| Published on 05-09-2007 In National | | Viewed 1252 times | | The Crony "Nuclear Renaissance"! |
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| Written by
Nilotpal Basu | 
There is a thaw in the nuclear standoff between the UPA Govt. & the Left Parties. Whether the issues on which the two political formations – the UPA & the Left confronted each other, could be seen as a question of a merely a political dispute or whether they should be treated as subjects of a larger national concern is a different proposition altogether.
In fact, these issues embrace a large number of policy areas. What is the energy requirement in the county – in the next 10 to 15 years? What are the resources available with India – both in terms of natural assets, as well as, technology? Given the options, what should be the appropriate energy mix for the country's energy generation basket? It is based on answers to these questions that the country had to devise its energy and energy security policy. The Indo-US nuclear deal and the subsequent propaganda blitz by the Government, particularly by the Prime Minister reveals a complete misrepresentation of the facts and the answers to the questions that are referred.
What are the facts? The government claims that they would like to see 40,000 MW of nuclear power added by 2020 – 20,000 MW through our indigenous program and 20,000 MW added through import of light water atomic reactors, which this deal will facilitate. The 20,000 MW produced through the indigenous program was to be produced anyway, regardless of the deal. The deal may be at best easing the nuclear fuel supply. The additional 20,000 MW through imported reactors is what the deal will enhance. The 17 th Electric Power Survey estimates that the overall power requirement during this period will be 2.5 Lakh MW. Now, 20,000 MW will be 7%, while 40,000 MW will be 9% of our total estimated requirement.
Even if we discount the actual possibilities of these huge additions in nuclear power generation, the cost of production is something, which we can hardly ignore. Without going into the detailed exercise, the cost of per MW of indigenous nuclear power is Rs. 7.4 crores. In the case of imported reactors, the situation appears to be even more burdensome - Rs. 11.1 crores per MW basing on more than $ 2000 per KW for all existing plants. As against these figures, the cost of power from coal-fired plants appears to be almost meager at Rs. 3.73 crores per MW. So indigenously produced nuclear power is twice costly as compared to thermal power, while for imported reactor it is 3 times more. In effect, what this means is that the expenditure for producing 20,000 MW of imported reactor based power could actually produce 60,000 MWs of thermal power.
If we look at the price of nuclear power, there are serious questions of affordability for the consumer – the case for nuclear power does not appear to be any better.
The price of per unit of nuclear power will be anywhere between Rs. 5.50 – Rs. 5.75 as against Rs. 2.50 for thermal power. So both on the count of principal investment and price, nuclear power as an alternative to other sources, does not stand the scrutiny from standpoint of adequate and affordable power. But still the option of nuclear energy as a small component for energy security cannot be discounted.
The huge ruckus over nuclear energy panacea for all our power shortage is, however, completely unfounded.
Therefore, the mystery appears to be thickening. In his address in Tarapur, the Prime minister has spoken fervently about a "nuclear renaissance" taking place right now. He has also cautioned that the country can't afford to miss this opportunity and has to become a part of the 'nuclear mainstream'. The US started constructing its last nuclear reactor in 1976 and took 23 long years to complete the project. The US never faced 'isolation' like us ; they were not only 'mainstream' but actually fountainhead of the global nuclear hierarchy.
The truth is bitter. The US private nuclear industry was never found wanting in lobbying with the Republicans. Their relentless efforts at influencing the US administration produced results with the second Bush Presidency. Mike Stucky of MSNBC writes confirming this – "One of the biggest names on the Bush energy transition team was Thomas Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute, which represents the electric power industry and its nuclear reactor owners. Not only were Kuhn the President's Yale classmate and longtime friend, he was one of Bush's biggest fund-raisers. A study by Common Cause found that in the six years that bracketed the 2000 election, Kuhn's organization and its members gave $41 million to political campaigns, three-fourths of it to Republicans".
The nuclear industry had a Cheney connection as well. In 2001, while Cheney headed his Energy Task Force, Kenneth Lay the tainted CEO of ill famed Enron met him with a representation from the private power industry. Cheney's Energy Policy Document of 2001 incorporated most of the ideas from the Lay memorandum. This policy documents eventually led to the enactment of US Energy Policy Act, 2005.
The Act was a testimony of crony capitalism. US Government offered huge sops in terms of tax incentives and other subsidies much in the manner of our own SEZ Policy. But even with such liberal concessions, the size of the US nuclear market could hardly ensure the viability of the industry. That is where – India comes into the picture.
George Bush – the 'good friend' of India managed to impress the Prime Minister with his offer of a 'great deal' for the country. Nuclear commerce for making the Bush-Cheney cronies viable is lapped up by India, so much so, that viability of a moribund subsidy oiled US nuclear industry is recognized as the power behind the global 'nuclear renaissance'.
Meanwhile, if India has to spend thrice the amount of money for putting up imported nuclear reactors, so be it. Meanwhile, if the poor Indian farmer has to pay twice the price for every unit of power, so be it. Meanwhile, if India has to put its civilian nuclear reactors under IAEA inspections in perpetuity under the shadow of Hyde Act hanging like a Damocles' sword, so be it. Meanwhile, if India in order to make Bush-Cheney cronies happy has to forego its foreign policy independence and foreign policy autonomy, so be it. The truth behind the 'nuclear renaissance' is out in the open. |
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