Skip to main content

How could one call nuclear energy as a part of the solution to global warming?

Letter by Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst based in Karnataka, to Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency, France, wondering how could one call nuclear energy as a part of the solution to global warming:
***
Whereas it is very disappointing to note that IAEA may have no satisfactory responses to the concerns I have raised in my earlier email of 19th Nov. 2021, as forwarded below, or that IAEA did not deem it necessary to respond to such genuine public concerns, I can only assume that the contents of that email have been noted by you and your team.
Now that most parts of the world are seriously concerned that "Ukraine conflict could jeopardize safety of nuclear facilities", a statement attributed to you, is there not an even more urgency for IAEA to diligently review its continuing advocacy on nuclear energy as a part of the solution to global warming? You were also reported to have stated: “the best action to ensure the safety and security of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities and its people would be for this armed conflict to end now.” We all know that such armed conflicts in the vicinity of nuclear facilities in any part of the world cannot be wished away entirely, which means there will always be such credible risks to the safety and security of nuclear facilities and the communities around them.
It will be a shock if IAEA is not aware of the increasing global level concerns over the potential of Russian shelling of Ukraine nuclear power plants leading to a major catastrophe similar to that of Chernobyl or Fukushima. A few of such concerns are as in the news links in the end. I hope IAEA will not dismiss such concerns from different parts of the world as frivolous. Whereas, the entire global community can be expected to be really concerned about the possible impacts of such a potential catastrophe on the affected communities, there is no realistic chance of the global community preventing such wars and/ or nuclear accidents, even though they are keen to do so, if global agencies such as IAEA continue with their ill-conceived advocacy on more of nuclear power reactors.
Since such armed conflicts near nuclear facilities, and/ or nuclear accidents cannot be entirely prevented, should there be more number of nuclear reactors, as IAEA seems to be advocating for? Can IAEA assure the global population that a vastly more number of nuclear reactors, as some countries such as India and China, are planning for will not be against the true interest of the global population, and that no nuclear mishap will occur?
The advocates of larger role for nuclear power as a part of green energy transition, assuming that they are all truly responsible in their societal level obligations, should guarantee that such a catastrophic nuclear fallout scenario will be prevented. What sort of governance mechanism and/or regulatory mechanism will IAEA implement to prevent such credible risk? Since IAEA continues to advocate a much higher role for nuclear power in the guise of green power, is there a mechanism wherein one agency/ few individuals can be held directly responsible for any unfortunate nuclear mishap?
This question becomes vastly more relevant in the case of India, which has some nuclear reactors close to densely populated areas, and which seems to have been influenced by the related advocacy by agencies such as IAEA to have many more such nuclear reactors in the coming years; not far from densely populated cities. It has become much more relevant to the people in India to question the acceptability of such credible threats of 'nuclear terror' from the growing number of nuclear power reactors spread across the length and breadth of the country, in the larger context that the aggregate nuclear power capacity in the country is only 6,780 MW, which is only about 1.7% of the total electric power generating capacity (as on 11.2.2022), and that this percentage of nuclear power to the total power capacity can only come down further.
Can we say that IAEA still believes that we can afford to ignore the cautionary approach strongly supported by many reports/ articles which have appeared in the media and by leading personalities such as Mikhail Gorbachev, UN Secretary General, Japanese Prime Minister at the time of Fukushima disaster, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Dr A Gopala Krishnan (of AERB, India)?
IAEA's diligent and responsible review of its stand on the relevance nuclear power for a safer world, in the context of all the issues discussed above, and in the perspective of overall welfare of global community, will not only help many densely populated countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh to possibly avoid/ minimise any major nuclear fallout scenario, but will also prevent the wastage of enormous resources in building such risky and complex installations.

News links:

Comments

TRENDING

Beyond India-China borders: Economic links expand, political gaps persist

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  Despite growing trade between India and China, a persistent trust deficit continues to shape their bilateral relationship. Expanding economic engagement has not fully resolved political differences, many of which stem from historical legacies as well as contemporary geopolitical concerns. Border disputes—often traced to colonial-era arrangements—remain a significant obstacle to deeper cooperation, while differing strategic alignments in global affairs add further complexity.

Gujarat cadre to HDFC: When bureaucratic style hits corporate walls

By Rajiv Shah   I was a little amused by the abrupt March 17, 2026 resignation of Atanu Chakraborty —a Gujarat cadre IAS officer of the 1985 batch who retired from the government in 2020—as chairman of HDFC Bank . Much of what may have led to his decision to quit this ostensibly high post—actually a non-executive, part-time role—is by now well known. I followed most of it online with considerable interest, partly because I had interacted with him umpteen times during my stint as The Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar from 1997 to 2012.

Operation Epic Fury: Making America great at the world’s expense?

By N.S. Venkataraman*  ​The decades-long enmity between Iran and Israel is well-documented, but historically, their direct confrontations have been brief, constrained by the logistical and economic limitations of sustained warfare. The current conflict in the Middle East, however, marks a radical and dangerous departure from this pattern. 

India has been getting its economic growth wrong for two decades, say top economists

By Jag Jivan*   India's official GDP figures have misrepresented the trajectory of the world's fifth-largest economy for the better part of two decades, according to a major new working paper published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). It finds that India overstated annual growth by up to two percentage points after 2011 — and understated it during the boom years of the 2000s.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah  Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

'Tax the top': Nationwide protests demand action as 1% control 40% of India’s wealth

By A Representative   Civil rights groups across the country observed the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh on March 23, as people from diverse backgrounds united to raise their voices against growing economic inequality. The mobilisations marked the launch of a nationwide campaign against inequality, running from March 23 to April 14 (Ambedkar Jayanti), under the banner of the “Tax The Top” campaign.

Fair prices, fresh produce: Vegetable market opens in Rajasthan tribal village

By Vikas Meshram*  On 18 March 2026, the tribal village of Sajjangarh in southern Rajasthan witnessed the grand and dignified inauguration of a new vegetable market (mandi). Established through the tireless joint efforts of the Krushi Avam Adivasi Swaraj Sangathan (Bhilkuaan) and Vaagdhara, under the active leadership of the Gram Panchayat of Sajjangarh, the market is being hailed as a cornerstone for local self-governance, self-reliance, and a sustainable rural economy. 

Ex-IAS Atanu Chakraborty and a tale of two different Gujarat vision documents

By Rajiv Shah  The likely appointment of Atanu Chakraborty as HDFC Bank chairman interested me for several reasons, but above all because I have interacted with him closely during my more than 14 year stint in Gandhinagar for the “Times of India”. One of the few decent Gujarat cadre bureaucrats, Chakraborty, belonging to the 1985 IAS batch, at least till I covered Sachivalaya was surely above controversies. He loved to remain faceless, never desired publicity, was professional to the core, and never indulged in loose talk. When he neared retirement, which happened in April 2020, first there were rumours in Sachivalaya that he would be appointed SEBI chairman, and then there was talk he would be chairman (or was it CEO?) of Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City (a dream project of Narendra Modi as Gujarat chief minister, which as Prime Minister Modi wants to promote, come what may). But, for some strange reasons, and I don’t know why, none of this happened, despite the fact...