It is difficult to uderstand why is that either nuclear energy or non-conventional enrgy like solar and wind? Why not Siemens work for both nuclear and other form of enrgy generations? This does not look sound decision. Or is it based only on commercial terms that there will not be new government money for nuclear generation and laws will be more stringent that profit margin will be very low?
Wind enrgy also has its drawbacks - to health to be specific. Does Siemens has solution for this? Or are they going for it again because Government is giving more money there?
"I don't see too many Indians refusing to switching on their ACs(& coolers) in the sweltering summer heat or for that matter refusing to watch all their favorite shows on High End TVs or for that matter stop using refrigerators,washing machines and all the latest gizmos today."
You have said it right. The people in the urban India are consuming most of that generated capacity while the people in rural areas have to bear with 12 hour black-outs everyday. They can run their pumps to water their farms, can't enjoy most of the TV programs as no electricity
When new plants are built ,the locations are normally in the remote rural areas - the local people loose their land, home and habitat. They are exposed to all kind of possible hazards of these power plants, and return they gain nothing. All that generated power is flown to the urban centers to run those centralise AC plants of office complexes and shopping malls.
With alternate energy generation techniques such as solar energy, wind energy there power generation is distributed, the hazards are minimum and benefit is localised.
That may be the reason why the public opinion is against building of such nuclear power plants.
I don't see anything wrong with the decision itself, but the timing is just not right. Decisions like these can't be a short-term strategy where the actions are implemented immediately. As pointed out earlier, there is already acute shortage of cheap power resources and this action will make it worse. An ideal approach would have been to gradually cut down the dependency on nuclear power while investing into alternate means of energy generation.
Unfortunately,too many of those types get drowned out by the idealists who believe its possible to save the world and use their Ipads at the same time;after all its not like you can run your ipad on your own bio-energy as of yet.Can you???
Wish if it were true folks.But till that time happens we need all the Energy we can get.
Many leading environmentalists agree that nucler is an important energy source in the process of weaning ourselves off petroleum and coal-based power plants. Many argue that the world can't make the transition without nuclear. So in the short-term it has to be among the option for large-scale power generation, especially in developing nations that are so power hungry. As for Siemens, it will still be producing turbines and other equipment used in nuclear power plants and I believe it will continue to honor the service contracts for the plants it built until they are retired. It just won't pursue new nuclear-specific business.
I don't see too many Indians refusing to switching on their ACs(& coolers) in the sweltering summer heat or for that matter refusing to watch all their favorite shows on High End TVs or for that matter stop using refrigerators,washing machines and all the latest gizmos today.
All this requires tremendous-tremendous amounts of electricity.
So where is this electricity going to come from(if nobody is open to the option of building newer power plants/whether they be Coal/Natural gas or Nuclear???).
Most Coal power plants are on standby because of lack of Coal(thanks to all those maoist insurgents who are refusing to let miners mine) and now this opposition to nuclear.
It makes no sense.
And then they expect to have 24 hour,reliable power supply???
What gives???
This is just an extension of the very famous NIMBY[Not in My Backyard] phenomenon that played out in America for the longest amount of time.Everyone wants to drive the latest SUV but nobody wants a refinery to refine the Crude into Gasoline in their own State/locality.
I agree.For so many fast developing countries out there;nuclear is slowly but surely working out as not just the most cost-effective option but also the least polluting(if you implement all the required safeguards in place and not skimp on safety standards as the TEPCO people did at Fukushima).
What is more likely to happen is this-Germany's loss will be Korea(& Japan's) Gain as these countries move to the fore-front of nuclear power suppliers for most of the Developing world.
I think that this is a step taken in hurry. I is hard to believe that Siemen can align its future strategy based on the policy change of just one country. There is an actue power shortage in developing countries and Nuclear seems to be the cheapest option available...i still have to think whether it is the safer than coal/petrol fuel. The Fuk disaster is for sure of awakening but are we really going to abandon this technology? Germany can subsidize the renewable energy but i donot think that all developing countries can do that. I am not against the renewable energy but i want to have all the options remain open.
The cynic inside me wants to ask how much did Siemens project it was going to make from maintining its nuclear business. At the end of the day I reckon it was a dollars and cents decision and not purely altruistic.
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Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
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You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
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