The New Nation - Internet Edition

KMN Sarwar Iqbal

Since the day of swearing in, our democratically elected government has taken quite a few giant steps in the national development schema as usually they did in their past tenure. Specifically, purchasing sophisticated jet fighters MIG-29 and inaugurating the Bangabandhu Shetu (Jamuna Bridge) were in the previous term; commitment to build Padma Shetu, rejuvenating the trial of accused killers of our founding father along with the trial of the fifth columnists of our independent war are the prominent ones in the current term. All the pledges they have made to the nation will be fully implemented in the current occupancy, the relevant ministry asserted. Anyway, the most recent one is to be invigorating the Ruppur nuclear site with a couple of 1000mW (one thousand megawatt) electricity generation units by implanting nuclear power plant (NPP) costing $1.5 billion each. We praise the state body for their attempt to pacify the decade long power misery afflicts our people. However, till now we were producing electricity from thermal power plant (TPP), and we are quite accustomed in handling such plants by virtue of our academic knowledge and practical skills, but in this newly adopted NPP how far we are educated is needed to be fathomed. Even if we have acquired some erudition in nuclear science, a question bubbles out, whether that would be adequate to assume such a volatile engineering project, or simply by being an ardent fan of modern science we are taking a high dive into unknown.

According to the BPDB, we have nationwide consumption facilities of 4800 mW while our production capability is only 3860mW, which indicates the deficiency of approximately 1000mW or 20% of the total need. Nowadays, this uncomfortable power starvation is being consoled by 'load shedding'-means periodic harnessing of the power plug from grid to grid. Naturally, such a problem leads us to find a viable and permanent solution.

We know the enormous reserve of subatomic energy in the heavy metals can be availed through nuclear reaction and be used to meet our power demand as many developed and developing nations are taking advantage of this fact. In the case of developed nations, the nuclear project was initiated by the nuclear geniuses who gave birth to many of the same for the next generation. Similarly, from itch and scratch diatribe of the regional political commotion, few developing nations also have secured their nuclear rights. As for example, the long way past political rivalry between Pakistan and India has posted them finally into nuclear rival nations. The ingrown bitter relationship between Iran and Israel has been fanning Iran to be nuclearly fuelled. Thus having registered with one party's nuclear experiment automatically entices its rival to escalate their own nuclear program. Ultimately the product is a group of concrete nuclear science intellectuals for the beleaguered nations.

Fortunately, Bangladesh has won the trophy of planting NPP unchallenged. We have been approved by the IAEA apparently for two reasons-one is on need-base and the other is perhaps on our sociopolitical transparent representation in the global forum that guarantees the nonproliferation of nuclear materials to any ill-willed faculty. Let such a glorious opportunity not be flown into happy-go-lucky. We could learn from the previous adventure of purchasing MIG-29 from Russia. First we purchased the aircrafts, then we trained our pilots to fly MIG-29-the result was two of the eight aircrafts went out of order that cost $30 million. Let the statement be reversed to read, first we trained our pilots to fly MIG-29, then we purchased the aircrafts-the result could be avoiding the loss of $30 million or having eight aircrafts in good condition. Adopting "learn first by rehearsal" pedagogy can protect human from any massive damage in all aspects of life. By implanting NPP, we are moving from the conventional to a special field of energy which indeed causes fear in peoples mind. For instance, "Three Mile Island" and "Chernobyl accident" of on shore as well as a number of nuclear fuel propelled submarine's off shore malfunctioning still remind us the level of knowledge and skill required to attain a safe nuclear project. Of course, those are the accidents took place in the playground of those giants who have been playing nuclear see-saw game for more than half a century!

Next, the notion of thermal and nuclear power plant are fundamentally different in producing energy. TPP extracts chemical energy from the fossilized fuel while NPP releases energy through nuclear reaction to evaporate water. The essence of both plants can be paralleled as the engineers put their efforts to extract and utilize the maximum energy from the chemical fuel of comparatively low heating value (HV) at TPP, while at NPP they put maximum efforts to ensure a controlled release of energy from the nuclear fuel of extremely high HV. Usage of water is also different, like we use an earthen oven to boil water in a pot is the case at TPP while we use water to contain a bonfire would be the case at NPP. In other word, characteristically TPP needs more fire to heat water in the boiler while NPP needs more water to contain fire in the reactor. Hence the intended product may be the same; but the methods used in two systems are quite opposite.

At TPP, fuel's afterburning effect is either gaseous or solid, i.e. greenhouse gases or ash, if the combustions are completed within the environment of theoretical air (air required for complete combustion of carbon and hydrogen). On the contrary, at NPP, the fuel's afterburning effect (Spent Fuel Rod) is a nuclear poison. It is called poison because of its excessive neutron absorptive character which intimidate the chain reaction in the reactor. Removal of nuclear poison is not as easy as is of TPP burned out remains, because of the then existing high temperature of the fuel rods in addition to its content of nearly weapon grade enriched fissility (ability to fission, a nuclear reaction). At TPP, the coal burned ashes get cold as soon as it is belched out of the fuel crate; however the Spent Fuel Rod remains so hot that it may take as long as ten years to cool down to room temperature. Such a heat releasing occurs due to the instability of the fuel rod metals while it decays to form another metal. Combined, these two phenomenon, is known to us is radiation. Ash particles or even in the size of particulate may travel far by air but recoil its journey to the ground within few miles from the point of origin. However, the panicking journey of radioactive particles may expand from one continent to another while harming animals, plants, grain fields, water reservoirs namely anything open to the atmosphere.

Unlike the TPP waste, the NPP waste cannot be dumped into the marsh or used for landfill. NPP contains graded (low and high) waste which is still vulnerable to the health, and even may be improved to weapon grade through a methodological manipulation. As the regional sociopolitical scenario suggests, the atomic issue draws up an equal attention to both operation and security departments, because of unbarring sprout of extremism. Uncompromisingly, the NPP repository should be at a safe distance from the populous area and the ground must be with a deep down water level i.e. a desert. Misfortune is in this respect, Bangladesh is a low land and its land is woven with many watercourses; thus water is reached within a short digging. One may argue that some foreign countries, for instance Russia, may show interest of buying the NPP wastes to bury in their own territory, but the packaging, sealing and transportation is still remains of intellectual's throbbing.

No matter how able-bodied the authority may be in organizing a TPP or NPP, engineers cannot pledge its infallibility. At some point of its life the situation may compel the plant to be shut down before its term expires. In that case, the TPP will have some scrap value to bag in while the NPP will have nothing in turn, instead it will add some extra and untimely cost of dismantling and disposal.

The author has had the opportunity to study the Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University, USA for a short time where he attended many domestic and international seminars on the NPP. The safety features of the NPP are almost identical in all the countries. However, a country with vast span of land can take more liberty in experimentation than the one with little span like Bangladesh. We may or may not know, the first uncontrolled release of nuclear energy was not through the explosion in Japan; in fact the first open to atmosphere experiment was conducted in the desert of New Mexico, USA immediate before the Manhattan Project was in its final round.

Like all other professionals, we the engineers simultaneously learn theories from the texts and gain practical knowledge from the rehearsals of using prototype of equipment in the laboratory. Thus, instead of taking a massive initiative, it is better to go for a lab-based NPP reactor which is now available in the global nuclear market. At least three Japanese giants, i. e. Hitachi, Mitsubishi and Toshiba, are making such prototype reactors with the capability of as low as 50mW. Let us set a plant of such a small one where our novices will ripen their skills, at the same time our engineering schools introduce the Nuclear Engineering courses to prepare more NPP knights for future large scale installation.

Again, we do honor the presiding ruling body who could dare to take the adventure of such a risky enterprise with a hope of power solution for their fellow countrymen. Only the reservation we keep that the authority should go slow in this painstakingly barbed way. Government of Bangladesh should not ignore the sequential tribulations of sprouting extremist groups in the country; moreover, they should keep rolling their eyes on the ceaseless unrest have rugged over the neighboring countries. Even though we believe we can contain the flare of extremism under any context, the aftermath of its sting lasts for generations. Consequently the worst is, the profiteering overseas invader finds the milieu much welcoming to sail away its presumptuous armored voyage to run over a sovereign nation. Here it is noteworthy to mention of the great nuclear scientist Albert Einstein's polite reaction against rushing when he was working at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., USA in 1935. At the first meeting with the genius, a fellow researcher Banesh Hoffmann, was describing his work at a fast pace to Einstein, when he gently suggested Mr. Hoffmann, "Please go slowly. I do not understand things quickly". This is from Einstein! What should be our role?

(KMN Sarwar Iqbal is a Faculty, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, IUBAT, Dhaka)