Heading towards nuclear tragedy!

In some English dailies of 3rd December, there have been reports that the manufacturing work of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant has started in Russia. It is the worst news of the decade as we are going headlong for a major radiation disaster; maybe in the next fifteen years or so! Sadly, we are also paying for it through our nose by buying Russian plant, the worst and the most dangerous one, for potential nuclear radiation hazard. Past 80 now, this writer may not be there by the time it happens but major radiation leak related disaster is bound to happen sometimes or other.

If we want to have nuclear power plant, we can easily get U-238 absolutely radiation free nuclear power plants, sized around say 200MW each. These plants will be totally environmentally clean and can be located in a number of major cities and towns across Bangladesh. Further, the capital investment will also be far lower and no safety distances or special dome structures are needed for these U-238 nuclear power plants. We can also set one plant at a time, spreading the whole program over a few decades, one after another.

It is indeed sad that we are calling for a nuclear disaster for our next generation.

Engr. S. A. Mansoor
Dhaka