Editorial

The earth's protective mantle is getting polluted. All resolutions to reduce CO₂ emissions have to be supported by finding alternate sources of cleaner energy.

Wind power, solar energy, hydroelectric plants and nuclear energy are some of the sources which can help us to reduce pollution and in addition show the way to attain self-sufficiency in petroleum products also.

We had been neglecting solar harvesting for a long time. Karnataka is making use of it in a big way. However for industrial consumption, hydroelectric power and nuclear reactors are the only sources which do not pollute and also produce power in sufficient quantity.

For a country like India with 700 million people, to sustain our industries, we need to develop different types of power reactors and particularly those which are also breeder reactors to avoid importation of fuel materials. Our friendly nations had been and will be often under their own political compulsions every few years, which prevents them from supplying us any material from fuels to computers. Perhaps that is also one of the reasons why we could develop our missile, satellite and nuclear technologies so fast. Independence alone can sharpen our mind to develop new things.

We have to fight pollution of water, earth and atmosphere. New types of energy are important for this. But the development of new sources of energy such as nuclear power, breeder reactors, solar energy and wind and water based energies are all extremely important for us, not just to prevent pollution alone but also for our very existence.

We have to support our industrial development, agriculture, education, defence, etc., which all depend directly or indirectly on power. This is our first priority.

Now nuclear energy is not a luxury. It is only one more absolutely essential source of energy.