Nuclear power continues to have a public relations problem as its mere mention raises the spectre of another Chernobyl and the Three Mile Island, not to mention proliferation and dirty bombs. But things are rapidly changing with previous staunch opponents such as Patrick Moore, a founder of Greenpeace, now joining the bandwagon, convinced by the growing evidence that nuclear power is the most efficient energy source around today. There is a growing list of environmentalists who are openly advocating nuclear power today. The “father” of the contemporary global environmental movement, James Lovelock, is now claiming that the challenges of global warming can only be tackled by nuclear energy. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emphasised in its report last year that countries could use more nuclear power as part of a shift away from fossil fuels in order to blunt global warming. An unforeseen consequence of the anti-nuclear movement of the ’60s and ’70s in the West was that it impeded the growth of nuclear power, which, though risky, is the most environment-friendly of energy resources, even as it boosted coal and oil-sourced electricity generation which, it now turns out, has damaged the environment probably beyond repair.

Now, the US is planning to construct more than 20 new nuclear plants after a 20-year moratorium. With oil and gas prices at an all-time high and political opposition to the construction of new coal-burning power plants rising, many feel that nuclear power can fill the vacuum efficiently. By replacing fossil-fuel power plants for generating electricity, nuclear energy is seen as an effective means of reducing the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute heavily to global warming. The economies of China and India remain heavily reliant on coal and oil and nuclear energy will make for an attractive option. China, in fact, wants to construct more than 60 nuclear reactors in the next few years. It has already signed the largest deal in the history of the nuclear power industry with Areva, the French nuclear power giant.

... contd.