine accidents every year in India. The number for China is few thousands. 5) Regarding the Nuclear waste, almost all the long lived radioactive substances (Pu-239, Am-240,U-235,etc) are recycled and all short lived radioactive materials any way die down within few years. What are left out are the intermediate half life materials like Cs-137(30 years), St-90(28 years), Kr-85(10 years), etc. The total quantity of these Fission products in the yield of Fission products is only about 25%. Out of this this 25%, 50% would have died down by the time they are ready for disposal after reprocessing. It is absurd to talk about managing radioactive substances for thousands of years TN is planning to build 3000MW of Solar power plant at a cost of Rs.45,000 cr. With this money we can build 4500 MW of Nuclear power. This will produce as much electricity as 12,000MW of Solar power plant can produce. The PLF of Nuclear is almost 4 times that of Solar, since Solar is available only for 8 hours and that also during the non-peak period. If only TN Govt takes this opportunity and goes for additional Reactors in KNPP and supports a new site in Andhra with financial participation, TN will take a quantum leap in growth. If they think they are right in copying Gujarat in going for Solar, then it is wrong. Unfortunately, Gujarat is wrong ONLY in going for the Solar in a big way ! May be NRIs are bringing cheap funds from outside. But still, it is wrong to misuse their hard earned money.
Nuclear power is characterised by the very large amount of energy available from a very small amount of fuel. The amount of waste is also relatively small. However, much of the waste is radioactive and therefore must be carefully managed as hazardous waste.
This article has been published at a most appropriate time when many innocent people are dragged into unwanted situation of hating nuclear power. This should be translated and published in all tamil dailies immediately.
Obviously coal and fossil fuels are out. Those aren't even part of the discussion or shouldn't be - they are horrible options for a number of reasons.As for nuclear, that too is completely unnecessary. Solar, wind, geothermal, hydro... there is a huge array of options available before we have to go to nuclear and risk more disasters like Fukushima. Just start putting up photovoltaic panels, wind generators and the like and it is perfectly possible to power all of mankind on renewables. High-grade fissionables aren't in plentiful supply at all if we talk uranium, and thorium is still a pipe dream - nobody has built a functional thorium reactor to date. I will never understand the pro-nuclear people... we have clean, safe options now, why not build them?
This is one of the best articles that we have had the opportunity to read and understand so very easily.This article gives us an insight into the whole matter very clearly.Hope and pray good sense prevails upon those who are opposing this.
Superbly comprehensive and cogent article.Nuclear power is certainly the most relevant source of power for a developing nation like India unless we manage to commercialize fusion power.India should look at partnering with global giants such as GE or others to rapidly commercialize the thorium route.Since there's not much risk of weaponizing thorium, there should not be much problem with collaboration.
This article was an eye opener for me regarding the matters of nuclear plant and i'm thankful for Dr kalam for helping me remove the age old myths that goes like this "nuclear disaster affects generations upon generation". As a youth,i think ;lots of Media hype regarding the nuclear disasters and its aftermath are molding people's attitude towards nuclear power plants in a misleading way...
Excellent piece in a simple language. The basic problem is the fear of the people living in and around the plant. While they never opposed this project when it was started, they oppose this project now because of the disasters occurred in Russia, Japan, France and after seeing the people of Bhopal disaster whether it is due to human error or natural disaster. It is the Indian Govt's responsibility to solve the fears of local people. Is it really safe? How is it going to do protect the people? What measures are going to be followed to keep it safe? Answers to these questions will solve the problem. People trust honest people like Mr.Kalam and he should meet the local people and explain the safety of the plant and benefits for India to march ahead as a super peaceful power. Thanks for this article Sir.
The former president of India, a scientist of international repute has objectively x rayed the Scenario with an open mind, and in this background the protesters from both the southern States should willingly and with all grace permit the govt of India to proceed with the project in the larger interests of the land. Opposition should not be there just for opposition and narrow political considerations should not create bottlenecks in the country's onward march
First of all my hearty congratulations to THE HINDU editorial team for their effort to bring out a factual article by Kalam Sir. But one must also think of the farmers state once when the reactors are commisioned. It is known that how the higher authorities have behaved with the pepole when they approached them with their problems. I strongly believe that facts are more important but, now what people need is the assurance from the officials regarding their welfare in the future.
An impressive and lucid article written in a manner understandable to common man with little or no knowledge of science, just working knowledge of English language. All myths surrounding nuclear power has been thrashed with facts and figures. It is time we work towards safety and improved technology rather than waste efforts and resources against nuclear power mission!
Agree with APJ sir on the issue we certainly should work towards a vision of clean and green energy for India which should include Thorium based nuclear plant, Hydrogen based fuel cells, wind and solar energy...and I also agree that anti-nuclear tirade should be against the nuclear weapons and not against Nuclear power plants..
Excellent article. Some were casting aspersion on Dr. Kalam and must have ulterior motives. For India, Thorium is the best bet and once developed we will have the capability to also improve our economy by selling the technology to other countries as we do not have to worry about weaponisation. Yes, every technology has its risk. Everyone who has spoken here about risk has forgotten the 1000s of lives lost each year to floods and famine that is resulting from global heating due to coal. Are these skeptics talking about that? Their only purpose is to create fear out of nothing. Dr. kalam's argument on comparing Chernobyl and Fukushima is excellent to show that despite the huge quake and Tsunami, the plant actually only posed a mild danger and caused least damage as compared to Chernobyl. Yes, the safety can be even further increased after learning lessons from Fukushima.
Per capita energy argument is passe. Economies can grow with lower per capita energy consumption. Businesses are showing the way & India can lead this trend. Nuclear energy needs to be in the mix for India. However, what percentage should it be and why needs to be articulated clearly. India has been a laggard in producing nuclear energy. Inordinate delays of execution and inefficient implementation has led to India using far less nuclear energy than originally planned.Thorium is the nuclear fuel of future. We need to sidestep international politcal current of western Uranium based technology. Hydel, coal or nuclear, our governments have been insensitive in compensating inhabitants. Safety norms are still lax and they need to be improved multi-fold. All our plants are on the coast and having had tsunamis in our environs recently it will be grossly irresponsible to ignore such threats and not have effective plans for evacuation.
An excellent summary by the Nuclear Guru Sri Abdul Kalamji of India's need for Civil Nuclear power projects Uranium and Thorium to meet the clean energy needs and for sustained economic development. I salute him for this educative and thought provoking article.As an engineer associated with the nuclear power industry in USA I wish to share my concerns for better understanding of the policies and practices in place to address them. They are: sustained supply of enriched uranium u-235 from domestic and imported sources for maximizing the reactor capacities; reprocessing of spent fuel to minimize the disposable radioactive waste and training programs to inculcate safety awareness in the general public to allay the myths about civil nuclear power.
Will the Governments take note of what Dr Kalam is saying, wake up and do the needful to give a green signal to the Prestigious Kudamgulam Project.
Great article from from a renowned nuclear scientist turned statesman. Things are clear and lines are drawn very clearly. Every technology comes with some challenges. If we get bogged down out of fear, we will never be able to harness the fullest potential of technology nor will ever have scientific temper to emancipate humanity. Tamilnadu to larger extent is an energy starved state. Hydel power is unthinkable to be added. Thermal is import dependent on coal and oil. Wind power has been harnessed but we may have limitations. Sea and sun power as of now too have limitation. Nuclear power alone can lead to more power generating capacity and we need to move ahead instead of shivering with fear of unknown
We Indians should decide for India.. Very well said. Dr Kalam is person par excellence in terms of integrity, intelligence, patriotism, simplicity, down to the earth .....and what not. Even if I do not know deep into the subject, I would respect Dr Kalam and support Nuclear Power in India. The Governments should now wake up, allay due fears of the innocent people and give a go ahead to the Kudankulam Project. What we need is Kalams and lots of them for a clean, corruption free India.People who have been opposing the Kudamkulam Project seem to be either politically motivated or have vested interests.
Thank you Dr Kalam and Srijan Pal Singh. This article clearly states what our priorities should be. We must be brave enough to take tough decisions and calculated risks if we want our own citizens to enjoy the same technological and economic benefits as those in developed nations, a task which is a lot more difficult for us because of our huge population. We are already lagging behind. Nuclear energy was the future 50 years ago. India is ever ready to display great responsibility without attaining great power. Let us be practical for once and cover this necessary step to achieving practical greatness and energy security for all.
Dear Dr. Kalam, there are 2 aspects you touch in this essay. One that development needs energy.. yes thats good. Second that Nuclear Energy is the way forward. With present Indian Disaster Management , we are at a level which is worse than Chernobyl. No economic arguments should overshadow the basic value for Human Life. If you mention energy based on Thorium is better and India has the largest resource in the world, Why do we waste our time with Nuclear Deals instead of developing the technology to safely generate energy using Thorium. Shouldn't the focus be to build our nation on clean and safe energy rather than dangerous nuclear energy? Wind and Solar energy may be irregular but given our innovative culture, we ca definitely find a way to store energy & use it when weather conditions are not conducive. Shouldn't we focus on this instead of importing Nuclear technologies and fattening corporate purses at the expense of poor...?
Very Well Compiled and Written. Let the positives be taken up and spread to the fishing and village communities near the plant. At least this will open the eyes of the people and to change their minds about the benefits Atomic energy can produce.
Some correlation between radiation exposure and cancer risk is acknowledged by all. That the Atomic Bombing Casualty Commission, reconstituted as Radiation Effects Research Foundation, exists and continues, since 1946, with studies on atomic radiation and that its latest report only says that the said studies have not found thus far any inherited genetic effects from parental radiation prove that any adverse results of the long term impact of radiation and nuclear disaster across generations cannot be ruled out. In the circumstances, to reject the argument, that nuclear accidents and radiation fallout would continue to impact generations to come as 'probable myth', is the one based on conjectures. To describe the true fear in the minds of the people as 'comic-book imagination' is more cruel. Hence, comparing nuclear tragedies to air-crash, ship-wreck or rail accidents is no sense. While a government can work to pave way for a 'prosperous future', it has no power to subject the citizens to nuclear radiation under any circumstances. Even our Cr.P.C says that ' no innocent person shall be punished'.
Wonderful Article..why don't some expert explain all these factors to Koodankulam people to allay their fears??..I am sure these details will definitely make them understand the fact about nuclear reactors..If not for others benefits, nuclear reactors are worth the risk compare to the consequences of the climate change.
Excellent....We Indians should decide for India.. what a command of language and wealth of information.. the most important part is to communicate this excellent piece of information to the 'common-man' who actually opposes the idea 'without understanding'...
Wonderful analysis....sir I agree with your point completely and believe that India should look at nuclear energy as the future source necessary for sustainable development .
The economically developed world has a well-trained habit of presenting their success in a distorted context to misguide emerging nations like India. very true. Thank you Kalam sir for the wonderful article!
Its disappointing to see the former President trivialize Fukushima. Also, he is really not unbiased on this issue, and should not be using his position to promote his personal agenda. Also, there should be some acknowledgment about India's capacity or blatant lack thereof to safely manage nuclear reactors and nuclear waste. We are not doing a very good job of it so far. There are much safer and more efficient sources of energy. The big elephant in the room is the immense amount of water required to sustain nuclear power. We are already facing immense water shortages and now he is promoting the use of a highly water intensive (and wasteful) process to support India's right to develop at the expense of its people and the environment. The right to develop is not synonymous with nuclear power. Remember who is the 99% Mr Kalam. Stop misleading your people.
This type of objective information sharing is long overdue. Just imagine what would happen if nuclear reactors (power or research) are not there? Life saving radiopharmaceuticals, increase in agriculture produce, solutions ot industry related issues and more importantly the energy security. Long march to sustained propsperity and self sufficiency would remain a distant dream.
Dear Kalam with due respect to your intellect and integrity you have failed the nation by pushing for the nuclear deal with USA and west. The deal pushed us into being a dumping ground for expensive and untested technology with little accountability on the suppliers. Our track record on Bhopal shows how we protect MNCs at the cost of our own people. If the Nuclear power is the cleanest , safest and most economical why the west has not installed these in the past 30 years and nations like Germany have committed to disband existing plants?. Why India should become an experimental ground at a Huge cost?. Let the west who robbed the earth of it's natural resources and lead the way in clean energy systems and make them available to the world.
Dr Kalam's relevant and informative essay had addressed following important concerns- 1. The misconception in masses on the need and safe handling of nuclear energy. 2. The need to revise our energy policies to concentrate on consumption of thorium generated uranium fuel. 3. Nuclear energy is a boom and not a burden. The quoted examples really justifies the fact that we should improve from failure's rather than escaping from technology.Great work from The Hindu and Dr Kalam.
It is our great pleasure that Dr A P J Abdul Kalam is an Indian. By reading his each article, the reader is able to look at things in a different perspectives. This article give away the doubts regarding whether to use nuclear power for economic purpose, once again thanks THE HINDU for publishing this
I thank Mr. Kalam for giving an excellent explanation about why we need Nuclear energy. He clearly explained why it is superior to other energy resources both in efficiency and safety.
Thanks for sharing about nuclear technology. India should go for building more nuclear power plants to tap the power demands of future.Thanks to Respected sir APJ.
All the politicians irrespective of parties they belong should read the article of our beloved leader Dr.Kalam and convey the message that nuclear plants are not dangerous and are required for the future generation to compete with developed nations. Let our children prosper.
Beautiful article with good scientific and other statistical backing. Hope people of Koodankulam understand this and pave way for this project. Also instead of confusing the common man, all political parties should announce their solution to solve the power crisis and clean environment. We need clean nuclear power for our future and govt should not hesitate to spend more more money and time to proactively educate people and create awareness.
Sounds like a sound argument but it does not deal clearly about the disposal and inherent risks of radio-active nuclear wastes generated by the nuclear power plants. I understand at present they are disposed of into the sea. The carry a certain risk. But when nuclear power plants proliferate the quantity of waste to be disposed would also rise enormously, probably to an unmanageable level at some future date. The pollution caused by automobiles could not be foreseen when the first automobile was invented. Still there is no viable solution to the problem. Solar energy seems to be the best alternative. It is enormous energy untapped. Needs further and better research. A device as simple as a magnifying glass can produce heat enough to ignite. Can't that heat energy be utilized? Perhaps more enterprise can help. Similarly 80% of the earth is covered by water. Yet water is a scarce commodity.I wonder whether research is politically motivated by some advanced countries.
It's a pity that the agitators are not ready to mediate with Mr.Kalam. Going by their reactions to this article and to Kalam's intervention, there is no doubt that the entire movement is politically motivated. I doubt if even 1% of the agitators know what their movement is about. They have been blinded by a few political parties with vested interests! It is important for people to take a neutral and wholesome point of view to the issue.
Excellent Article, Thx Mr.APJA Kalam,Mr.SP Singh & Hindu.
People who oppose nuclear energy are mainly focusing on 2 things. a)
Why dont increase current energy generation methods ? b) How can GOI
be believed on their assurances related to nuclear energy ?
Simple logic is if GOI can implement(a), then they will be able to
implement (b)as well....so question is why can't we go to (b)
directly, instead of optimizing on (a).
As mentioned in article, we cannot afford to live with type-0 fuels
neither can we afford to move forward by natural energy
harnessing...only way is to accept the change, fine tune the changes
for betterment & go forward...
I wonder those who oppose nuclear energy now must be opposing
aeroplanes & ships if they were living at tht age...I suppose they
definitely would...
Nuclear energy is not a reliable enery.It is a harmful energy instead.If
in the plant while running any minor problem occur that will cause the
entire territory cover up in radiation.Well equipped instruments are
being used in westren nuclear plants unlike India a political nation
which is relent to renew plants time to time for saftey measures.
Wonderful and informative article;great service to society from the ex-president.
The Kalam/Singh article does make a point for Thorium based power and does talk about the emissions/expenses due to coal based power. The article does not talk about the ABSOLUTE need to put more modern scrubbing devices that would reduce the CO2 emissions. India will never be able to get away from Coal and hence as a responsible emerging economic power it imperative that MAKING Coal based emissions CLEANER should be a priority. Also: There is no reference to inefficient distribution and illegal tapping of power from the Grid. We are all caught in this Anti-Nuclear movement but the authors do make a very good arguement for Thorium based power sources. But anything "managed" by the Govt has proven to be inefficient and bureaucratic. The Govt should have an oversight role and let the private industries develop it. We also should not succumb to the activists and local politicos who tend play on the sentiments of the less knowledgeable citizens. Their concerns should be fairly addressed.
dear kalam sir,really its a very nice article by you.this article must read not only by indians,but by all human beings of this world for world wellfare,as your article carries real fact of heating and globaly warming of earth causes,therefore even if by use of nuclear energy their are some demerits of its use such as nuclear radiations,or if it harms lives,so we(all human beings)should ready for accepting it,although as per your article nuclear plant effects very slowly,but we (the human beings)have harmed very rapidly to our planet(earth)natural resouces....so to pay back what we have used till yet from our environment,it is necessary to invent nuclear plant kind of technology based energy,(as all depends on energy) and maintain earth's environment clean and green for next generations.....also if "Nuclear Plant harms lives it will also teach for more better lives"
One of the best articles i have ever read. I may not be a scientist or technocrat, but i have understood it now. As the saying goes, there is no gain, without pain. Nuclear energy is less pain for more gain. I strongly doubt, few hundreds or thousand local population, playing local politics to score over others. Otherwise, it cannot be erupted so vociferously to stop the plant. I support nuclear energy and it is the only option for growth. From KL Nagarajan, Dubai
It is surprising that the essay projects nuclear power as the one and only alternative energy source for the future. Though it says something about solar and wind energy, it doesn't even mention the viable and energy alternatives such as Geo-thermal energy, hydrogen fuel, bio-gas and algae fuel. These are more prominent and cost effective energy sources even with the present technology. Authors say nuclear energy is undoubtedly superior in terms of economic benefits. But there is no substantive arguments in the essay to support this claim.
Can Kalam explain why people were asked to move out of vicinity of the reactor at Kundankulam when they were testing??? Nuclear Reactors are asuras. They can destroy many many generations to come. It will also kill precious marine life and destroy livelihoods. It will actually destroy the future and present generations. Nothing prosperous about it.
We can generate more generation from Wind Mills in the same area and even give to other states.
Nuclear Energy projects shud be stopped. People with good hearts do not preach for Nuclear Energy. It is a devil astra. Very sad when people don't say the truth. Even when I met some journalists from Japan recently they said, there are lot of problems with regard to radiation from the Nuclear Plants. There is no technology to dispose Nuclear Waste. It is a bomb in itself. Accept that and stop Nuclear Projects. Touch your heart and say. We are a tropical country blessed by enough Sunlight. We can depend on the Nuclear Energy from the Sun.
Excellent article.A very insightful and thought provoking work.Every one should read this and especially those who are against nuclear energy to get their facts right.Thanks to The Hindu for bringing out fine pieces of articles like this time and again.
This article is a Work of Art by Dr.Kalam. Waiting for him to deliver a speech to the ppl at Koodamkulam on nuclear power and convince them of the nuclear might.
Why doesn't Kalam's statement go wrong. On comparing the Chernobyl & Fukushima, he didn't compare the situation. In Fukushima we had enough time to evacuate the people. In Chernobyl reactor had much fuel inside the reactor. And it blasted because of uncontrolled reaction. But in Fukushima the scenario is little different we had much lesser fuel inside and the moderator was inserted into the reactor. It blasted due to the uncontrolled heat. The problem of nuclear reactor is we need to protect the reactor for 100s of generations to come. Anything can happen at any time. And the mild radiation is unavoidable at anytime. That will cause slow mutations and cancer. And if accidents occur we cannot rectify the effects. In India we couldn't satisfy the power demand because the national grid is not designed to carry that much power. So we cannot use the power from natural resources produced at south India. Instead of having nuclear plants we could renew the national power grid.
He hardly speaks about the Nuclear Waste and Radiation. Absolute rubbish. Electricity is a fleeting byproduct, but the main product of a reactor is always Nuclear Waste and radiation.
An insightful commentary coming from a foremost scientist; thoroughly readable. Thanks The Hindu for publishing this useful treatise. Will TN CM Jayalalithaa has the IQ to digest this and make way for the smooth functioning of the plant which is built at a cost of rupees 13,000 crores.
Brilliant article by Dr.Kalam. One of the most comprehensive and to the point article. This man keeps surprising me every time.
@ T.Subramanian, Well, before suggesting something to Dr.Kalam, kindly try to understand what he really meant in his article. He just mentioned that technology in every field has developed only after facing some initial hurdles and he never compared the impact of a plane crash to a nuclear accident. Regarding the latency period, he has clearly stated it with facts that the increase in cancer rate for the atom bomb survivors was very meager. If you are still worried about latency, let me put things in perspective, one receives approximately 30 millisieverts of radiation for a normal abdominal CT SCAN and the peak exposure to the chernobyl survivors as mentioned in the article is around 800 millisieverts. The risk of cancer increases by around .5 PERCENT for 100 millisieverts exposure. Kindly analyze the facts before expressing your concerns. Thanks
Thanks Dr. Kalam, Srijan pal singh and The Hindu for the detailed explanation and complete data analysis on the need for Nuclear power. This will be an eye opener for every one. Let us support Dr.Kalam and let us spread the same to the whole of India. We have to have Nuclear energy atleast 50% of the total usage. We can save lot of coal fields. It is good to know that India is having Thorium in plenty and this will help India economically and dont have to depend on other countries like we do now for oil. Let the Govt spread the same message to the people of india and convince the ignorant politicians and public. Like Annaji has brought the corruption awareness and fight Dr.Kalamji with his vast knowledge on hi-fi area of missile technology and nuclear power can be an Idol for the Nuclear power with his support we can bring in the change. Thanks again and let us support nuclear power.
This is a master piece essay which should really transform our
misconceptions to strong support for nuclear energy development in
India. We have been in the darkness of undergrowth, now is the time to
show our potential .Nuclear power is essential for that dream.
Politicians have always used some parochial interests to misguide
people on this issue. Media has to play a tremendous role . The HINDU
has done it before and is still doing it. The aricle is published at
right time. I also wish that THE HINDU publishes the lecture given by
kalam shahab at Hyderabad. salute to kalam sahab.....
Very balanced, lucid and forthright representation of facts for the benefit of layman-must be read by those who are lead up against the Nuclear option. The Fukushima-Daichi was an old plant with if my reading is correct, pending recommended safety upgrades. Deciding against nuclear option in view of the incident would be to stop using latest jets because of failures of an old, in service fan type aircraft. On coal, India has reserves of Coal as much as it has of thorium. Now the matter of rights of the inhabitants of land with coal reserves or for that matter any common resource, has to be dealt with fairly. The mala-fide politicisation has to be stopped and the inhabitants communicated in clear terms that in order to enjoy the benefits of a nation, they will have to exchange something, even if it is land, with just compensation. High grade coal of Jharia is a precious resource which in its natural form is harmlful and useless to the inhabitants, then the inhabitants must be moved.
excellent article by our Honourable Ex-President Dr.Kalam. All political
parties, should try to convince the villagers nearby . Let us welcome
the Kudankulam plant, with proper safety features,contemplated.
Dr.Kalam is a great scientist himself.He is highly qualified in this subject than any other Public figure.He was the most adorable president of India.He can easily called as "Anna kalam",we feel that all sections of society should give at most respect and "Lend their ears" to these wise words of Anna Kalam.
Dr.Kalam, thank you for your services to our Country.We owe a great
deal to you.
The Hindu,I appreciate your efforts to bring out the reality. I hope
Ms.Jayalalitha and the protesters see this and end their politics.Also
for the future they should know when to stop what they started.I
sincerely hope that the AEC and Future Central Governments do not shy
away from selecting sites and installing nuclear plants in the State
of Tamil Nadu. This state needs lot of energy in the future to keep up
the growth rate.The incidents like protests should not I hope deter
future plans for the state.
I am not sure about this, but Hillary Clinton's visit and subsequent
upping the ante by the protesters seems suspicious.Our country should
not fall prey to global politics,we need to have friendly relations
with US,Russia and others and we should follow a independent foreign
policy towards all nations.
Thanks again to Dr.Kalam and the co-author for this wonderful treasure
a piece of article.
Kalam is using polemics and I wouldn't be surprised if he received grants for presenting things this way from Nuclear corporations. Well Kalam, just think for a while, eventually, if all homes can have their own nuclear power stations - what would happen to this planet ? That would overload this planet with surplus energy which will burn the whole of this planet away. That much of energy can never be sustained. We have enough of sunlight reaching here, and we need to build solar home panels, just enough for people to carry on with their lives without affecting lives of other plant, animal, insect or fish species.
Mesmerizing article..!! I couldn't feel it ended as I kept on reading the article.The author's reason backed by fantastic examples of why we shouldn't be deterred by the recent nuclear disasters is wonderful.This article is quite an important and influential article.
Nuclear disasters are not controllable, If such disaster occurs the
government will just say it is an unfortunate accident. Other accident
like air crash affects the humans in very less proportion when
compared to nuclear accident. That too in a nation like India where
corruption and negligence is in all walks of life how can we support
Nuclear Energy ? also they will escape from law also easily as we have
witnessed in Bhopal tragedy,if accident kills 1000 people can we just
say its just an accident and we will prevent it in future ? Why such
plants are not planned in areas which are far from human life
Thank you for this very well written article and many thanks for
publishing it. The article covered a lot of questions and answered
all them without ambiguity. Through this article, I gained a lot of
clarity on future of energy and it's technologies.
But,considering the low reading appetite of most Indians, I would
request for a concise article that is easily consumable by many.
That is a superb and pure article. Our political leaders must read this and bring this article infront of public, whom they misguide for their merely politcal benefits. Yes, Thorium (Th-232) is the most promising & clean nuclear fuel of future. We are aiming to use Thorium fuel.
As per rule, there are three (3)zones around nuclear power plant: Exclusion Zone, Sterlised Zone & Emergency Planning Zone as a safety barrier to annihilate the possibility of any air born radiation to come in to the public domain. That much area is not available in the heart of a metropolitan city, like-Mumbai. Moreover it is scientifically proven that radiation field around NPP is much much lesser than the our mother earth radiaton field.
It is an excellent message for all the Indians and a great and useful
article those who are indulging the pe0ple around kudankulam to gain
their individual and political gain hence GOD IS GREAT. It is a golden
article published in the Hindu. At this juncture we remember sri
Kasthuri Srinivasa Iyenger for his valuable news paper given to our
nation Jai Hind
Detailed piece. Most of the people reading Hindu know or have some amount of awareness about the benefits of nuclear power and its need for power sustainability in the future. Not to mention that economic and overall development is direcly dependent on accessibility to power/ energy. What is more critical at this juncture is to take this awareness to the Muniyandi's and Munuswamy's and Papathi's and Rajathi's in various villages/ towns and cities where they protest against nuclear power.
What would also benefit is to give facts to organizations (politicians??) which protest against nuclear power. The organizations should also be careful in what information they are advocating/ spreading. They should advocate stronger safety measures and force governments to strictly adhere to them when nuclear power plants are constructed, instead of telling that "Nuclear Power" is bad.
Mr Kalam is no doubt a respectable personality, but more of project manager than scientist.being intimately associated with our PSUs in frontline science areas,the type and quality of manpower and management in organisations like DRDO,understanding of safety in high technology areas like nuclear power is not in consonance with needs of people.Competence on the subject is one area which is lacking in the top personnel manning in such organisations.They are better managers than scientists or even administrators.The prime need for promotions are pliability of the people to bosses rather than their competence.
An accident in a nuclear plant is more dangerous than in a car factory!
Well written with clarifying mode about the previous nuclear accidents and insisting mode over the nuclear fuels rather than Type 0 fuels by our renowned scientist. Said at the right time in The Hindu, it will help people,especially of Tamilnadu, to understand the need of KKNPP.
I recently saw the documentary on Jadugodda "Buddha Weeps in "Jadugodda", I am shocked by the carelessness by the DAE(Dept of Atomic energy) and UCIL(Uranium Corporation of India Ltd). Main stream media have failed to highlight the havoc showered by the uranium mining in the tribal belt, am not amused if that in not 'news' for the elite media powerhouses. I fully agree on the technical aspects of the thorium, but none of the power plant that are coming up are using thorium. Can we invest the huge money in research related activities than on building mammoth power plants.This article b Kalam sir gives good insight , but how many kalams do we have in govt machinery in implementation of these power plants.
President Kalam has explained a difficult to understand (for the lay man) issue in simple language, and the Hindu is to be commended for its part in this. The Fukushima nuclear power station disaster can also be traced primarily to the reactor industry of the US, cutting corners to minimise costs and make it competitive in designing and selling reactors. Some of it already came out in the US. The Hindu should commission an article (explained in equally simple language). Perhaps also important, governments and others involved should not cut corners or cut budges on research, specially in safety issues.
Good thing about this article is that he has argued presenting facts & figures, instead of just blaming the "ignorant" masses instigated by "foreign" hands. May be, bringing credibility is the job that was assigned to him! Hopefully, the protesters will give a reply with an analysis of equal rigour. As one among the ignorant rural Tamil, I have only these questions:(a) The authors argue that developed nations are trying to stall this because they want proxy imperial subjugation. But I heard that GoI is adament because business interests of MNCs of these very nations are involved. What is true? (b) Who should die for whose development? Should we ignorant masses should get affected for the development of enlightened few?(c) Is this kind of growth really necessary for alleviating poverty? Should we really become a super power? We feel that 4 hours powercut is OK for us than a nuc. plant. What's your problem?(d) If his mission is this, why make drama visiting here and there 'reviewing'?
A great and timely article. Dr Kalam has given us a well balanced and detailed article.Politicians of Tamilnadu must read and understand.The Tamil translation of the article must be circulated to all the people in southern districts of Tamil Nadu.The government has already appointed an expert panel to investigate the safety features of Kudanakulam and hopefully the report will strengthen the recommendations of Dr Kalam. If India needs a rapid growth we need energy at economical cost.Kudankulam is almost getting ready. Appeal to responsible political leaders not to misguide the emotionally charged innocent people in the region use them for their poltical ends. If they misguide they are doing a great damage to the nation.The future India will not pardon them.
This is truly a very valuable article that has entirely change my way of thinking.Our two visionaries have demonstrated and envisioned our future through their unprecedented thoughts.Hope India surely look after their views and I believe that the power of youth is surely going make this project a great success.Once again thank you very much for Sri.APJ Abdul Kalam and Sri.Srijan Pal and to THE HINDU for publishing such a beautiful article.
I agree with the above article but TN should be rewarded according the risk it takes, it should be given priority over power distribution over other states, otherwise there's no use for the people to take this risk and remember water is a national resource but states enjoy ownership over it and TN suffers at least now TN shouldn't suffer.
A very well written and insightful article no doubt. The writer-duo has touched all the points needed to deal with this sensitive issue.There is no doubt that INDIA is a power hungry country( i mean energy!) and Thorium based Nuclear Power Plants can give a way out.The sources of REs are problematic in there dependence on working of natural forces.Germany & India are different countries with different needs, history.So it will be be wrong to imitate their decision blindly. Decisions are taken on the basis of need not on the basis of what another one is doing.
Wonderful article n explanation. The main problem is the myths. Awareness shld be spread among the people.
Good article. It should be translated into various other regional anguages to reach the masses. Will post on FB :)
That's should be the work of government to inform people about the advantages of nuclear energy and to remove their fear.Dr kalam has presented it in an excellent way, a president like him can think of a powerful nation and people will listen him.
Well written and balanced article. Not a surprise at all since its authored by Kalam. The printed version was made more interesting with sidelights and insets which are missing here. Well done Hindu. @Ram Karthik - sorry to disappoint you but BARC has been operating from Trombay (suburb of Bombay) since 1966. Kalpakkam is not very far from Chennai.
We have to appraise the article along with nuclear scenario around the world, and the situation in Kudankulam, and the related agitation. While on one hand many nations have advocated for a ban others opt for it, citing damages due to global warming, holes in ozone layer and consequent adverse effects on human life. In the backdrop of this, the authors have tried to establish, with fitting examples, that failures are stepping stone to success, and nuclear option also can be bridled and tamed for safely exploiting it in a developing country, like India, where energy is the key factor for development and advancement of life style and living standards. I should say that it is really a wonderful, exhaustive and succinct research paper, incorporating technology, history, economics and analytical skills, for which Sri APJ Abdul Kalam and Sri. Srijan Pal
Singh needs to be complimented, along with the Hindu and its editors
for publishing it.
Much of the opposition to nuclear power is due to poor understanding of the process involved in nuclear power generation. Control rods and circulating water can completely shutdown the nuclear chain reactions in case of an emergency. The Fukushima plant failed only because the generator failed to supply power due to inundation. This can be easily averted by installing generators and water pumps at higher heights so that they would not be inundated during a tsunami. This is a simple solution. If people really understand the whole nuclear power generation process and the safety mechanisms in simple terms then their apprehensions would be eliminated. The opponents have to be educated with video demonstrations to convince them.
I'm from the United States, and I wish our scientists here had this level headed an approach to the issue.
Well excellent then! Why can't we have a nuclear power plant in the hearts of Mumbai or places where educated masses liveby? They can be more easily convinced to trust the "judgements" of scientists...let it operate in such places for a couple of decades and it can naturally establish how safe this is with uneducated youths of southern rural people.
Salute to the Wisdom and beautiful Vision of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and Mr. Suraj Pal Singh. I felt so happy when I read the essay and I guess this is not just an essay but a real message to the people of our nation. I wish the vision becomes a reality. I wish this essay would be translated to all regional languages and made available to all the people of our Nation. A special Thanks for the management and Editorial Board of "The Hindu" for spreading wisdom and values to the people of this nation.
The article, by Dr.Kalam showcases the best bet upon which the Indian economy can thrive for years to come. Though, the recent incident in Japan comes as a dampener, people should not protest against the installation of n-plants when it carries a huge amount of potential with enough safety measures. Its' high time people trust the judgement of the scientists in this regard.
As a president he did not achieve much. Anyways, in India a president is only a showpiece.
Excellent article. But there are few questions that are not answered here. The fear of possible failure is prevalent among all people given the fact that Japan took so much precaution and yet the terrible accident happened there. In India we have a corrupt business climate and there is no certainty that all safety measures are properly provided with double or triple redundancies. Dr Kalam with his expertise could have helped us understand how in this plant in Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu these were addressed. The main failure was that the cooling pumps in Japan went non operational due to the Tsunami. The main concern in this regard in India will be if we can eliminate that risk by providing multiple redundancies (like different locations at different heights, multiple guaranteed sources for supply of water for cooling, effective removal and storage of contaminated water, a location where if an accident does happen despite all precautions the damage will be minimal etc.).
What an excellent and detailed analysis by Dr. Kalam! If this does not allay doubts and apprehensions of anti-nuclear community then I don't what will.
A thought provoking article by none other than our "Missile Man" ex-President.It should be converted into a video with pictures, graphs etc and made in a number of Indian languages.Quick and >correct education is a must.Though we have been talking of Thorium reactors since the 50's very little or no progress has been achieved.May be cooperation with a foreign country like in the case of the 'Brahmos' missile be considered to hasten this process. The operation of these specialised power plants need highly qualified people of very high merit to avoid accidents due to human failures. The Reservation policy should be done away with for manning these plants and only highly qualified people of high intellectual and moral capability should be employed.The spate of railway accidents in our country shows the high risk we may have in human errors at our Nuclear plants. Last but not the least, politicians should remain aloof from these agitations as they are stunting the progress of this nation.
This is one of the best articles in these turbulent times. There is a need for a better country and empowered country, people are kept in dark and few people decide what is right and what is wrong. Wonderful job by 'The Hindu' to bring this article, from a visionary Kudos.
The well choreographed article by honourable Dr. Abdul Kalam puts forward a very forceful argument in defense of Nuclear Energy Plants. The volume of information and statistics supports his visionary thoughts on Energy surplus India in the next decades. His reasonings, that huge carbon foot prints, cause higher global disasters compared to the risk posed by a failure in a nuclear power plant, that all great ideas from building ships, flying aircrafts to sending men to the moon could not have happened if chickened out at the initial stages, are all equally valid. Well, there is absolutely no objection to nuclear energy. They may be located in remote places, far removed from plant and life, like in deserts. The effects of nuclear pollution, leave alone failures/accidents, are far more disastrous than those in other projects like aircraft or rocket propulsion. Why not safe practices, when possible?
Kalam Sir, As a highly knowledgeable scientist you should have avoided comparing a plane accident and Nuclear disaster. In the first there is no such kind of latency period as you have in the second. As you pointed energy needs will stabilise at particular point, it is NOT going to happen as there is no limit for human greedinees. Please think in a practical way. You should have mentioned some of energy saving measures which the Govt. should proceed. If TATA produces cars for 1Lakh Rs what will be the level of CO2, SO2 and particulate matter in another 20 years. Nuclear energy is not portable (once it starts), whereas the gasoline/fossil is portable. You generate energy to through non portable energy source which should not lead to higher energy consumption in a portable form. That is a disaster to the environment. The purpose of energy generation through nonportable source should be well defined and should be highly limited.
The Hindu did a marvellous job by publishing the Most Valued Article by a non politician scientist
of our great nation.Hats off to the Hindu
Kudos to The Hindu for bringing out the article by one of the eminent scientists of our country, putting things in proper perspective, at a time when big hue and cry is being raised on nuclear power in the country.
We need energy. We need to see the safety of the operation. Our political parties should understand and getaway from this great initiative at kudamkulam. I trust strong leadership at tamilnadu will take forward to get Tamil Nadu free of energy crisis.(of course the nation requirement). This article is giving great insight of the process and requirement.
Dear Sir, Tks for the excellent insight into the nuclear energy. I have been expecting this kind of explanation from Nuclear Physicist like you when all these agitations started. Neverthless its not late. Let the tamil dailies translate these articles and give free to the people who are protesting. All these protests seem to have ulterior motives. Lets support Nuclear Energy for our economic development.
"It is noteworthy that in 2010-11, India imported about 82 billion tonnes of coal" seems off by a factor of 1000. The actual number is closer to 100 million tonnes of coal and likely to rise very rapidly to 200 million tonnes in the next few years. Over 25 years ago, in the mid 1980s, the percentage of energy generated by nuclear power was less than 2%. Its closer to 3% currently and the projection is 9% in 2035. This seems an ambitious but realistic goal but even this wont be achieved if political obstacles remain. I do hope that Dr. Kalam's efforts to educate all stakeholders succeeds.
This is an excellent article which has highlighted the various aspects viz. the advantage of nuclear power over the fossil based power, the depleting fossil based resources and the safety of Nuclear rectors. Mr. Kalamji has to be taken to Koodankulam and convince the agitating mass. The politicians are inflaming the passions of the illiterate villagers for political advantage and this has to be combated with Mr. Kalamji's arguments. As a student of Nuclear Physics, I can appreciate every word in the article.
Such an informative article. Thank you!
Motivated protests. May be US corporates who bombed got out after 123 agreement! or some NGO after something - mostly money or land or religious advantage. See who the NGO is. remember guys did not accept that earth was round! and Galeleo - some pretended he didn't even exist
Fantastic Essay.. Very much understandable even to layman like me !!
Action and reaction are equal and opposite and how far is applicable this logic or 3rd law to be studied in depth i think .
In today's 'The Hindu ' newspaper article " Nuclear power is our gate way to a prosperous future " Its a food for thought ... I feel that this article should be made in different languages in our country {approximately 22 languages, spoken in India } should be educated and the people should understand the healthy message on this article. Every individual youth, middle age or old should read this article.
It would be great if this article is translated in local languages, at least in Hindi, and published to educate most of the people in India about the necessity of nuclear power.
A simple and highly readable article on Nuclear Power. Even a layman can understand what is nuclear power and how it is necessary for a developing country like India. Fossil fuel will not be available for ever and there is urgent for alternative sources for producing power. Let us go for Nuclear Power with enough safeguards. Hats off to our former President and his co-author for their elucidating article. I read it in one stroke
I do not know whether this article is available in Tamil, if not, it should be translated and circulated amongst the people protesting against nuclear energy in Tamilnadu.
A very sensible and thought provoking article. There is risk in every type of energy produced now but nuclear energy is the way forward. It is really sad that after spending Rs13000 crores, we are still talking about safety of nuclear energy at Kudankulam-there is a pattern behind such agitations which unfortuantely, the innocent and poor villagers succumb to. Good artcle at the right time.
If I were the Prime Minister of this populous country, I would go by the advice of the former President, a great thinker and a scientist par excellence Mr.Abdul Kalam and other specialists in this field. Even if we put concerted efforts,it would take atleast a decade to overcome the present deficit power in India. A strong delegation headed by PM must visit at once places like Kundankulam, Jatrapur and other sites to convince locals that their safety and intests will be taken care by the country and they will be suitably compensated in land acquirement. It is unfortunate that our leaders are loosing public contact day by day except when they beg for votes. They should slowly resort to old Indian ways of more access with public and reduction of police protection and abdication of longing for more and more wealth. Sincere efforts alone shall invariably lead to best solutions.
In today's 'The Hindu ' newspaper article " Nuclear power is our gate way to a prosperous future " Its a food for thought ... I feel that this article should be made in different languages in our country {approximately 22 languages, spoken in India } should be educated and the people should understand the healthy message on this article. Every individual youth, middle age or old should read this article.
One of the best articles (across all topics) I have ever read. The thoughts are presented in a very coherent manner with appropriate statistics wherever required. The problem of energy crisis has been dealt with great concern while at the same time, the ideas have been presented in a very impartial manner. After reading this article, it is hard not to agree with the author's conclusions.
A Mind Boggling explanation with enough statistical data by our ex-President of India and Nuclear, Space scientist Dr. Abdul Kalam. Hats Off !
While appreciating Mr. Kalam's concern for economic progress. one wonders whether Nuclear Energy could solve our energy needs. .Dr. M.R. Srinivasan Former Chairman of Atomic Energy has pointed out the slow progress and has advocated conventional sources to meet the energy needs. Be that as it may, has increasing the power generation (from a meager 2000 MW in 1950 to about 200,000 MW approaching now) has really made the millions of Indians to rise above the Poverty line? Any increases in energy production (a significant part of it will go to make power stations) will mainly help only the already affluent leaving behind the poor even poorer. Less may be good for the poorest of the poor. May be I am wrong!
It is wonderful that our Engineer President to have researched and explained about Nuclear Power Plants. He belongs to the region and is a very humane personality and would never utter any UNTRUTH affecting the welfare of the community around Kudankulam. I wish his article to be translated into TAMIL and distributed to people resident in that locality. Unfortunately, local Politics (fanned by outside agents inimical to progress of India) is blind to the reality. Using Fukishima event for Kundamkulam Site is JUST ABSURD to mislead innocent people. We can only convince those who are willing to listen. I have some expertise on Earthquakes Nationally and Internationally and also on Effect of earthquakes on nuclear power plants. If a retiring community is built just outside the Kudankulam plant and offered to senior citizens to stay there, a lot of engineers like me would gladly accept it to show that the plant is safe !!! A R Chandrasekaran Fellow National Academy of Engineering
Thanks to both Mr. Kalam and Mr. Singh for creating awareness about Thorium based energy. I hope people appreciate and understand that nuclear energy is one of the keys of future energy needs of our country.
An excellent and timely article . I wish that the information contained in this article written by our eminent Scientist and past President Dr.AbdulKalam is distributed to all those who are fasting in protest against the Nuclear Power plants. I believe that the ignorance and spread of false information among the masses is the reason for this kind of utter irresponsibility of protests against Nuclear energy.
Sales talk will not impress people who are worried about their very life. Electricity do not human life make!
A huge sunspot that can launch solar superstorms NASA states could collapse power grids for years recently surfaced. Nuclear plants that lose grid power for a month are meltdown candidates. See the Aesop Institute website for an overview. Anyone familiar with the facts presented on that site will understand the little understood extreme danger posed by nuclear power. CHEAP GREEN on the same website opens the door to alternatives powered by minuscule amounts of Nickel and Hydrogen. We are entering a new era of decentralized, inexpensive, 24/7 power systems which will economically end any attempt to construct new nuclear plants.
This is perhaps the most convincing and the most confident response to the nuclear debate till date, available to the general Indian public. Coming with the authenticity and aura of respect that Dr.Kalam commands, the challenge is to sell this to the Kudangulam residents who have legitimate reasons for their mistrust and anxiety. The onus is on the governments both at the centre and the state to do this. It would be unfortunate if Dr.Kalam is dragged into the vortex of the debate and left exposed to unnecessary comment and clamour. We would be better served if the expertise and inspiration that only he can provide, is utilised in designing an impeccable safety mechanism for the reactor that can serve as a model for other countries.
Thanks a lot for your holistic dealing of nuclear energy.But as a `layman I have few questions to ask you: 1. Is there any technology to deal with Nuclear Waste coming out from the Nuclear Plants. These waste has radiation content lasting for thousands of years? How do you dispose them? 2. If we have better transmission system and the use of electricity we can save the present available energy 20 to 30 percent from 160000 MW. We need a better auditing of the present Electricity use. Why don't we go for that instead of going for a more expensive and dangerous nuclear energy? 3.Russia stands first in the Corruption.All these nuclear plants are erected by different companies, which are corrupt from top to bottom. We the public have no idea about the expenditure of Koodamkulam Nuclear plant. 4. If some accidents happen who is responsible and who is liable? How can we trust GOI, MP in the way they handled Bhopal Gas Tragedy?
Insightful and thought provoking, I hope the well intended environmental organizations and misguided regional political parties raising concerns take note.
Insightful and thought provoking, I hope the well intended environmental organizations and misguided regional political parties raising concerns take note.
An Excellent article though late. Hindu did the Journalism justice to the society. Scientist President did the Nuclear revolution to the Nation through this Article. He made clear that non awareness and half knowledge. A group of people supported by western interest is the cause of confusion among people who became the Scapegoat due to ignorance and innocence. We should translate it in Tamil and circulate to the people who are preventing the plant coming and bringing the People Growth to standstill. Speakers should take position and explain it locally by conducting meetings in that place. Even educated falling to the misconception is the misery of Kudankulam to day.
Why should he argue in favour of Nuclear Power all alone, without the support or help from the centre? The Central government has not shown any interest nor asked Kalam to represent it, but wants to play down when the opportunity strikes. The involvement of Kalam in this issue uninvited will cause troubles to him unnecessarily. He may have to bear all the burden of proving things while the central ministries/ministers who are supposed to have provided the solution took rest!
Beautiful analysis. Simple and superb. All right thinking Indians must accept and implement what Dr Kalam says instead of entering into politically motivated debates.
Excellent piece. I would request political parties to display statesmanship for once and ensure they dont try to fish for political advantage arising out of present unrest over nuclear reactors. An energy crisis with unimaginable consequence is at striking distance; The masses need to be educated and all steps to prevent nuclear accidents must be taken.
Well Knit thoughtful article. We need a stubborn leader to lead the thorium based Nuclear Power Plants to achieve actual pure independence. Jai Hind
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