IS NUCLEAR ENERGY ‘GREENER’ AND SAFER THAN WIND AND SOLAR? HERE’S WHY!

Germany has permanently shut down eight of its 17 reactors and pledged to close the rest by the end of 2022. Belgium, Germany, Spain and Switzerland plan nuclear phase-outs by 2030. Globally, more nuclear powerreactors have closed than opened in recent years but overall capacity has increased. What are they doing this for? Apparently it’s because nuclear power plants are not safe and they are definitely not green enough. With the Green energy brigade locking on the nuclear power plants all over the world, it’s time to call these moronic stigmas and myths out and we are going to try and do exactly that. 

This might come as a shock to most of the people who actually did care enough to give this a read but it’s actually true. With so much noise being made about how humans have turned themselves into vicious monsters using large chunks of radioactive uranium to either bomb this planet or to turn it into a radioactive apocalyptic zone and how solar and wind energy are the perfect tackle to this and probably humanity’s only chance at surviving, this seemed important. Based on data reported to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) by 31 December 2019, 450 nuclear power reactors are in operation worldwide, totalling 398.9 GW(e) in net installed capacity.

What is nuclear energy?

Nuclear energy is produced by either breaking open a big nucleus of some heavy atom or by fusing two smaller atoms to form a bigger atom and these two processes along with giving us completely different atoms at the other end, produce energy in form of heat which heats up the water, makes the turbine spin and gives us juice to power up literally every cool thing we have. Well it’s kind of the layman’s way of understanding nuclear technology as it is not that easy. We are still not smart enough to make large fusion reactions possible and all of our power plants run on the concept of nuclear fission. Though the fission reaction is technically clean, we still emit a lot of pollutants when we dig for uranium, enrich it, construct large plants and ofcourse we have a radioactive waste that needs to be taken care of in the end.

Wind energy turns the turbine with the wind and solar uses photo voltaic cells to transfer the energy from light (photons) to electricity (electrons). Not immune to toxic waste either, solar panels produce lead, cadmium, chromium that stay toxic forever unlike nuclear waste. This becomes an important factor when we take into consideration the amount of area we need panelled in comparison to nuclear energy and also how often we have to renew the panels. While solar panels are assumed to have a life span of 25-30 years, cheaply manufactured Chinese panels (China produces 70% of the world’s solar panels) have a significantly shorter lifespan. 

Large areas means clearing forest lands hampering vegetation along with a loss of substantial habitat and less carbon dioxide being absorbed. It is estimated that to power the whole of UK, 25% of the land needs to be cleared to put up wind mills. While offshore wind turbines are a solution to an extent, there is not enough study on its effects on aquatic life that is supposed to dwell in that area.

Nuclear power plants have drawn lots of attention and not necessarily in it’s support because of the Chernobyl reactor blast and recently the Fukushima incident. With large amount of radiation being a constant threat to the population, these incidents involved serious carelessness on the part of it’s administrators. Even with those horrible casualties the deaths per unit of power generation through various ways of energy production systems will shock you.

This is because nuclear power plants employ a better and qualified workforce, the security measures are trustworthy and unless someone means harm, it’s really difficult for something to go wrong. The nuclear waste can be recycled again and again to be used as the fuel hence having a potential to bring down the amount of toxic waste to significantly low amounts. With compact smaller reactor technology available, the dangers and investments of nuclear technology can be even more acceptable.

People believe nuclear technology kickstarts the aspirations of a country to have large stockpiles of nuclear warheads in it’s inventories. But it’s quite contrary to what’s happening. Countries have already started decommissioning their warheads to use the already enriched high grade U235 as fuel for their reactors. Commitments by the USA and Russia to convert nuclear weapons into fuel for electricity production was known as the Megatons to Megawatts program. And the reason why they will do that? Well because It’s cheaper than enriching uranium from scratch! 

About 55 power reactors are currently being constructed in 15 countries notably China, India, Russia and the United Arab Emirates. Big solar power parks and wind turbine parks are also being constructed all over the world. While fusion technology is still a few years away, we can just hope the balanced use of all available energy sources is maintained and that too without misunderstandings that can do more harm than ‘assumed’ good. 

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN CHINA'S THOUSAND RE-EDUCATION CAMPS?

As the world battles the Coronavirus pandemic, the distress call of hundreds of thousands of Uighur muslims isn’t reaching the world anymore but it wasn’t any better when it did. About 1000 so called ‘re-education’ camps or ‘vocational training centres’ spread over in Xinziang province of China were discovered via satellite imaging and through testimonies of a large number of escapees. With Koran being banned, inmates not being allowed to pray, pork being served in the meals, medication to stop women from getting their periods, sexual abuse and deaths in captivity being frequently mentioned by the people managing to escape, it’s a no brainer that China’s crackdown on these Muslim communities is in no way a solution to curbing radical Islamic terrorism.

The largest of China's administrative regions, Xinjiang borders eight countries - Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India - and until recently its population was mostly Uighur. The region has had intermittent autonomy and occasional independence, but what is now known as Xinjiang came under Chinese rule in the 18th Century. An East Turkestan state was briefly declared in 1949, but independence was short-lived - later that year Xinjiang officially became part of Communist China.In the 1990s, open support for separatist groups increased after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of independent Muslim states in Central Asia. However, Beijing suppressed demonstrations and activists went underground. With china still facing resistance in the uighur lands because of the occupation, various terror attacks both inside and outside the province have been carried out by the separatist movement.

The treatment of the people in these facilities is outright questionable but the Muslim minorities in the province outside of the monitored, barbed wire fence aren’t so much better off. China is accused of deploying stringent surveillance systems to monitor these populations. While the ethnic majority Han Chinese ‘companions’ are allotted to the families so that they can keep a close watch on them by staying in the same house. Reports of China using these people as forced labour for its factories affected due to the pandemic to bridge supply chain gaps in the industries have also surfaced. 

The Chinese government is often compared to a totalitarian regime where rights are curbed and broadcast is strictly censored but having a million people from the minority Muslim community in camps is a new height to what a powerful regime can do if it fears no consequence. China’s Muslim minority constitutes of Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Kyrgyz and Hui along with the Uighurs. So the uighurs are not the only ones facing this fate. This is what modern day ethnic cleansing looks like and it isn’t so much different from how it was done in the past. 

Beijing’s surveillance includes face and voice recognition, iris scanners, DNA sampling and 3D identification imagery of Uighurs. These were introduced following Xi’s 2016 appointment of Chen Quanguo as Xinjiang Party Chief. Chen’s previous appointment was in Tibet, where he implemented similar control measures over the Buddhist population.

Beijing claims the detention centres across Xinjiang are for “vocational training”, but a US Congressional hearing on the camps and subsequent report characterised them as “political re-education” centres. The education involves daily indoctrination into Communist ideology and attempts at eradicating minority culture, language and religion.

Muslim leaders are not the only ones to have refrained from condemning Beijing’s internment of more than a million Muslim Uighurs in so called re-education camps in western China. Around the world many countries have held back from criticising China, fearful of offending Beijing and suffering the wrath of the rising power. It’s even surprising that the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which considers itself the best friend of China and is the upholder of Muslim brotherhood is quite when it comes to this particular issue but would speak out ferociously on neighbouring India’s alleged treatment of Kashmiri Muslims. Turkey being the only Muslim majority nation to openly criticise the treatment of Uighurs. 

A team of international journalists were allowed into Xinjiang after repeated insistence of the international human rights groups and they were walked through a few ‘modified in a rush’ camps under strict supervision of Beijing’s propaganda officials. The minders and officials failed to convince the reporters about the voluntary enrolling and educational benefits of the camps. China still maintains that the camps are purely educational facilities that helps to remove radical and extremist thoughts from the minds of the Youth and does not discriminate on the basis of religion.

US Congressional hearing on china’s war on Christianity and other religious faiths :

https://www.religiousfreedominstitute.org/rfievents/congressional-hearing-chinas-war-on-christianity-and-other-religious-faiths-kkz6p

WHAT DOES INDIA STAND TO GAIN FROM THE 'CHINESE' VIRUS?

With several nations already being very upfront with their views on china’s contribution to the pandemic, it’s likely to affect the ‘cheap-labour’ manufacturing giant’s business in the coming months. While the West is also emerging as an even bigger hotspot, you can not be totally wrong to place bets on the indian market’s growth prospects in the not so distant future and here's why.

Business as usual for several industries seems a little too good to be true thought but it’s coming. While businesses not being able to survive the blow might resort to liquidate and look for options, those who might will certainly have a hard time for the initial period. While simply being open for business is not good enough, there will be a huge uncertainty factor looming. 

One of the worst hit areas of the economic impacts are the monstrous factories who at one point of time used to churn out hundreds of products at an alarming rate and are now in a state of complete shut down. With most of their employees furloughed or worse, they would certainly look towards modifying their business models.

China has a huge manufacturing industry. It enjoys a fair amount of international market share and is more or less dependent on it to sustain. While several trade partners of China are unhappy with it at the moment and thanks to the ongoing trade war, they are likely to look for other options and it could not come at a better time while the units have been shut for a period of time and the employees are gone. India is china’s direct competitor in the manufacturing industry in south Asia. Various pro-business initiatives by the present government have ensured India’s readiness to brace the global market’s influx into the country. 

Many giant companies have or already were planning to expand production to India. Apple for instance operates in India at a not so large scale but is looking to base a large part of it's Chinese production quota outside the country's borders. Google and Microsoft also eye neighboring Vietnam and Thailand for new manufacturing hubs. Though it won't be easy for companies to just move on from China, its more or less going to happen.

While it's not just manufacturing that will benefit India, it has various other things to look up to. FDIs and supply chain breaks are what India can hugely profit from. While the grim days for the industries of India are going to be here for a while, India needs to prepare to take its place in the global manufacturing business and prepare for this long awaited leap.

WHAT DOES THE 'TOP-RANKED' ITALIAN HEALTHCARE LACK?

The European country’s healthcare system is applauded all over the world. Being one of the best in the list, it’s really scary for people all over the world to see it breaking its back over the present Coronarvirus pandemic. Italy has a centralised health care system. The healthcare system in Italy is a regionally based national health service known as Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN). It provides universal coverage to citizens and residents, with public healthcare largely free of charge. 

With independent practice by doctors not being a very popular option, the national health service is what the Italians have. Though it’s efficiency is not in question here, it’s ability to cope with the current situation is.

When a centralised organisation is battling a pandemic, it’s course of action is dictated, monitored and evaluated continuously. This may seem like the feasible approach but it’s simply not enough. Doctors in Italy say the lack of primary healthcare is proving to be very expensive.

While doctors can’t or will not make home visits and are switching to remotely delivered medical treatment, there are numerous cases of unreported deaths in italy where the kins of the victims have stated medical negligence as the cause of death. while victims are being prescribed painkilers and wide range antibiotics over the phone, it poses a real question on the death toll being announced by the government of Italy.

European countries have enhanced the scope of private provision within their health care systems. Privatizing services have been suggested as a means to improve access, quality, and efficiency in health care. This raises questions about the relative performance of private hospitals compared with public hospitals. Most systematic reviews that scrutinize the performance of the private hospitals originate from the United States. A systematic overview for Europe is nonexisting. 

India has a wide network of private healthcare establishments with private doctors just depending on their own directions and ability to treat patients. This acts like a second safety net the government can fall onto. While the national organisation would focus on combating the problem at a national stage, communities can still be continued to be served by its own primary healthcare individuals having their own private practice and through India's very reliable private health institutions.