Solar & wind Enegry

     I am really fascinated by the never ending and highly debatable discussion on nuclear energy and in particular on Kundankulam nuclear reactor. Are we discussing the viability of nuclear reactors or nuclear energy replacing other forms of power producing methods ,I mean coal, solar and wind energy.

    Protagonists and non-physicists have to keep in mind that nuclear energy is neither cheap nor safe and it is a general practice to compare only the fuel costs, I mean to produce 1MW of electricity the amount of coal required and uranium required and their respective costs are compared. But what about the cost of construction of nuclear reactor, the moderator in our case heavy water.  America uses graphite as moderator and in that case enriched uranium is required. Coal based thermal plants are much easier to set up and operate and are easily upgradable say fro 500MW to 1000 or even 2000MW which is not the case of nuclear reactors.  Of course coal based thermal plants produce high pollution (co2) and nuclear reactors are no less hazardous. Disposing nuclear waste poses a big challenge and involves costs. Finally shutdown of the nuclear reactors after the lifetime is also expensive.  In case of nuclear explosion or blast, God knows  the cost involved and loss of life and long term health effects. If nuclear energy so safe why then American companies are scared of signing the liability bill.

      Regarding solar and wind power which are aptly suitable to India and the fuel is free and also pollution free unlike coal and uranium where we have to depend on other countries. In case of coal India has to buy coal blocks from Indonesia and Australia. In fact the fossil fuels are fast depleting.   If uranium has to be the fuel for our reactors we have to depend on other countries for continuous supplies as we do not have sufficient uranium deposits.  Where as Thorium is a better option as we have abundant thorium deposits, but the big question is when India will be ready to use Thorium (U233) as a fuel.

    Finally as India is facing looming energy crisis, any form of energy source is acceptable.  We need all four forms of energy source.  We need to develop more efficient technology for producing solar and wind energy and do more research in developing efficient methods of converting solar energy and need to develop composite materials which can convert solar energy. As a fifth option we need to use gas based power plants and for that we have to find more gas deposits.

        I am very confident that the future is all about solar and wind energy.  We need to increase the contribution of solar and wind energy to our energy requirements.

        Solar energy is a gift from God to Human race and will be there as long as Sun and Earth will live.