Gallery to dispel myths about N-power

By this time, next year Mumbai will have the country’s first nuclear energy gallery. Spread across 15,000 sq ft, the Rs 1.7-crore gallery has been conceptualised to give the common man a feel of what it is like to walk through a nuclear plant and understand the benefits of nuclear energy, reports Snehal Rebello.

By this time, next year Mumbai will have the country’s first nuclear energy gallery.

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Spread across 15,000 sq ft, the Rs 1.7-crore gallery has been conceptualised to give the common man a feel of what it is like to walk through a nuclear plant and understand the benefits of nuclear energy.

“There is a general fear that nuclear power is not safe. The gallery will help demystify myths and highlight the safety aspects of nuclear power,” said Anil Manekar, director, Nehru Science Centre, Worli.

The state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has collaborated with the Centre for setting up the nuclear pavilion, which expected to be ready by mid-2010.

With the country gearing up towards major nuclear expansion after the Nuclear Suppliers Group, last year, allowed India to carry out trade for civil international nuclear cooperation, NPCIL wants to sensitise the general public about the uses of nuclear energy.

The exhibition will focus on both front-end and back-end technologies of a nuclear fuel cycle — from uranium exploration and mining fuel lubrication to fuel reprocessing and waste management.

The science center is developing a mini-theatre for a 3-Dimensional walk-through, console panels, touch screen kiosks, as well as sections that deal with quizzes, games and puzzles.

“The gallery will take visitors on a historical journey of the development of nuclear power in the world with a specific reference to India’s nuclear power programme,” said Amritesh Srivastava, deputy manager (media), NPCIL. “It will also help one understand the concepts of design, operation and engineered safety features of nuclear power plants.”

To get an idea of how a power plant functions, officials from the science centre have, over the last few months, visited and taken images of various systems at the Tarapore Atomic Power Plant and the nuclear power station at Rajasthan while it was nearing completion.

The gallery will showcase nuclear power applications, which will disseminate information on nuclear plants and the non-power applications will talk about nuclear medicine, food processing, crop irradiation and other agricultural applications.

“We also plan to set up similar kinds of nuclear pavilions in other regional science centres in India,” said Srivastava.