Nuclear Energy is the energy in the nucleus or core of an atom. Tiny units that make up all matter in the universe are called atoms.

Nuclear energy is released by splitting the atom, using the process called Nuclear fission.

HOW IS ELECTRICITY PRODUCED USING NUCLEAR ENERGY

• A nuclear reactor is a power plant that can control nuclear fission to produce electricity. In the nuclear reactor, uranium is used as fuel
• Atoms of uranium are split, which creates fission products which cause other uranium atoms to split, thus creating a chain reaction
• The energy from this chain reaction is released in the form of heat
• This heat is used to warm the nuclear reactors cooling agent, which results in the formation of steam. This steam turns the turbines, which drive the engines or generators to produce electricity.

RECENT HAZARDAOUS INCIDENTS

• A fire broke out near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine (Europe’s largest) during the course of a military battle. Had the fire affected the cooling system, the plant’s power supply, or its spent fuel pool, a major disaster could have occurred. Luckily, this did not happen.
• In 2011, multiple reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant of Jappan suffered severe accidents after an earthquake and a tsunami. Those reactors were quickly “shut down” following the earthquake. But their radioactive cores continued producing heat and eventually melted down because the tsunami knocked out the cooling system.
• Nuclear power plants are capital intensive and recent nuclear builds have suffered major cost overruns. An illustrative example is the V.C. Summer nuclear project in South Carolina (U.S.) where costs rose so sharply that the project was abandoned — after an expenditure of over $9 billion.
• India has also had to drastically cut its nuclear ambitions after Fukushima
• In 2008, then chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Anil Kakodkar, projected that India would have 650GW of installed capacity by 2050; his successor, Srikumar Banerjee, predicted in 2010 that capacity would reach 35 gigawatts by 2020. Installed capacity today is only 6.78 GW.

ISSUES RELATED

• In a densely populated country such as India, land is at a premium and emergency health care is far from uniformly available
• Concerns about safety have been accentuated by the insistence of multinational nuclear suppliers that they be indemnified of liability for the consequence of any accident in India. Under pressure from multinational manufacturers, India’s liability law already largely protects them. But the industry objects to the small window of opportunity available for the Indian government to hold them to account.
• Climate change will increase the risk of nuclear reactor accidents.(In 2020, a windstorm caused the Duane Arnold nuclear plant in the U.S. to cease operations) The frequency of such extreme weather events is likely to increase in the future.
• Nuclear plants are too expensive. They cost at least billion dollars to be built.
• In all countries using nuclear energy there are well established procedures for storing, managing and transporting such wastes, funded from electricity users. Wastes are contained and managed, not released. Storage is safe and secure; plans are well in hand for eventual disposal.
• Fear of being used for making nuclear bombs: Reprocessing spent fuel gives rise to plutonium which is likely to be used in bombs.
• Insurance companies will not insure nuclear reactors so the risk devolves on to the government.
• Current Nuclear reactors consume significant amounts of water. So most of the upcoming plants will be set up near sea costs. It will put pressure on the coastline as India’s Western coastline is home to the fragile ecology of Western Ghats.
• Nuclear installations will be favourite targets of terrorists (also in case of war) which can cause irreversible damage to people living in nearby areas.
• There are long gestation periods which increase costs of the plant significantly. Only a Nuclear Industry revolution in the future in nuclear energy can make this achievable.

BENEFITS

• No greenhouse gasses are emitted in Nuclear Power generation and in this way environmental costs are significantly less.
• Quantities of nuclear fuel needed are considerably less than thermal power plants. For e.g. 10000 MW generations by coal will need 30-35 million tons of coal, but nuclear fuel needed will be only 300-350 tons.
• It generates very limited waste in quantity (though far more hazardous in quality).

WAY FOWRARD

• Ensure maintenance of the skills base
• Maintain continued effective safety regulation
• Foster progress on facilities for waste disposal and management must be given serious consideration.
• Maintain and reinforce international non-proliferation arrangements.
• To maintain pace of development, it is important to build a constant and reliable supply chain of nuclear materials.
• The fundamentals underlying the possibility of breakthrough growth in India’s civil nuclear programme are strong: political will, bilateral agreements with most supplier countries, an NSG waiver for nuclear trade, domestic human resources and capability developed in the last 30 years of nuclear power operations

CONCLUSION

Nuclear power is not the right choice to “adapt” to climate change, which requires resilience in power systems. It is also not the appropriate choice for mitigating India’s carbon emissions since it cannot be deployed at the necessary scale. The resources spent on nuclear plants will yield quicker results if they are redirected to renewables.

Given the inherent vulnerabilities of nuclear reactors and their high costs, it would be best for the Government to adapt alternative renewable energy sources