India’s American Dream

Z Net, Sptember 2, 2007

Please Let Us Be Great

By Badri Raina

The United States is entering the Civilian-Nuclear Agreement
with India on the understanding that India “has a foreign policy
policy that is congruent to that of the US, and is working with the
US on key foreign policy initiatives related to non-proliferation.”

(The Hyde Act)

“In fact the purpose of the US to sign civilian nuclear energy
cooperation with India is to enclose India into its global partners’
camp, so as to balance the forces of Asia. This fits in with India’s
wishes.”

(People’s Daily, China, August, 30)

We are tempted simply to say “precisely.” It does seem as though all major players whom the impending nuke deal will be of great concern are clear enough about what it implies, except the honourable Prime Minister of India.
And, then again, not so.

For a start, the rather hollow claim that the primary object of signing the deal with America is to ensure the ostensibly bountiful enhancement of electric power for India’s growth requirements has by now been conclusively exposed for a sham—never more conclusively than in a paper prepared by the research cell of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Basing itself on the government’s own statistics, the paper shows that even going by the “most optimistic scenario” (Planning Commission), the contribution of nuclear power to India’s total output (at present 3% or less) will not rise beyond 7-9% by 2020!

The viability of the magniloquent idea is further crippled when it is remembered that the per unit cost of producing nuclear power at the Plant End itself is estimated to be double that of thermal power, as well as the time taken to construct (Rs.8.1 crore to Rs.3.73 crore, and 8 years to 4 in time terms).

Further, the cost goes up several notches more for power produced from imported nuclear Plants. And those are waiting to come in droves.

And, when you add to all that the known and experienced hazards, the de-commissioning costs, and the fatal conundrums of storing nuclear wastes, the least Indian citizen unburdened by vested interest might say, “hello, why are we doing all this?”

Continued . . .