nuclear-news

The secret, corrupt, and unaccountable face of India’s nuclear establishment

On account of the reluctance of the national media, print and electronic, to take up investigative journalism in the nuclear field , the Indian public has been deprived of a fair and full opportunity to know the true face of the Indian nuclear establishment.

Who Benefits From Nuclear Power Plants In India? By   Buddhi Kota Subbarao. Ph.D. 02 August, 2012 Countercurrents.org The rest of the world is moving towards renewable energy and away from nuclear power. But India is pouring most of its energy budget into
establishing more and more nuclear power plants. It raises two compelling questions. Why is the present Union Government of India committing an enormous portion of its energy budget to imported nuclear power plants? Who benefits from these nuclear power plants?

The answers to these questions are not difficult to find. The secrecy that surrounds nuclear issues affords the Union Government to deal with vast sums of money in an easy way. Corrupt practices in the nuclear field do not get exposed as easily as in other fields. Big
money and political ambitions go hand in hand. This is one part of the answer. The other part is the way the Indian nuclear establishment functions.

Indian nuclear establishment has some unique features. Pursuit is more for administrative power and less for knowledge in science and technology. Consequently, pretence to knowledge grew over the years. Accountability is conspicuous by its absence. Mediocre results and at
times even nil results are proclaimed as outstanding achievements. The cleverness of the Indian nuclear establishment is from the way it can claim indigenous development and at the same time devise methods to import foreign technology.
On account of the reluctance of the national media, print and electronic, to take up investigative journalism in the nuclear field as effectively as it has been taking up in other fields, the Indian public has been deprived of a fair and full opportunity to know the true face of the Indian nuclear establishment.

As a result, Indian people are not adequately equipped to make a
critical analysis of the claims of their nuclear establishment. If the
establishment claims all our nuclear power plants are safe, it is
believed. If the establishment declares there is no radiation
pollution in and around Indian nuclear installations and power plants,
it is simply believed, though it is not true in reality. Several
instances can be cited which betray the make believe necessity of
nuclear electricity and also the make believe nuclear safety in India.
Nuclear Power vs. Renewable Energy Deployment

According to World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2012, the growth of
nuclear power is on the decline and the renewable energy development
is on the rise.

Indian energy planners should take note of the vivid picture on the
investment in renewable energy, as presented by the World Nuclear
Industry Status Report 2012,:…..

If the people of India are the real beneficiaries of these imported
nuclear reactors then where is the need for harassment and
registration of criminal cases against the people expressing
peacefully and in a democratic way their fears of likely dangers to
their lives and livelihood from the two Russian VVER type reactors
1000 MWe each at Koodankulam in the east coast with estimated cost
over Rs.15,000 crores and against the people at Jaitapur in the west
coast expressing peacefully their fears of loss and destruction likely
to be caused from the proposed six 1650 MWe each European Pressurised
Reactors (EPR), designed and manufactured by French nuclear company
Areva the cost of which is estimated to be over Rs. 2,00,000 crores.
Would it not be a more prudent approach to commit all such huge sums
of money to renewable energies like hydro, solar, wind, geothermal and
energy-saving schemes, instead of investing in nuclear electricity
where the dangers to all forms of life on earth are real and
inescapable?

The arbitrariness apparent on the face of the record in the method and
the manner of  arresting and instituting criminal cases against people
opposing nuclear electricity in India makes it clear that it was
primarily to prevent any kind of legitimate protest or difference of
opinion against the nuclear power plants….. . http://www.countercurrents.org/subbarao020812.htm

August 3, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties