Narendra Modi, on his last leg of the three-nation tour has inked the uranium deal with Canada. On Wednesday, Canada agreed to supply 3,000 metric tonnes of Uranium to India starting this year. The agreement to power India's civil nuclear programme is a five-year deal worth $254 million. India will receive Uranium from Cameco Corporation this year.
Canada is the third country, after Russia and Kazhakastan to supply Uranium to India. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will take care of the Uranium supplies. In 1970, Canada had banned the export of nuclear hardware and Uranium to India after it was alleged that New Delhi had used Canadian technology for developing a nuclear bomb. The supply of Uranium is important for India to have clean energy. Uranium is not merely mineral, but it is also an effort to save the world from Climate Change.
Power generation is based on 3 sources of energy, namely, Thermal Power, Hydro Power and Nuclear Power. To start with, Hydro Power is quite cost effective but, the variability of generation depends on environmental factors. Also, for hydro power generation the displacement of resources is necessary and it is not easy to find such large areas. Weather also plays an important role
Out of the three, Thermal Power, which is the major source of electricity generation is the most polluted form of energy. It not only amounts to mobilization of resources and movement of raw materials, but is a long and a time taking process. Also, it adds on to the pollution levels.
Whereas, Nuclear Energy is the cleanest form of energy and the generation takes place with utmost care . After nuclear power plant accidents in various countries, the precautionary measures have only increased. These power plants are not set up in the thick of dense population, but are located in areas far away from human habitat.
Nuclear Power, if generated on a large scale can become the cheapest and the most reliable form of energy. This Uranium deal will hopefully enable India in powering its growth by using clean energy and contribute towards a cleaner and less polluted world.
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