The nuclear energy industry has been at the receiving end after the Fukushima disaster with several countries making their intent to look beyond the nuclear option loud and clear. The nuclear energy debate is not new but what is alarming is that on latest empirical evidence the option appears to have lost it to the renewable.
India's go ahead to Jaitapur, come to now symbolise the sharp divide on the nuclear energy issue, came ironically a week after a report by Worldwatch Institute, a global environment research institute, in collaboration with the Green EFA party in European Parliament, claimed the annual capacity additions in renewable energy had been outpacing the nuclear option for the last 15 years.
Presenting a bleak scenario, the report said that as of April 1 there were 437 nuclear reactors operating in the world — seven fewer than in 2002 concluding that the role of nuclear power was declining steadily and now accounted for merely about 13% of the world's electricity generation and 5.5% of the commercial primary energy. Read the full report here.
Source: Rakesh Khar, DNA.
