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The nuclear power option favours American business, not the Indian people

Super profits for American corporations or true concern for the Indian people  — this is the question today. The answer, unfortunately for our people, is in favour of the former……a tragedy exponentially worse than Bhopal is waiting to happen.

A moral meltdown – Hindustan Times, Sitaram Yechury , 1 Sept 10, “……The PM has announced the target of generating 40,000 MW of nuclear power. By using the nuclear option, India would be spending way beyond R3 lakh crore more than by using the available thermal, hydro or other options. This cost difference, which translates as corporate profits, can build nearly 20,000 fully-equipped 100-bed hospitals or 2.5 lakh Navodaya Vidyalayas with full boarding facilities for 100 students. Super profits for American corporations or true concern for the aam aadmi — this is the question today. The answer, unfortunately for our people, is in favour of the former.
However much we may wish that a nuclear accident never happens, when it does, it causes catastrophic damage to human life and property. The question of liability on both the supplier and operator of nuclear power plants in providing compensation, hence, becomes important. In the context of the plight of the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy, due to the absence of adequate liability laws, the Union home minister spoke in the Rajya Sabha recently of “a deep sense of guilt that in all these 26 years neither the executive nor parliament  appeared to have exercised the vigil and supervision that the situation warranted. And, in a sense, the elected political class of the country let down the victims of Bhopal.” It is not the ‘political class’ but the ruling classes in the government, where the Congress and the BJP find common place, that have let them down. They have, once again, joined to pass this Bill.

Today, the CPI(M) is forewarning the government and the country that the legal structure for adequate liability in the event of a nuclear accident must be ensured, else, a tragedy exponentially worse than Bhopal is waiting to happen.

Many countries in the world have fixed a floor for the amount of liability payable in the case of a nuclear accident. Instead of this, the present Indian law fixes a ceiling. In the case of a nuclear accident, a ceiling makes no sense, as the amounts of compensation would depend upon the gravity of the accident. By not heeding to this suggestion and refusing to raise the limits of compensation, the Indian ruling classes are, once again, bartering away people’s interests for corporate profits. An alternative political trajectory for realising India’s real potential is necessary as the Congress and the BJP unequivocally converge on issues of neo-liberal economic reforms and subservience to American imperialism.

Heed this forewarning, if for nothing else, that a  nuclear accident does not discriminate between the minuscule ‘resurgent’ India and the overwhelmingly impoverished real India.A moral meltdown – Hindustan Times

September 1, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, reactors