Nuclear power safe, economical

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2003 11:58:18 PM ]

AMBALA: Conventional sources of energy are depleting very fast and renewable sources of energy do not have feasible technologies for generation of electricity on a large scale, said Prof B Bhattacharjee, director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, here on Friday. Speaking at the 14th Gyanchand Jain Memorial Lecture at Ambala Cantonment on the topic ''Nuclear energy for improving the quality of life in the Indian Society'', Bhattacharjee said that water, energy, environment and education were essential components to support the quality of life in the society.

He said that there was a direct linkage between availability of energy and economic growth of a country. Bhattacharjee said that nuclear energy was being used for the preservation of food through the use of high dose spice radiators for the preservation of onion, groundnut and black gram. In the field of healthcare, nuclear energy was being used for the sterilisation of medical products, he added.

Bhattacharjee, who is also a member of the Atomic Energy Commission, said that by 2050 the population of India would be 1.5 billion and India would have to generate 12 times more power. He said that nuclear power was safe, reliable and an economical source of energy in India . He said that indigenous nuclear technologies had high degree of reliability and applications in the Indian society. He said that eight nuclear reactors would add 3,960 MW of power capacity in the country by 2020. Later at the function, the Scientist of the Year Award-2003 was conferred on Jai Kumar Singh Gangawar, deputy engineer, Instruments Design Development and Facilities Centre, at Ambala Cantt, for designing and fabricating Klen Glass Laser Window for MiG-27 aircraft.