Speakers call for commercial use of nuclear energy

Scientists and engineers have emphasised the need of commercial use of nuclear energy for making the country prosperous. Speaking at the inaugural session of a short course on "Nuclear Engineering", organised by the Institution of Engineers Pakistan (IEP) on Saturday, eminent scientists belonging to Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (Kanupp), called for the constructive use of nuclear energy. They were of the view that instead of causing destruction the nuclear technology could be more efficiently used for the betterment of society.
They observed that through better understanding and rational use, the technology could be utilised for making the country prosperous.
Earlier, delivering the inaugural speech president IEP Engr. M.P. Gangwani highlighted multifaceted benefits of nuclear energy. He elaborated that nuclear energy could be used in many ways for the welfare of human beings, including preserving environment, to generate electric power, as an economical energy source, and as national energy security etc.
He also gave a detailed introduction of the working, aims and objectives of the institution and threw light on the performance and services of the institution. He mentioned that the institute had been taking care of the entire engineering profession belonging to various branches of engineering.
He explained that the institution was purely an academic body, which had been representing Pakistan on different world forums pertaining to engineering and technology. He further added that so far the institution had signed 40 technical co-operation agreements with different engineering societies and institutions of the world, including USA, Canada, UK, Japan, Korea, China etc.
He was of the view that with the WTO regulations coming into force in near future the need for the international engineers would arise and Pakistani engineers would have to be well-equipped to serve anywhere in the world. He warned that in case the country failed to produce international engineers, it would be very difficult for its engineers to serve abroad and in turn the economy of the country would receive a major blow.
Later, in the technical session delivering his lecture on 'Nuclear Fuel Cycle', Chief Scientific Officer Kanupp and the director of the course Dr Khalid M. Bukhari elaborated the processing of uranium from the ore to its use in the reactor and explained its final disposal.
Presenting his lecture on 'Nuclear Technology', Aftab Alam gave an overview of the field of nuclear engineering and emphasised on commercial application of nuclear energy.
Zahara Mukhtar gave lecture on 'Nuclear Fundamentals' and explained the basic concepts of nuclear physics, while Raza Ameer deliberated on 'Nuclear Power Reactors' and described the main features of nuclear power plants and used the two nuclear power plants operative in Pakistan ie Kanupp and Chasnupp as examples.
In the final session, Rehan Siddiqui and Shahid Aziz delivered the last lecture on 'Radiation Protection in Nuclear Power Plants' and elaborated the general principles regarding protection and safety of plant's personnel.
Chief Building Controller KBCA Brigadier A.S. Nasir (Retd) also attended the course/ ceremony as the chief guest.