Lessons from Japan: Diversify energy options

Q. Is it time to stop building nuclear power plants and shift to thermal or other forms of energy? Let’s be realistic. The world has limited sources from which electricity can be generated. Japan's fault was that it stored spent fuel. Electricity produced from thermal, natural gas and oil has its own cost. Coal is too polluting, natural gas contributes to global warming and fossil fuel is limited. Doing away with nuclear energy is not possible. We need to generate electricity from diverse sources but policy and technology needs to be upgraded.

Nuclear radiations: how harmful

Recent nuclear reactor disaster that occurred at Fukushima Daiichi power station in Japan has provoked planners, leaders, environmentalists and intellectuals of various countries to rethink about the nuclear energy option.

Japan's nuclear crisis, a warning for India

In April, we will be observing the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Though every year the anniversary reminds us of the perils of nuclear power, this year it sent an advance message through a ferocious messenger-the tsunami of Japan.

How vulnerable are India's nuclear power plants to disaster

Nuclear power plants are designed to withstand natural disasters like earthquakes. In France, for instance, nuclear plants are designed to withstand an earthquake twice as strong as that experienced in the past 1,000 years. In India, the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station, Rajasthan Atomic Power Station, Tarapur Atomic Power Station and Narora Atomic Power Station operated safely when earthquakes of lower intensity were felt. The plants, however, could not withstand tsunami. The campus of Kalpakkam Atomic Reprocessing Plant was flooded when tsunami hit Tamil Nadu's coast in 2004.