{"id":56586,"date":"2020-03-04T17:00:52","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T11:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?page_id=56586"},"modified":"2020-03-04T17:00:54","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T11:30:54","slug":"answered-nuclear-energy-although-has-potential-to-solve-indias-energy-problems-but-carry-great-inherent-risks-elaborate","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-nuclear-energy-although-has-potential-to-solve-indias-energy-problems-but-carry-great-inherent-risks-elaborate\/","title":{"rendered":"[Answered] Nuclear energy although has potential to solve India\u2019s energy problems but carry great inherent risks. Elaborate."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n Demand of the question<\/strong>\n Introduction.\n <\/strong>Contextual introduction.\n Body.\n <\/strong>Discuss nuclear energy potential and need of\n utilisation of nuclear power in India. Mention risks associated with nuclear\n energy.\n Conclusion.\n <\/strong>Way forward.\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

India\u2019s Nationally Determined Contribution\n(NDC) outlines its intent to scale up the country\u2019s clean-energy capacity. At\nthe same time, India\u2019s energy poverty remains a big challenge. The Integrated\nEnergy Policy review, estimated that the country will need to increase its\nprimary energy supply by 3 to 4 times, and electricity generation capacity by 5\nto 6 times (2003-04 levels) if it is to meet the energy needs of all its\ncitizens by 2032 and maintain an 8% GDP growth rate. While successive\ngovernments have long touted nuclear power as the solution to India\u2019s energy\nwoes, there are inherent risks associated with the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear\nenergy potential and need of exploiting nuclear power in India:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Thorium and Uranium reserves: <\/strong>India has vast reserves of Thorium that can fuel India\u2019s nuclear\nenergy provided appropriate technology. India’s\nthorium deposits, estimated at 360,000 tonnes, and natural uranium deposits at\n70,000 tonnes. The country’s thorium reserves make up 25% of the global\nreserves.<\/li>
  2. Energy poverty: <\/strong>Although India is the 3rd<\/sup> largest producer of\nelectricity, about 20 % of the population of the country does not have access\nto electricity today. The per capita consumption of electricity\nis very low at about 1,181 kWh per annum, about half of\nthe world average and way below that of advanced\ncountries. There exist shortages in energy and peak power in the range 10-15%.<\/li>
  3. Energy demand:<\/strong> Nuclear energy is a critical part for India\u2019s future\nenergy security. As we know India\u2019s annual energy demand is expected to rise to\n800 GW by 2032, it is very important to consider every source of energy in the\noptimum energy mix. <\/li>
  4. Energy efficiency: <\/strong>Quantities of nuclear fuel needed are considerably less\nthan thermal power plants. For instance, 10000 MW generation by coal will need\n30-35 million tons of coal, but nuclear fuel needed will be only 300-350 tons.<\/li>
  5. Economic growth:<\/strong> Rapid economic growth is also critical to achieve\ndevelopmental objectives and poverty alleviation. A sustained economic growth\nof about 8 to 10% is needed over the next few decades. As electricity is a key\ndriver for economic growth, it is necessary that there is a massive\naugmentation in electricity capacity, apart from transmissions and distribution\nsystems.<\/li>
  6. Decrease in Energy Supply:<\/strong> Energy supply has been negatively affected\nby changing weather patterns. As water reservoirs decreases due to lower\nprecipitation and increased evaporation, capacity for electricity production\nfrom hydropower and other water-intensive generation technologies may decline.<\/li>
  7. Climate change:<\/strong> Due to its emission-free nature, nuclear energy can\ncontribute to global efforts under the Paris Agreement. India\u2019s Nationally\nDetermined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on\nClimate Change (UNFCCC) has outlined goals to reduce the carbon emissions\nintensity of its economy by 33-35% by 2030 as well as increase the clean energy\nelectricity capacity to 40% of the total installed capacity in the same period.\n<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Issues\nand risks related with nuclear energy:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Meltdowns:<\/strong> A meltdown is an accident in which severe overheating of\nthe nuclear reactor results in the melting of the reactor’s core. If a meltdown\noccurred, a nuclear power plant could release radiation into the environment.\nAfter incidents such as Chernobyl and the Fukushima disaster, countries such as\nGermany began to undergo a nuclear phase out shutting down their nuclear energy\nunits.<\/li>
    2. Health risks:<\/strong> Nuclear power generation is fraught with ionising\nradiation, an invisible poison, which is unsafe in all doses, however small.\nRadiation causes cancers and genetic damage. Nuclear plants expose not just\noccupational workers, but also the general public, to radioactive hazards in\nnumerous ways.<\/li>
    3. Nuclear waste:<\/strong> Nuclear power generation is not as clean as it is often\nconsidered. This is demonstrated in the case of Kudankulam. People have been\nprotesting for decades as they worry that the hot water dispatched from the\nplant will affect the marine life of the surrounding water sources and\nsubsequently their livelihood.<\/li>
    4. Displacement:<\/strong> To build nuclear reactors, it requires huge amounts of\nland. This would displace local communities who may not want to leave. Further,\nit is not easy to rehabilitate them and provide them with appropriate\ncompensation.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Nuclear power can help to improve energy\nsecurity. For a rapidly developing economy such as India, it can make a vitally\nimportant contribution to growth. Besides, nuclear power can also reduce the\nimpact of volatile fossil fuel prices and mitigate the effects of climate\nchange. India needs to come up with a durable energy strategy to meet present\nand future energy demands of its population and industries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Demand of the question Introduction. Contextual introduction. Body. Discuss nuclear energy potential and need of utilisation of nuclear power in India. Mention risks associated with nuclear energy. Conclusion. Way forward. India\u2019s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) outlines its intent to scale up the country\u2019s clean-energy capacity. At the same time, India\u2019s energy poverty remains a big… Continue reading [Answered] Nuclear energy although has potential to solve India\u2019s energy problems but carry great inherent risks. Elaborate.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-56586","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}