Say no to nuclear energy!

No nuclear energy, please

This is with reference to your editorial, ‘Kannup’s fate’ (Oct 22). I was a final year engineering student in 1966 and as part of my subject ‘nuclear power’ I studied the then under-construction Kannup project.
I distinctly remember that this plant was designed to produce 137 megawatts. I also remember that in its initial years it used to produce 132 megawatts. How is it that nowadays it can produce only 80 megawatts and that too sporadically and with many breakdowns every year? I agree with you that the plant should be decommissioned, but I do not subscribe to the view that more nuclear power plants should be built in the country. Nuclear energy is lethal and can play havoc with the environment in case of natural disasters or human errors, as the recent tsunami-struck plants in Japan have proved.
It’s time now to invest in solar and wind energy, for which we can turn to China, which has vast experience in both these fields.

A Citizen
Karachi
Published in DAWN under a pseudonym on October 31, 2011