Going nuclear

Sri Lanka has set its sights on going nuclear for its energy requirements. In our main story yesterday Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka is quoted as saying that a nuclear power plant will be established in the country by 2030. Addressing a media briefing he said an electricity unit can be sold at a price as low as Rs 6 with the setting up of the nuclear power plant.

With the demand for power set to escalate by leaps and bounds in the near future with the rapid expansion of industries and for massive development projects in store, it is incumbent on the Government to look for alternative energy sources. Already energy consumption has increased by eight percent within this year and according to Minister Ranawaka, if this trend continues our present energy consumption would double by 2018.

This is a daunting prospect considering that we have almost exhausted our hydro power capacities and although Norochcholai is set to be commissioned in the near future, it is doubtful whether we will be able to meet with our full energy requirements to cope with the demand. It is said that it needs three million tons of coal per year to generate 1,000 MW of electricity while only a single Uranium ton is needed to generate nuclear power. Besides coal cannot be dependent upon as an inexhaustible commodity forever.

There are predictions suggesting a depletion of world’s coal deposits in the near future. The ever escalating world oil prices too would make power generation more costlier as time progresses. Conservation measures too has not had the desired impact with more and more waste observed all round. Thus we have to make contingency plans to meet our energy requirements.

Hence, the Nuclear option is a most feasible one. Already countries such as Ukraine and Spain have offered their assistance to develop nuclear know-how for our energy purposes. We should avail ourselves of this chance to the maximum to put the country on the nuclear energy map. Besides Sri Lanka cannot languish behind other nations who are forging ahead with aid of nuclear power facilities. We have been fighting shy of experimenting with nuclear power all these years perhaps due to its wide ramifications.

Nuclear power continues to remain a hot topic in the global scene with countries such as Iran and North Korea at the centre of controversy over their alleged nuclear ambitions. Such controversies have dissuaded small countries such as Sri Lanka from thinking in terms of nuclear for energy building. It is appropriate that Minister Ranawaka has cleared the air in this regard, dispelling rumours. He said in terms of the Atomic Energy Act Sri Lanka will use the technology only for power generating purposes.

It is gratifying to note that the Government is thinking in terms of moving with the world in all spheres. No doubt there will be many countries who will be willing to come to Sri Lanka’s assistance in this new endeavour to enhance its energy building capacity.

Fine advice

Our Police Department which has had its image battered these days needs to develop a new outlook and strategy to win back public confidence. In this regard an observation made by Senior DIG Gamini Navaratne assumes relevance. Addressing officers who completed a traffic Management course conducted by the Traffic Police at Police Headquarters the Senior DIG stressed the importance of politeness to his charges.

He said “the Traffic Police should be more polite and they should use decent language when dealing with the public”. We cannot agree more with the Senior DIG who no doubt is an officer of the old school where politeness to the public was part and parcel of the Police ethos.

Today regrettably we come across traffic policemen who are extremely rude to motorists. This is also generally true of most policemen. This boorish behaviour is also one of the reasons the Police Department has come to be despised by the public. Motorists are booked for the slightest infringement and abused as if they were common criminals. The public columns in the newspapers are full of such complaints against the Traffic Police.

Hopefully the Senior DIG Navaratne’s advice to his charges will bring about a qualitative change in the attitudes of the Traffic Police and all other policemen that would go towards helping to build the image of the Police Department.