அணு ஆற்றல் - கூடங்குளம் 3

Nuclear power is our gateway to a prosperous future

A.P.J ABDUL KALAM

SRIJAN PAL SINGH

The Hindu, November 6, 2011

'Economic growth will need massive energy. Will we allow an accident in Japan, in a 40-year-old reactor at Fukushima, arising out of extreme natural stresses, to derail our dreams to be an economically developed nation?'

Every single atom in the universe carries an unimaginably powerful battery within its heart, called the nucleus. This form of energy, often called Type-1 fuel, is hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of times more powerful than the conventional Type-0 fuels, which are basically dead plants and animals existing in the form of coal, petroleum, natural gas and other forms of fossil fuel. To put things in perspective, imagine a kilometre-long train, with about 50 freight bogies, all fully laden with the most typical fossil fuel — about 10,000 tonnes of coal. The same amount of energy can be generated by 500 kgⁱ of Type-1 fuel, naturally occurring Uranium, enough to barely fill the boot of a small car. When the technology is fully realised, one can do even better with naturally occurring Thorium, in which case the material required would be much less, about 62.5 kg, or even less according to some estimatesⁱⁱ, and thus enough to fit in a small bagⁱⁱⁱ. (Note: 500 kg of naturally occurring Uranium would contain about 3.5 kg of Uranium-235 fuel.)

அணு ஆற்றல் - கூடங்குளம் 2

The electricity sector in India

The electricity sector in India supplies the world's 5th largest energy consumer, accounting for 4.0% of global energy consumption by more than 17% of global population. the Energy policy of India is predominantly controlled by theGovernment of India's, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal and Ministry of New Renewable Energy and administered locally by Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).

About 65.34%^[1] of the electricity consumed in India is generated by thermal power plants, 21.53%^[2] by hydroelectric power plants, 2.70% by nuclear power plants.^[3] and 10.42% by Renewable Energy Sources. More than 50% of India's commercial energy demand is met through the country's vast coal reserves.^[4] The country has also invested heavily in recent years in renewable energy utilization, especially wind energy.^[5] In 2010, India's installed wind generated electric capacity was 14,550 MW.^[6]Additionally, India has committed massive amount of funds for the construction of various nuclear reactors which would generate at least 30,000 MW.^[7] In July 2009, India unveiled a $19 billion plan to produce 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022.^[8]

அணு ஆற்றல் - கூடங்குளம் 1

World energy consumption

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

World energy consumption in 2010: over 5% growth ^[4] Energy markets have combined crisis recovery and strong industry dynamism. Energy consumption in the G20 soared by more than 5% in 2010, after the slight decrease of 2009. This strong increase is the result of two converging trends. On the one-hand, industrialized countries, which experienced sharp decreases in energy demand in 2009, recovered firmly in 2010, almost coming back to historical trends. Oil, gas, coal, and electricity markets followed the same trend. On the other hand, China and India, which showed no signs of slowing down in 2009, continued their intense demand for all forms of energy.