III YEAR STUDENTS IN NUCLEAR POWER AWARENESS SEMINAR

There was a two-day Media Workshop on "NUCLEAR ENERGY" jointly organized by Vigyan Prasar, IGCAR Kalpakkam and Anna University on 6th and & 7th November 2012. III year students Aneezudeen, Fiazur Rahman, Inzam Mudeen, Narayan Elango and Syed Mohamed participated in the program accompanied by Prof. P.Ibrahim. The students gained invaluable knowledge about Nuclear Energy, its safety,  its future prospects, India's achievements in the Nuclear Research, India's current position in the Nuclear Technology and Nuclear Economics of the world.

In the wake of the protests against KKNPP by the local people this workshop is meant to dispel the unfounded fears of the people about Nuclear Power and its safety, especially after the accidents in Chernobyl and Fukushima (both are Nuclear plants with outdated technology).

Students participated from different colleges and they organized a Student Parliament where they discussed the Safety and Security aspects, Merits and Demerits of Nuclear Power projects in comparison to conventional Energy Sources and non-conventional Energy Sources.

First day the students were taken on a tour to the Kalpakkam Atomic Power Plant  near Mahabalipuram. There Senior Scientists explained the whole process of Nuclear Power generation, its safety and future in India. Followed by inter active sessions with students, where all the doubts raised by the students were satisfactorily answered with proper statistics. Students were permitted have a closer look at the Nuclear Power Plant as they were taken round the IGCAR complex and MAPS complex, which are very high security zones and normally out of bounds for people not connected with it.

Second day the workshop was organized in Anna University by the Media Studies Department of Anna University. The students had an opportunity to listen to many Scientists and Experts on Nuclear Power and Safety from morning till evening. The experts answered all the questions raised by the students who participated. It was a great experience for the all the participants and some of the media students have assured that they will spread the message of  "Prosperity with Safe Nuclear Power" to the people at large through their writings, Documentaries and other programs through all media.