Analysis on Civil Nuclear Energy in India: Effectiveness and Way Forward

Abstract

We cannot depend indefinitely on combustion of coal, gas and oil for most of our energy needs. Nuclear power is clean, safe, reliable, compact, competitive and practically inexhaustible. Today over 400 nuclear reactors provide base-load electric power in 30 countries. Fifty years old, it is a relatively mature technology with the assurance of great improvement in the next generation. Nuclear energy produces almost no carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide or nitrogen oxides whatsoever. These gases are produced in vast quantities when fossil fuels are burned. One gram of uranium yields about as much energy as a ton of coal or oil - it is the famous “factor of a million”. Nuclear waste is comparatively about a million times smaller than the waste generated by fossil fuels, and it is totally confined. Keeping in mind the benefits nuclear energy offers and considering it as an important alternative, the development of nuclear energy in India has been quite rapid. The regulatory and legislative framework are comprehensive, however, the fact that radioactivity comes with its own consequences cannot be ignored.