NEW DELHI: At the ongoing COP negotiations on climate change, 22 nations have agreed to triple nuclear power capacity. India has not joined in because it objected to a clause in the agreement on tripling renewable energy. Dinkar Srivastava, member of a task force set up by the think tank Vivekananda International Foundation on energy transition, argues that renewables may not be the panacea for the world’s climate ills though they have advantages. But to describe renewables as affordable would not be accurate. Srivastava, a former diplomat, was speaking on The Gist. His point is that in his view, nuclear power is the way forward. While people often cite the cost involved in building a nuclear power plant, these are not unaffordable. Also, a lot of the hype surrounding the dangers associated with nuclear plants is overhyped, with the west driving this agenda given their proliferation fears India needs to rethink the business of nuclear power, so as to speed up the laggard pace of building new plants. Opening up to the private sector could be a solution. As for the buzz about small modular reactors, Srivastava says the technology is overhyped and India could do better with its 220 MW and 300MW reactors. Tune in for more in this conversation with Dinkar Srivastava.
