THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 03 March 2020 [Pushing the wrong energy buttons (The Hindu)]

Pushing the wrong energy buttons (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Science and Tech
Prelims level: Nuclear reactor
Mains level: Safety concerns associated with Nuclear reactor

Context:

• For more than a decade, no major meeting between an Indian Prime Minister and a U.S. President has passed without a ritual reference to India’s promise made in 2008 to purchase American nuclear reactors.

Red flags in the U.S. deal:

• Because of serious concerns about cost and safety, the two organisations should have been told to abandon, not finalise, the proposal.
• It has been clear for years that electricity from American reactors would be more expensive than competing sources of energy.
• Westinghouse has insisted on a prior assurance that India would not hold it responsible for the consequences of a nuclear disaster, which is effectively an admission that it is unable to guarantee the safety of its reactors.
• The main beneficiaries from India’s import of reactors would be Westinghouse and India’s atomic energy establishment that is struggling to retain its relevance given the rapid growth of renewable.

What renewables can offer:

• Analysts estimate that each of the two AP1000 units being constructed in the U.S. state of Georgia may cost about $13.8 billion. At these rates, the six reactors being offered to India by Westinghouse would cost almost ₹6 lakh crore.
• If India purchases these reactors, the economic burden will fall upon consumers and taxpayers.
• In 2013, we estimated that even after reducing these prices by 30%, to account for lower construction costs in India, the first year tariff for electricity would be about ₹25 per unit.
• On the other hand, recent solar energy bids in India are around ₹3 per unit. Lazard, the Wall Street firm, estimates that wind and solar energy costs have declined by around 70% to 90% in just the last 10 years and may decline further in the future.

How safe?

• Nuclear power can also impose long-term costs.
• Large areas continue to be contaminated with radioactive materials from the 1986 Chernobyl accident and thousands of square kilometres remain closed off for human inhabitation.
• Nearly a decade after the 2011 disaster, the Fukushima prefecture retains radioactive hotspots and the cost of clean-up has been variously estimated to range from $200-billion to over $600-billion.

Way ahead:

• The idea of importing nuclear reactors is a “zombie idea” that, from a rational viewpoint, should have been dead long ago.
• An earlier plan to install AP1000s in Mithi Virdi, Gujarat was cancelled because of strong local opposition.
• In 2018, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani declared that the reactors “will never come up” in Gujarat.
• The Prime Minister should take a cue from his own State and make a similar announcement for the rest of the country.

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Prelims Questions:

Q1. With reference to the 'Yard 45006 VAJRA', consider the following statements:
1. U.K and the US occupied the first and second spot with 799 and 626 billionaires, respectively.
2. India added 34 new billionaires to take the count to 138 on the list which has helped the country to feature at the third position globally.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: B
Mains Questions:
Q1. What is the nuclear reactor? Is importing nuclear reactors is a zombie one with serious concerns about their cost and safety? Critically comment.