Namibia: Powering Country By Nuclear Energy

The world’s demand for energy will grow by 3.2 percent in this year and the fuel prices will fluctuate around US$60-80 a barrel. Record oil prices are fuelling an economic boom in the Middle East and their oil-export revenue will reach US$305 billion in 2006. However, the many developing countries spent all their fortunes to import fuel. For instance, the total export earning of Sri Lanka from tea, rubber and coconut is nearly US$1 billion and the fuel bill for 2005 was US$1.3 billion. The annual fuel bill is more than Sri Lanka’s earnings from agricultural exports. As Timothy Adams, the US Undersecretary for International Affairs said, “The elevated energy prices are a risk to global economic growth.”

Developing countries are largely dependent on imports for their energy requirements. The highly industrialized economies like the United States, Japan, South Korea and emerging economic giants such as China and India demand huge amounts of energy to run their booming industries and service sectors. It took the world 125 years to use the first trillion barrel of oil and we will use the next trillion in 2035.
As of now, the world’s energy resources are decreasing and the demand is spiralling. Therefore, each country should take an audit of available energy resources and future energy demand to design a sustainable and rational energy policy in the following manner:

(l) Forecasting future energy demands in relation to development plans.

(2) Ensuring the sustainability of economic growth and reducing socio-economic disparities.

(3) Identifying the reliable, eco-friendly and sustainable Core Energy Source (CES) {e.g. fossil oil, coal, hydro-electricity or nuclear energy}.

(4) Classifying Supplementary Energy Sources (SES){e.g. renewable, solar, wind, biogas or thermal power}.

(5) Promoting rational and energy efficient technologies for industries, agriculture, the service sector, transportation, buildings and household appliances.

(6) Investing in research and development on new energies and energy management techniques.

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Finally, I would like to remind the unrivalled insight of one of the foremost men of science of all time, Albert Einstein. In tabling the famous equation E = MCxC, he opened the Pandora’s box of nuclear energy. The” Conversion of Mass to Energy” is the underlying principle of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, both of which work by liberating energy through breaking atoms apart. Einstein once said,” It might be possible, and it is not even improbable that novel sources of energy of enormous effectiveness will be opened.” If matter could be transformed entirely to energy, a single paper clip would supply the same energy as the bomb that entirely destroyed two Japanese cities – Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hence, a developing nation should use this sustainable and green energy source for a peaceful purpose – to reserve the poverty and emerge as a highly developed industrial nation.

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