PARTICIPATE DEBATES

Should Bangladesh Pursue Nuclear Power Option?

Japan, being one of the world’s largest economic powers and hi-tech countries, has failed to prevent explosions in the nuclear reactors at the … power station. They could not avert an accident following the March 11 tsunami despite adopting most-modern safeguard measures at the nuclear power station.

Bangladesh, being a poor country with having poor know-how in nuclear technology, has a plan to set up a nuclear power station at Rooppur. In the backdrop of the disaster in Japan, there is a concern.

Bangladesh has undertaken the nuclear plan amid acute energy shortage with fast exhausting gas resource and strong protests by civil societies to extract coal. The Energy & Power would like to invite your opinion whether the country should continue with its nuclear plan, despite having the challenges?

=====================================================================================EP contributing editor Saleque Sufi has launched a debate whether Bangladesh should continue with the nuclear power program following the nuclear crisis in Japan. EP uploaded them for its readers so they can contribute further in this regard.

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Saleque Sufi

Dear Secretary,

Following massive earth quake and shocking Tsunami in North Eastern Japan which triggered nuclear disaster in Fukusima Daichi Nuclear power plant one has every reason to review whether or not Bangladesh should continue to pursue Nuclear Power Generation option.

Remember Japan is one of the most technically advanced nation and it applied state of the art technology in Nuclear Power Generation . Still the present status what I find from CNN< BBC , Al Jajeera and from my links in Japan and IAEA that

 

Reactor 1, 2 , and 3  had fire and explosion due to abnormal heat in the reactor as colling system has completely destroyed.

 

Reactor 4 , 5 and 6 which were shut down before Tsunami have huge  stocks of nuclear waste and spent rods which have started emanating radiation as water level has almost dropped to zero.

 

US government has instructed its crew to stay at least 50 miles away from the nuclear plant. Only handful number of Japanese workers mostly aged are still endeavoring to fight what appears to be a lost battle.

 

Many countries including Germany and USA[ California ] have started  considering whether or not they will shut down nuclear plants located near the earth quake zone .

 

Luckily strong wind is blowing seawards sweeping the radiation cloud into the sea . If it turns around Tokyo about 150KM away will be affected.

Under this situation it may be suicidal for Bangladesh to set up Nuclear power plant in Roopoor.

Bangladesh will not soon acquire expertise to run the operation professionally.

Bangladesh is situated in earth quake Zone.

Any failure of Bangladesh Nuclear plant may affect Parts of India , Nepal , Bhutan.

Just remember Australia having the highest uranium deposit is not considering Nuclear power option yet.

I will soon write in my Energy & Power about it. Please convene a meeting of all Bangladeshi experts . I know Bangladeshi American Dr Ataul Karim is a world Known Nuclear Physicist. Take his opinion and opinion of other local and NRB Bangladeshi experts.

We must not expose our people to any future nuclear radiation.

Engr. Khondkar A Saleque Cpeng FIEB

Energy Specialist AEAI[ USAID]

Sheberghan Gas Field Development Project

Kabul, Afghanistan

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Syed Saad Andaleeb, Ph.D.

Dear Sufi:

Thank you for initiating this dialogue.  It is critical that the nuclear power option has the most deeply considered views of the experts, including foreign experts, before any step is taken in that direction. It is not a decision to be pursued frivolously and for superficial motivations.

It must be remembered that the Americans have not built a power plant in over 30 years;  the Three Mile Island episode provided lessons that nuclear power can be a nemesis if it gets out of hand...sometimes for uncontrollable events such as in Japan recently.  It must also be considered that our population density is among the highest in the world. In a catastrophe, not only would huge numbers be decimated, but considering the half-life of the radioactive materials, they would be around in close proximity to human populations for an eternity.  We must also remember Chernobyl's effects...large swathes of Europe were in sheer danger of fallout.  Politically, also, I have serious doubts whether our big neighbor would allow such a project to become a reality: their population centers can also be affected catastrophically.  Most importantly, the kind of investments Bangladesh has made in human resources (education) in the past suggests we are NOT ready, and will not be for at least another few decades, to bear responsibility to man nuclear power projects that will guarantee safety and security.  Allowing others to build, own and operate is an option, but in a catastrophe, they will disappear into thin air and we will be left holding the radioactive bag!

Voices need to be raised, vociferously if needed, to insure that no steps are taken until all CONSTRAINTS have been considered, debated openly, and vetted by a panel of experts that has the trust of the general public.

Thanks again for pointing out the other matters needing consideration as well. I am sure other experts will weigh in too.  If this turns to be a fruitful dialogue, I would like to publish it in the Journal of Bangladesh Studies (with the permission of all contributors) ... for the record!

Syed Saad Andaleeb, Ph.D. (BS Chemical Engineering)

Distinguished Professor of Marketing and Program Chair

Black School of Business

Penn State Erie

5101 Jordan Road

Erie, PA 16563

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Dr Nafis Ahmed, CPEng

Thanks for initiating this discussion, and constructive ideas are always welcome. However, with headlines like these, "China, Germany pause nuclear plans amid Japan's crisis" (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2011/03/japan-nuclear-crisis-china-germany/1), the issue will come to a head (unravel by itself) in my opinion. With the world's third largest economy grappling with problems in just one plant, and other most technologically advanced countries (also include Switzerland and others in the news in the last few days) having second thoughts, nothing can be taken for granted. It will be interesting to see how India reacts as it has 'plans in place' to boost its power generation by an order of magnitude by 2020 through nuclear plants. By the way, we should also be aware of the location of the proposed Indian plants, and be ready to canvass if they are perceived to be hazardous in the  BD context.

In any case, I doubt if Bangladesh will satisfy the  IAEA guidelines and other compliance requirements any time soon. Signing of an MOU does not mean much in this particular case.

Best, Nafis

Dr Nafis Ahmed, CPEng

Consultant

16 Dragonfly St, Valle Verde 6

Pasig City, 1604 M. Manila, Philippines

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Dr Tapan Sarker MAusIMM

Dear Sufi Bhai and all,

Thanks for initiating this discussion.

My views on this are:

1.   It’s still very early to come into any conclusion that nuclear is not a viable option;

2.    I presume that there will now be more scrutiny or regulation both internal and external, particularly for new or proposed nuclear plants as well as for aging nuclear reactors,

3.       Here in Australia, we saw rapid fall of share prices (in ASX) of Uranium producing companies (e.g., PDN, ERA, ARU ranging 12 – 15%) soon after the Fukushima crisis. But by the end of this week, they have recovered most of their losses, which is indicative that - - nuclear will remain as a vital alternative energy sources, particularly in developed economies - - but more likely with more safety measures.

I am not a supporter of nuclear power personally. But the reality is that the future of energy security lies with this – mainly (1) due to its ability to produce less CO2 ; (2) strategic technological advantage (still enjoyed by the developed and powerful nations); and finally (3) Cost effectiveness.

Thanks again,

Dr Tapan Sarker MAusIMM

PhD ANU, MA Kieo (Japan), BSc (Honors)

Asia Pacific Centre for Sustainable Enterprise

Griffith Business School

Griffith University, Australia

E-mail: tapan.sarker@griffith.edu.au

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Aminur Rashid

Dear All,

Lets not stop this very important discussion until we have a common understanding between all the experts and the people.

Thanks to Mr. Sufi for initiating this (I know he has initiated even before) and Mr. Andaleeb for his valuable thoughts.

We would like to see some comments here from our policy makers.

Regards to all

Aminur Rashid

aminur rashid POWER TALK

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Dr. Mushfiqur Rahman

Please also take into consideration the fact that Bangladesh rushed to close down its Embassy in Tokyo   (with Austria only so far) fearing the life of Embassy officials and their  family.

Knowing well the costs and consequences of shutting down Bangladesh embassy loosing hystorical relationship with Japan and huge dependence of Japanese assistance in bith bilateral and multilateral assistance, Bangladesh govt. rushed to become champion in taking this decision for the safety of a very few Bangladeshis.

We will also need to note that we can not afford the most advanced technology for the proposed plant as they are costly. So there must be a compromise between costs and safety.

Also the fact that we could not develop any culture of proactive actions in our systems. So, we may only wait the disasters to hit us and then react, be it the nuclear plant failure.

Under this circumstances, when we will be totally be dependant on nuclear source, operational technology and management the issue of engaging in nuclear power plant development as a priority definitely invites questions of our ability to select priority.

Regards

Mushfiq