Nuclear India was conceived before independent India, and has undergone similar ups and downs in its development. Multiple conflicting opinions, controversies and secrecy have been its constant companions. The end result is that the common citizens of the country are not sure if nuclear power is good or bad for them. This article is an effort to collate different opinions and facts on the nuclear issue from the point of view of electrical energy production.

The Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, organized a seminar on 29 August 2011. The speaker was M. V. Ramana, who is currently with the Nuclear Futures Laboratory and Program on Science and Global Security at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International
Affairs, Princeton University, USA. He studies the future of nuclear energy against the backdrop of climate change and nuclear disarmament, and is presently
completing a book on nuclear power in India.

From the initial quest of our science to understand the Universe, have we strayed so far that we are destroying the very foundations of life and disrupting our life support systems?