Nuclear Power: A Burden or a Blessing?
Energy is one of the deciding factors for a country’s economic growth, as the population increases so does the demand for the energy. India has a total of 288,664 MW installed capacity of electricity generation (as on February 29th 2016). Nuclear contributes merely 2% of total electricity generation [1]. The energy production technologies are associated with some advantages as well as disadvantages, which could be in terms of environment, cost, safety, efficiency etc. Nuclear energy thus comes with its own set of positives and negatives. The accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant in Japan during March 2011 was an alarming event in the world, which led to question of safety on every Nuclear reactor in the world, and was an added factor for opposition to construct the Nuclear reactor [2]. Apart from the safety issues, Nuclear energy is a very clean source of energy as it has very few Green House Gases (GHG) emissions. A comparative study for Nuclear power versus fossil-fuel power with carbon-dioxide (CO2) capture and storage shows that the electricity cost based on life cycle cost for Nuclear power is less than the fossil-fuel power with provision for CO2 capture and storage [3].............
Nuclear Energy Scenario
Nuclear Energy-Worldwide
As of December 2015, total 30 countries are producing energy with Nuclear fission reactors. The total Nuclear electrical capacity in the world is 382,454 MW. The USA, France, Japan, China and Russia are the top five countries of the world in terms of number of reactors and total net capacity of Nuclear energy production..........
Nuclear Energy-India
At present, India has 21 operative Nuclear reactors having total capacity of 5,780 MW and six under construction having total capacity of 4,300 MW, which makes it fourth largest source of electricity in the country [7]. India has “Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010” which makes operator of Nuclear power plant i.e., Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd..................
Case Study
Case 1 – Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP)
Atomstroy Export, a subsidiary of the Russian State Nuclear Energy Corporation Rosatom, has reached a deal to build sixteen Nuclear reactors in India. From the two of these units, of 1,000 MW each, one is operational and the other is currently under construction in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu................
Case 2 – Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant (JNPP)
One of major upcoming project of Nuclear Power is in Jaitapur, consisting of six Nuclear reactors having capacity of 1,650 MW each, thus generating a total of power of 9,900 MW, which will make it the largest in the world. The JNPP is located at Madban village of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra and is shown in Figure 2. A MOU was signed between NPCIL and AREVA on February 4th 2009 for first twin set of EPR....................
Summation
Nuclear energy due to its low Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission intensity in comparison to other conventional and renewal energy sources, addresses the global climate change and global warming. The radioactive wastes from nuclear power plant are kept isolated from the environment. Also, the radioactive waste dumping at sea is either banned or regulated by international bodies. In India, the radioactive release within 30 km of the power plant is monitored by collecting regular samples of air, water and land by ESL monitoring agency..........
Assignment Questions
I. Energy security is one of the problems hindering the growth of India. Do you agree?
II. .............
Exhibits
Exhibit I: Comparison Between Nuclear and Thermal (Coal) Power Plants
