India has indicated an interest in working with Japan in widening research on Nuclear Energy.
Yang Zhihe
07 June 2022
As delegates gather to discuss climate issues threatening the world, the issue of phasing out fossil fuels was brought up.
Traditionally, most countries have been reliant on fossil fuels for energy production.
However, the release of pollutants and greenhouse gases which puts human lives in danger and causes the increase in temperature of the globe has forced countries to find new sources of energy.
In 1951, nuclear power was introduced as an alternative source of energy production and its popularity for it as a sustainable energy source has been increasing.
The delegation of India pointed out that besides spent nuclear fuel, nuclear power does not produce any other pollutants.
India already has 23 nuclear reactors in 7 power plants across the country which produces 3.11% of India’s total power generation.
In order to ramp up research in Nuclear Energy, India has requested to work with Japan.
In addition, to India, Brazil has also indicated an interest in nuclear energy citing nuclear energy not producing any pollutants with the exception of spent nuclear fuel.
However, nuclear energy also has its own fair share of drawbacks.
For one, the building of nuclear power plants is costly with high maintenance costs with an estimated $6 to 9 billion for each 1100 MW plant.
Spent nuclear fuel from these nuclear plants is also an issue that these nations have to solve. Improper storage of these nuclear fuels also threatens the safety of the public.
Secondly, the general public has also been hesitant and less open to the usage of nuclear power after accidents relating to nuclear power plants caused widespread devastation.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA, IBEF, National Geographic, synapse-energy