Nuclear Energy and India

Radiation is not a human made thing, it is a very much natural phenomenon. Many elements on this earth emit radiation. Some of them are natural. Some are manmade. Out of the naturally occuring radioactive substances, Uranium and Thorium are most important as they are the ones used for production of electricity. Till now the existing technology allows uranium to be used. But latest technology is being developed to use thorium in place of uranium as India has a large deposit of thorium.

Even our body has some trace amounts of Uranium.

Most of Indian continent comes under low to medium risk seismic zone. Compared to Japan this is nothing. Whole Japan comes under high to very high seismic risk zone but still produces 30% of its energy needs from Nuclear sources.

Tsunami occurs due to certain tectonic conditions and except some coastal parts in southern India, those kind of tectonic setting are not present around our country. So this fear is needless.

Japan is having such conditions still was running so many nuclear plants from last so many years and this is first incident after 30/40 years. Please remember that in this 30-40 years there has not been any major accident or deaths due to these reactors. Can you say this about any coal mines or thermal power plant in this world. For your information, the ratio between deaths due to coal and uranium is huge, if we do not consider nuclear bombs. That means in any year the number of people dying due to coal mine accidents or pollution due to thermal power plants is much higher than Uranium mines accidents (which are almost non-existent and Nuclear Reactor accidents). Please remember that in Japan, till now there has not been a single death due to the Nuclear Reactor acident. All deaths were due to earthquake and Tsunami.

Even after such a huge natural disaster and massive destruction their leaders and common peoples understand necessity of Nuclear power and slowly Japan is starting their Nuclear plants again after some preventive measures.

India also has nuclear power plants and they are running very well. Japan's accidents occurred due to tsunami. The Nuclear Power Plants in Japan are old ones and doesn't have latest technology. In India, we are using latest technology to build Nuclear Power Plants. So, the chances of getting affected by any natural disaster like earthquake or Tsunami is very less.

Nuclear waste should be the only thing to worry about in this type of power generation. However, this problem will arise 30-40 years after actual commissioning of the Reactor. Nuclear waste disposal is a very highly controlled and safe matter. At least it is much safer than the way coal ash or gases coming out due to burning of coal and petroleum are handled. Every year thosands of people die to lungs cancer caused due to noxious gases coming out of thermal power plants, vehicles using petroleum and other and other fossil fuel sources. No such problem can be attributed to Nuclear energy.

Just a Bronze !!!!!!!

India has won a bronze medal in the olympics and there have been so many different kinds of comments on this. Some say it is a great feat, while others say it is nothing. Some say it is easy to comment but difficult to compete. How should we react to such a win? What should our thoughts be? Well, I do not know, nor do I want to suggest what everyone should think, but I can write down the thoughts that are crossing my mind just now.
Getting a bronze medal in the Olympics is not a very small feat. I do appreciate Mr. Narang's feat. However, it is Indian mentality to get satisfied with less. Our aim should not be just one Bronze. That should not satisfy us.
When I say that this is not enough, that we need to perform better, many of you may think that it is easy to comment but not easy to compete. I agree that it is easier to comment than to compete. However, we must not forget that players from other countries are bringing in lots of medals. Countries which are smaller than us, poorer than us, less populated than us get more medals. So what is the reason that Indian Players are sub standard? Where does India lack? Why can't a country of more than one billion population produce better sports persons or win more medals?

There are many reasons:
1. Our Players do not get good coaching, better sports facilities, good food, good accommodation etc from the sports authorities. Why? Because, we Indians are not at all interested in any other sport that cricket. When there is a cricket match, thousands of people will spend millions of Rupees to watch it. When there is any other sports, hardly any Indian will even see it in TV, let alone spend money on ticket. But another more important reason is the corruption that has pervaded into every sphere of Indian society including the sports arena.
2. Criticism is very much necessary. Criticism of teh players and also of the coaches, and most of all teh sports authorities and sports ministry. The Sports organisations and the ministry are the people who are siphoning off all money given for sports and enriching their own pockets. There should be sharp criticism of Indian Sports from every corner and every media. The very thought that "it is easy to criticize but hard to compete" shows that we are satisfied with low standard.
3. There is no sports culture in India. I have been to other countries. I have seen their youth. In other countries the young people love to play outside. In India our youth love to sit at home watching cricket on TV. If there is a Cricket match, half of India's population will be found in front of a TV set. Such a shame.
4. Cricket is the biggest reason our country is poor in other sports. Cricket has destroyed Indian sports, Indian culture, Indian Industries and Indian Workforce. It is the worst thing in Indian society after corruption. The reason why all other sports are neglected in India is the total support that cricket gets from the Indian Public. Instead of Cricket if we Indians give more support to other sports, our players will definitely bring more medals.