Solar, nuclear technology key to future: scientist
CHENNAI: Solar and nuclear technology will drive the world of the future, but it is essential to make them economically viable as quickly as possible, according to Baldev Raj, Director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research at Kalpakkam.
Addressing students of Stella Maris College at the first Dr. Sr. Annamma Philip endowment lecture recently, he said that for India to grow in a sustainable manner, it was important to develop alternatives to fossil fuels and hydro-energy resources. He pointed out that India was a leader in fast breeder nuclear reactors, which had the potential of provide energy with the existing uranium resources for a much longer period of time than the conventional methods. Apart from the progress in nuclear fission methods, work was also being done on nuclear fusion technology. “There’s a difference between science and the economics of science,” Dr. Raj said.
While much of the science behind these technologies had already been tested in laboratories, scientists were now working to make them economical.
Scientists were also developing better nuclear waste mechanisms.
Such efforts for sustainable development were essential to ensure that progress “does not unacceptably draw down our environmental or social capital or impose disproportionate burdens on future generations,” he said.
A number of indicators could be used to analyse the development of a nation: sustainable energy, land, water and mineral resources, geopolitical realities, value-added products, human resources, culture and policies and their implementation.