Kakodkar bats for nuclear energy

Eminent nuclear scientist Dr Anil Kakodkar on Thursday said nuclear energy may be an intense source of energy, but it is necessary to harness it in order to make up for the Earth's depleting resources.

Kakokdar was speaking at 'National Seminar on Applications of Isotope and Radiation Technology for Societal Benefits', a three-day seminar being held at Jnanabharthi Campus, Bangalore University.

“There is a lot of debate when it comes to nuclear energy and that is because it is an intense form of energy. It is destructive. But it is also constructive and we should focus on that,” Kakodkar said.

“The Earth has depleting resources, so we can't ignore a source through which large quantity of energy can be harnessed,” he added.

The seminar is being organised by the Bangalore University, in collaboration with Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS) and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC).

Solar mission on target
On the sidelines, Kakodkar also talked about the recently constituted Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, for which he was appointed chairman. “Currently there are several things happening on the solar front and our targets for phase one is being more or less met. We are focussing on boosting solar energy through policy initiatives,” he said.

Another focus of the mission is bringing the right kind of technology to India, Kakodkar said.

“We must also focus on bringing the right kind of technology down to India. It should be suitable for the Indian climate,” he added.
The nuclear scientist emphasised upon the need to curb costs while harnessing solar power.

“What I would consider a success at the end of phase one would be rapidly bringing down the costs of solar power. Solar energy costs should be brought down to the same level as other sources. Currently lot of subsidies is being given on the solar front, but it should be cheaper even without them,” he added.