Prabir Purkayastha of the Delhi Science Forum comments on state of nuclear energy today, a year after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident following a massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan. He explains these in the context of protests against nuclear plants in India today.

D. Raghunandan of the All India Peoples' Science Network argues for an independent review of nuclear safety measures and audit said to be concluded by the Atomic Energy establishment of the Indian government. Protestors in Kudankulam and elsewhere are unwilling to trust the government's claims of safety of the nuclear reactors, because there is a large credibility gap. This can only be breached if an effort is made to bestow autonomy to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and safety concerns after the Fukushima incident over nuclear energy are sufficiently allayed through independent review of the existing programme.

In the second part of his inteview with Newsclick, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board of India, Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan speaks about the question marks on nuclear energy post the Fukushima-1 Reactors' incidents.

Newsclick interviews Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board in India on March 24, 2011. He speaks about the primary reasons for the continuing disaster in the Fukushima reactors following a major earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Responding to the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan, officials from the Atomic Energy Commission sought to reassure nervous Indians that Indian reactors are 100 percent safe and pose absolutely no threat to public health -- as long as there is no unforeseeable system failure or sudden accident.

Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board talks to Newsclick about safety and regulatory imperatives in the nuclear energy sector in the country apropos the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.

Prabir Purkayastha examines the key lessons to be learned from Fukushima.

If Fukushima gives a pause in this rush for costly and and untested imported light water reactors, at least we can say that this Government has an open mind. Otherwise, we will have to conclude that there is a different agenda at play, divorced from the need for nuclear energy.

If Fukushima gives a pause in this rush for costly and and untested imported light water reactors, at least we can say that this Government has an open mind. Otherwise, we will have to conclude that there is a different agenda at play, divorced from the need for nuclear energy.