Necessity of Nuclear Energy for India: Debunking the Myth

Vidyut Kale

Vidyut Kale is an independent researcher and blogger. This article is republished from her website AamJanata.Com

There is a prevailing fiction actively promoted by the government that Nuclear Energy is the only way out of the energy crisis for India. Every time I write about issues with nuclear energy, there are people making comments like stay in the dark ages, etc. So let us look at some facts around this scenario.

To begin with, before getting into serious data, let me state the overwhelmingly obvious. There are many ways to boil water – which is what a nuclear reactor does and still more ways to produce electricity – which is the purpose of building a nuclear reactor. The rest of the process is no different from any other boiling water driving turbines like a coal or diesel plant or other force driving turbines – like a windmill or water falling from a height from a dam. Nuclear Energy just happens to be one with an incomprehensibly destructive potential, however small the chance of occurrence may be.

Here is a table with data of money invested in Atomic Energy and Renewable Energy Sources from Official budget figures.

Comparison of budget expenditure on Atomic Energy and Renewable Energy

Year	AE-Budget	RE-Budget
1998-1999	2608.06	407.62
1999-2000	2962.01	538.32
2000-2001	2750.57	444.3
2001-2002	2779.39	587.57
2002-2003	3868.95	629.52
2003-2004	3800	630.15
2004-2005	4469.97	605.27
2005-2006	4995.86	605.38
2006-2007	5505.08	603.64
2007-2008	6130	632.9
2008-2009	4797	624
2009-2010	7773	628
2010-2011	8521	1008.5
2011-2012	9352.46	1212.38
2012-2013	9232	1397.79

Or, in other words,

Comparitive chart for budget expenditures for nuclear energy and renewable energy in India

 

As you see, the money invested in renewable energy sources is a fraction of that invested in nuclear energy. However, when you look at the energy being produced in the country, it is clear that Renewable Energy contributes far more than Atomic Energy.

Breakdown of the electricity production capacity of India by source

 
To use statistics from the monthly executive report provided by the Central Electrical Authority in February 2012, out of 190592.55MW, Coal (105437.38MW), Gas (18093.85MW), Diesel (1199.75MW) Together as Thermal Energy (124730.98MW) are the largest chunk. Followed by Hydroelectric Energy (38848.40MW), then Renewable Energy (22233.17MW) and finally Nuclear Energy (4780.00MW).

Compare that with the money being poured in, the risks inherent in nuclear energy, the known risks and emerging data on previously unknown risks, conflict and trauma to local populations with agitations and suppression, and the longterm responsibility of managing safe processing and storage of radioactive waste. Then the costs of the construction, maintenance and shutdowns (India has had at least three accidents that put plants out of action for over two years), local community welfare expenses and the potential for incalculable costs in damage to land, livelihoods, health and environment in the event of an accident. The US has long given up the initial belief of nuclear power being so cheap as to provide virtually free energy. Currently, the costs are estimated to be only slightly lower than other forms of energy. Japan has actually reevaluated to put the costs of nuclear energy as on par with other energy resources. It is quite puzzling to perceive a need for nuclear power specifically when it offers little advantage and considerable disadvantages.