Essay on Power Crisis and Nuclear Power Plant: Bangladesh Prospect

Introduction

No doubt, in the age of the zenith position of science, associated with the era and arena of globalization, Bangladesh is groping in darkness for want of the necessary amount of electricity or power. Promising Bangladesh is a power-starved nation where the crisis of it is being acute day by day though the Prime Minister herself is in the charge of the related sector. Subsidy in this sector is huge as well. But still, the relation between production and demand is quite irrational. Here the per capita energy consumption is one of the lowest amounts in the world. Given the MDGs, the power situation has emerged as the most challenging issue for the country. Hence, the government should aim at installing nuclear power plants to meet the growing electricity demand and to realize it the govt. should take strides carefully so that corruption does not intrude into the administration of the related sector.

The Present Situation

The power situation in Bangladesh is very bad. Now in the county per head power production is 220 KW/hr. Including govt. and nongovt sector Bangladesh generates 5271 MW electricity in total whereas the needed amount is 6500 MW. The rural areas are in demand of 2400 MW per day. But REB can supply half of the said amount only in the capital areas. Only 48.5% of the total people are getting the opportunity of power. In fact, for a developing country like ours, the power supply is nohow up to the mark. Consequently, all the development work has been stable. Notable that in the capital city demand stands at 1400 MW per day, but the megacity is going on with an unsatisfactory amount of 600 to 650 MW. A brief electricity scenario in Bangladesh is: installed capacity 6658 MW (public sector-3974 MW and private sector-3684MW), according to Economic Review 2011; generation capacity 4699 MW; per capita consumption-236 KWH. In such a critical moment, mismanagement and corruption of the authority concerned have made the crisis more mature. The consumption of power stealthily, violation of rules in bill collection and payment, illegal connection, etc. hinder the usual supply of electricity. Besides, a great portion of power is being wasted in various ways. However, the present power situation is much horrible given the pros and cons.

Effects of the Present Situation

Effects are many such as water crisis in city areas, grave hazards for public health due to water crisis, resistance in reaching development goals, jeopardized situation for country’s economic backbone, increase in anti-social activities in city areas at night and degradation in rural agriculture, handicap in industrial production, air pollution and noise pollution due to use of generators, etc. People in city areas do not have water properly due to a power cut or power failure. Lots of citizens irrespective of old, young, and child stand in the queue for procuring water from roadside taps. They eagerly wait for water by holding jar, jug, cooking pot forward. During acute want of water, many citizens become victims of dehydration as well.

Bangladesh is lagging from achieving MDGs for the stagnancy in mills and factories due to the power crisis, and for this industrial production has almost gone to a zero level. Whatever be the cause of the power crisis (system loss or load-shedding), every day our workplaces stop several times owing to a frequent power cut. Block-based agriculture is no less harmed for the same reason. In summer, farmers often cannot irrigate their lands with the help of a power-driven pump for load shedding. Consequently, our developing country is con-fronting to an endangered situation especially in the field of economy. And again, many organizations and institutions now use generators as the substitute for traditional power plants for having the service of electric power. As a result, the environment is polluted due to black smoke from generators. For example, air pollution and water pollution are increasing day by day, especially in the city areas.

Nuclear Power Plant in Bangladesh

For a wide range of industrial production of power, Bangladesh has to move onto the building of nuclear power plants to overcome the prevalent crisis. Today the world community thinks and rethinks this matter. By this time, in many countries like China and India, nuclear energy has become an inevitable energy option which is at the same time the best alternative source of power. It is a matter of hope that Bangladesh has planned to build such a plant by as vision of 2021. With technological support, the plant will produce 2000 MW of power. However, given the manifold advantages of nuclear power, many countries of the world are trying to be the users of this power. Iran, a Middle-east coun-try, has been trying for many days for this purpose. They are going on increasing the hoard of atomic apparatus and appliances for having the alternative source of energy in the face of the opposition of the USA, UK, France, and Germany. But still, they do not pay any heed to their opposition because Iran believes that the opponents are already the owner of nuclear power, and they do not want others to be the owner of it.

Bangladesh’s consideration for building the nuclear power plant originated in 1961. Bangladesh wants to import reactor and raw material Uranium of VVR-1000 model nuclear power plant from Russia. Of course, there has remained a question of whether Bangladesh can install, operate and maintain the nuclear power plant. At present, many experts of the home and abroad opine that the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant blast has accelerated the downfall of the then USSR. Here it is clear that a gigantic project like a nuclear power plant is not so easy to handle. It is also heard that Chernobil is burning still today; now there is no dearth of perverted and disabled children there due to the long-standing effect of nuclear energy. But, it is also questionable that why Bangladesh is trying to generate nuclear power without having the capability of processing the raw material of Uranium where the investment estimate, in the beginning, is not fixed. Until today, in all countries including Bangladesh that initiated projects availing supplier’s credit from different banks and donor agencies, the ruler class was benefited instead of a heavy tax burden on the shoulder of the general people.

Advantages And Disadvantages

In comparison to advantages of the nuclear power, plant disadvantages are more apparent. Comparatively more productions can be ensured from such power plant if any unknown disastrous situation can successfully be checked.

But given the close-down of some power plants all over the world, it can be easily claimed that disadvantages are more. After the devastation in Japan, Germany, where load-shedding would be seen one time every twelve or more years, closed down seven of their nuclear plants. Again, some other countries like France and the Philippines stopped few plants even before the incident in Japan. On the lookout, it is seemed that for a third-world country like Bangladesh to check the probable destruction arising out of an accident in the plant will be impossible. A developed country like Japan can be its glaring example. Moreover, the nuclear power plant is not suitable for a densely populated country like ours. The risks are also involved with the installation and maintenance. So Bangladesh should be cautious about the manifold sides of a nuclear plant. On the whole, it is undeniable that the more production for the nuclear plant, the more development in all sectors of the country.

Conclusion

The power crisis in Bangladesh has undoubtedly reached its peak and people from all walks of life are sonorous with a talk that power crisis should immediately be mitigated, and in this regard govt. failure is questionable. It is relevant to quote that power is indissolubly linked with the overall development of a country. At present, the power crisis is not in the phase of personal problems, the crisis has become a great impediment to our national development and advancement. By shunning all possible disadvantages of nuclear power plants, we have to take steps to build a nuclear power plant to meet the growing demand for power in the country. For materializing such a giant project, general people and civil society, alongside government, have to come forward as well.

Essay on Power Crisis and Nuclear Power Plant: Bangladesh Prospect

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