Speakers at a discussion Saturday underscored the necessity for finding alternatives to build nuclear power plant on safety ground.
They pointed out that the country lacks necessary preparedness to tackle any sort of nuclear accidents, if any.
The discussants were speaking at the ninth working session of seminars titled, "Natural Resources and Energy Development," at Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh in the city.
Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) organised a series of seminars on the occasion of its 19th biennial conference.
A keynote paper on, "The Prospects of Nuclear Power in Bangladesh," was presented on the basis of a joint research carried out by Asif Reza Chowdhury, Uaihan Ul Islam Shezan and MAR Sarkar.
In the paper they termed nuclear energy these days are safe, reliable.
On the basis of present energy scenario of Bangladesh, nuclear energy based power production should be the best solution to the overall energy crisis, the paper recommended.
"We are concerned over safety ground as neither the people nor the local authorities have knowledge on safety of nuclear power," said Professor M Sikandar Khan.
"We should search for an alternative to nuclear power to ensure the country's future energy security," said Mr Khan, while chairing the session. Importing electricity from hydropower plants of neighbouring Nepal and Bhutan could be alternatives to nuclear power in Bangladesh, said M Maniruzzaman.
The discussants, however, stressed that adequate, timely and uninterrupted electricity supply is a pre-condition to maintain and enhance the economic growth as larger electricity leads to higher gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
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