07-16-2008, 08:01 PM
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Nuke plants safe, go for the deal: Expert</b>
Chennai (PTI): India should shed its apprehensions over the safety of atomic power plants as well as reservations on the Indo-US nuclear deal and operationalise it to bring about a "paradigm shift" in the energy scenario, a nuclear safety expert said here on Wednesday.
"There are currently 400 nuclear reactors in operation in different parts of the world...including in earthquake-prone places like Japan," said L K Krishnan, former Director, Safety Research and Health Physics Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research of the Department of Atomic Energy at Kalpakkam near here.
He said two well-known nuclear accidents, one at Chernobyl in Russia and Three Mile islands in US are the rare ones. "The Chernobyl reactor is a different kind," said Krishnan, who takes pride in associating with the Kalpakkam nuclear power plant which withstood the 2004 tsunami.
The tsunami caused by the Indian ocean earthquake caused widespread damage in Kalpakkam coast, but the reactors remained unaffected and according to officials, no casualties were reported from the plant.
While the nuclear deal created a political storm in the country, some critics also cautioned about dangers posed by mega nuclear plants which are expected to come up in a number of places in India if the deal is operationalised.
On the deal, Krishnan asserts that India should go ahead with it as it provides access to buy 1000 MW reactors. "We should go for it. The first reason is if we go about building reactors ourselves, it's going to take a long time. See how much time it took to build a fast breeder reactor," he said.
Nuke plants safe, go for the deal: Expert</b>
Chennai (PTI): India should shed its apprehensions over the safety of atomic power plants as well as reservations on the Indo-US nuclear deal and operationalise it to bring about a "paradigm shift" in the energy scenario, a nuclear safety expert said here on Wednesday.
"There are currently 400 nuclear reactors in operation in different parts of the world...including in earthquake-prone places like Japan," said L K Krishnan, former Director, Safety Research and Health Physics Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research of the Department of Atomic Energy at Kalpakkam near here.
He said two well-known nuclear accidents, one at Chernobyl in Russia and Three Mile islands in US are the rare ones. "The Chernobyl reactor is a different kind," said Krishnan, who takes pride in associating with the Kalpakkam nuclear power plant which withstood the 2004 tsunami.
The tsunami caused by the Indian ocean earthquake caused widespread damage in Kalpakkam coast, but the reactors remained unaffected and according to officials, no casualties were reported from the plant.
While the nuclear deal created a political storm in the country, some critics also cautioned about dangers posed by mega nuclear plants which are expected to come up in a number of places in India if the deal is operationalised.
On the deal, Krishnan asserts that India should go ahead with it as it provides access to buy 1000 MW reactors. "We should go for it. The first reason is if we go about building reactors ourselves, it's going to take a long time. See how much time it took to build a fast breeder reactor," he said.