I am become death, the destroyer of worlds

“I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." Robert Oppenheimer, the "father" of the nuclear bomb, said following the initial successful test of the weapon in 1945.

More than the earthquake and the tsunami  that shook Japan on 11^th March 2011, what is worrying one and all is the nuclear catastrophe that followed at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility. What is worrying is that a country which is well known for maintaining highest standards in all fields of engineering and design, is fighting hard without much hope to contain the nuclear radiation. The nuclear facilities could not be kept safe and is posing real danger to life and environment. Multiple layers of protection provided for this nuclear facility were supposed to plug any chink. But, as the investigation progresses, it exposes that every layer had a chink in itself. And, the entire system was blown to pieces. Reactors were supposed to automatically shut down in case of any natural calamity – but, the combination of deadly earthquake and tsunami made all the lines of protection - totally ineffective!

And mind it, had it happened in India or for that matter in any populous developing country, it would have been disaster of unimaginable proportions. ‘Father’ of the nuclear bomb was right, at its very inception!

In the Indian context, our system would fully collapse in case of such eventualities. We have experienced Latur earthquake at 6.4 on the Richter scale that claimed more than 10,000 lives. Bhuj earthquake in 2001 claimed more than 20,000 lives while recording 7.7 on the Richter scale and the Kashmir earthquake in 2005 claimed more than 80,000 lives at 7.6! And this is not the worst that could hit us.

Our major cities with dense population are very much earthquake prone– Delhi (seismic zone 4), Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata in (seismic zone 3), Srinagar and Guwahati (seismic zone 5). The non-adherence to recommended construction and design codes for buildings would cost too dearly. Apart from this, emergency services such as fire brigades and hospitals are critical. Important arterial roads and airports need to be fortified. Decentralisation would help in disaster management and community-level preparedness could greatly reduce the loss of lives and property – as the Japanese have demonstrated in their moment of crisis! Let us prepare ourselves for the worst.

As far as nuclear accidents are concerned, it is not that this is something new for India – in August 2010, the Journal of Contemporary Asia reported that between 1993 and 1995, more than 120 hazardous nuclear accidents took place in India! Going by the low standards that we are used to, it is high time that a thorough safety audit be conducted of Indian nuclear plants- to test whether we would be able to withstand the severest of earthquake and tsunamis? And, it is time to reconsider our nuclear plans. Do we really need nuclear energy? Can’t we go full throttle for tapping the non-polluting, never ending natural sources like solar, wind and hydel  power?

I hope, Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi makes the governments all over the world to re-think and re-model their energy strategy for a better world.

Madhukar Mohan