NUCLEAR ENERGY

President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (2nd from left),
visiting an IITF exhibit in New Delhi in 2003.

Developing nuclear energy will be a slow, expensive and uncertain challenge at best. To increase the potential of nuclear energy, India has to look into outside help. Foreign involvement in nuclear power plant construction will diminish India's ambition of energy independence if India takes the path of nuclear.

The real solution to India's energy needs can come only when opting for energy sources that have low-impacts on the environment, low costs, and are easily available. Renewable energy has the potential to fulfill these critera. Renewable energy has the potential to bring true energy independence to India.

About the Author: Avilash Roul has been writing, advocating, researching, and creating knowledge on Environment and Development in various English Daily media since 2000. He has worked with Down To Earth (fortnightly magazine published in New Delhi, India) for the last three years. He has also contributed a Sunday column in New India Express on the environment and development. Right now Mr. Roul is working as an Assistant Coordinator for the Bank Information Center (www.bicusa.org), an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization that advocates for the protection of rights, participation, transparency, and public accountability in the governance and operations of the World Bank, regional development banks, and the International Monetary Fund.