HOME NEWS BUSINESS MOVIES SPORTS CRICKET GETAHEAD SHOPPING

rediffNewsApp

Search

SHOPFOR: Men'sLifestyle Women'sLifestyle Mobiles Electronics Computers CarAccessories Home&Decor Kitchen Books AllCategories

C lic k !

Signin|CreateaRediffmailaccount
Rediff.comNewsIndianeedsNtech,notreactors,ModimusttellObama

IndianeedsNtech,notreactors,Modimusttell
Obama
Share

Comment

Togetsucharticlesinyourinbox
EnterYouremailID

Subscribe
Textsize:AAA

Lastupdatedon:January14,201515:36IST

Latestfromrediff.com
'NareshGoyaldid
notpledge51%stake
inJet'

Vikram:Iwasreally
tough

LeTmilitantkilled
afterfiercegun
battleinSopore

Thegovernmentmustjustifywhyweneedtobuyforeignreactorswhenwehavedevelopedupto
700MWeunitsizepressurisedheavywaterreactors,adesignwhichcanbeeasilyextendedto900
to1,000MWeunitsize.

Benigninflationdata
fuelsratecutcalls

Whycan'tthe'MakeinIndia'philosophyapplytoindigenousnuclearreactors,morethan18of
whichhavebeendesigned,built,andbeingoperatedbyIndianengineers,asksDrA
Gopalakrishnan,formerchairmanoftheAtomicEnergyRegulatoryBoard.

Inanarticletitled(externallink)TheNuclearCoverUpinIndiaToday,Ihadarguedthat,followingthen
primeministerManmohanSingh'sJuly2005visittoWashington,DC,theUnitedProgressiveAlliance
government'sforeignpolicyfocusshiftedtoestablishinganIndiaUSstrategicrelationship,eventhoughit
meantthetradinginofapartofthenation'ssovereigntyanditshardearnedselfrelianceinthenuclear
sector.

DRDOchiefwas
removedtobringin
someoneyounger:
Parrikar

Liverpool'sBalotelli
movingtoJuventus?

Inreturnforthisstrategicbearhug,thethenUPAgovernmentagreedtopurchaseasignificantnumberof
nuclearpowerreactorsfromtheUS,FranceandRussia.ThecorporatehousesinIndiaandabroad
involvedinnuclearcommerceandtheirfederationsandbusinesscouncils,aswellassomeofoursenior

Samsunglaunches

bureaucratsandnuclearscientists,wereeagertohaveIndiaimportnuclearreactorsand,therefore,worked
asactivecollaboratorsinthistosubservetheirownpartisaninterests.

twasevidentfromaninterviewwhichthethenchairmanoftheAtomicEnergyCommissiongaveto
Sakaal,aMarathidailynewspaper,onJanuary5,2011,thattheimportofnuclearreactorswastheprice
DrSinghpaidasaquidproquoarrangementfortheNuclearSuppliersGroupclearance.
MVRamanaandSuvratRajuhavealsocommentedonthismatterintheir(externallink)articleinThe
Hindu.
TwoareaswhereIndia'sindigenousnucleartechnologiesandlocalequipmentareknowntobebelow
worldclassqualityarethoserelatedtoenrichingnaturaluraniumandforreprocessingthespentfuelfor
plutoniumextraction,togethercommonlycalled'ENRtechnologies.'
WhileaskingParliamenttofavourablyconsidertheIndiaUSnucleardeal,DrSinghhadcategorically
assuredthat,ifthedealissigned,noassociatednucleartechnologiesforpower,includingfullENR
assistance,wouldbedeniedtoIndia.
OncetheSeptember2008NSGwaiverandthe123AgreementwiththeUSwereinplace,NSGmembers
werefreetosellENRtechnologiestoIndia,undersafeguards.

firstTizen
smartphoneforRs
5,700

Whythefuturelooks
brightfortheIndian
economy

Over80bodiesfound
adriftinGanga
probeordered

AreyoutheMIDAS
inyouroffice?Don't
foolyourself!

Surprisingly,inNovember2008,underdominantUSpressure,theNSGreframedtheirrulestodeny
ENRtechnologiestononNPTcountries,includingIndia.
Thiswasaclearbetrayalofakeyintergovernmentalunderstandingwithusand,therefore,thethenIndian
foreignsecretaryhadwrittenonFebruary3,2009,totheUSStateDepartmentthattheAmericaninitiative
onENRbanattheNSGconstituteda'derogation'ofthebilateralIndiaUSagreementoncivilnuclear
cooperation.

Starsspotted!What'sthis?

Spotted:EegaactorSudeepatBengaluru
airport
ReaderRavindraPushkersendsusa
picture.
Morestarsspotted

TheUPAgovernmentdidnotthereaftertrytoresolvethisissue,andthe(externallink)ENRtechnology
banstandsagainstIndiaeventoday.
ForIndia,whatismostneededaremodernENRtechnologies,notforeignnuclearreactors.SincetheUS
andothermajorcountrieshaveviolatedacrucialpartoftheircommitmentsunderthenucleardeal,India
nolongerhasanyobligationtopurchasetheirreactorsasearlierpromisedbytheUPAgovernment.
Therefore,IurgetheNarendraModigovernmenttodiscusswithPresidentBarackObamathenonsupply
ofENRtechnologiesandrefrainfromdiscussingnuclearreactorimportsduringhisforthcomingvisit.

nimportantconsiderationattheoutsetiswhetherthepresentgovernmenthasseriouslyexamined

India'sprojectedelectricityrequirementsandtheoptimummixofgenerationtechnologieswemustadopt.
SettinganIndiaspecificlongtermtargetforpercapitaannualelectricityconsumptionisessentialbefore
startingreforms.
Inthis,thesummaryconclusionwecaninferfromthe(externallink)extensivesustainabilitystudiesdone
overthelastthreedecadesisthatperhapsIndiashouldsettleforalongtermaverageannualelectricity
consumptionnotexceedingabout4,000to4,500KWhperpersonfortheyear2050andbeyond,ifweare
topreserveasustainableandstablesociety.
Itcouldbedangeroustoblindlyimitatetheexampleoftodaysdevelopednationsandsetamuchhigher
target.
ThemixofelectricitygenerationtechnologiestousewilldependonthecapitalinvestmentperMWe,cost
andavailabilityoffuel,environmentalimpacts,technologyindependence,indigenousmanufacturability,
andvarioussuchfactors.
Therefore,theleasttheModigovernmentmustdoistodevelopabinitioastrongcase,ifthereisone,for
theneedforexpandingnuclearpowerperseinIndia,beforeproceedingalongthatpath.

Thegovernmentmustespeciallyjustifywhyweneedtobuyforeignreactorsforthatpurposewhenwe
haveindigenouslydevelopedupto700MWeunitsizepressurisedheavywaterreactors(PHWRs),a

Metacelebrity?
Emailusphotos&videos

designwhichcanbeeasilyextendedto900to1,000MWeunitsize.
ThesePHWRscouldbejustasefficientandsafeandwillcostonly30to50percentcomparedtothe
reactorsweplantoimport.
InlateDecember2014,thecurrentgovernmenthasissued(externallink)strictguidelinestoallministries,
askingthemtogivepreferencetodomesticallymanufacturedelectronicproducts,amoveaimedat
boostingelectronicsproductionaspartoftheprimeminister's'MakeinIndia'drive.
Whycan'tthesamephilosophyapplytoindigenousnuclearreactors,morethan18ofwhichhavebeen
designed,built,andbeingoperatedbyIndianengineers?

rrespectiveofthemodeofgeneration,itiselectricitythatIndiawantsbutatwhatfinancial,political,

environmental,andhumancost?
Rememberthatthecapitalinvestmentforimportednuclearplantswillhavetocomeentirelyfromthe
Indiantaxpayer,noforeigncompanyorbankwillrisklendingfornuclearprojects.
NucleargenerationplantsbasedonFrenchEPRscouldcostaboutRs30corestoRs35crores/MWe(Rs
300milliontoRs350million),theUSAP1000(WestinghouseToshiba)andESBWR(GEHitachi)as
wellastheRussianVVER1200reactorscouldcostaboutRs20crorestoRs25crores/MWe(Rs200
milliontoRs250million),whiletheindigenouslydesignedandmanufacturedIndianPHWRswillonly
costaboutRs10crorestoRs12crores/MWe(Rs100milliontoRs120million).
Incontrast,coalbasedultramegapowerprojectsbasedonsupercriticalsteamcostonlyRs5crorestoRs
7crores(Rs50milliontoRs70million)perMWe.
But,whatdothereactormanufacturersthemselvessay?
Infact,thechiefexecutiveofGeneralElectricCo,oneoftheworld'slargestsuppliersofnuclear
equipmentsaidinan(externallink)interviewtotheFinancialTimesonJuly20,2012,that'nuclearpower
issoexpensivecomparedwithotherformsofenergythatithasbecomereallyhardtojustify.'
Whenthosewhoaresellersofreactorsarethemselvesofthisview,Iwonderwhyourgovernmentiseager
tobuytheirreactors.
Inan(externallink)interviewtoTheHinduonNovember25,2010,thethenCEOofAreva,Francesaid,
'Beforebuyingsomething,peopleneedtoseetheproduct.Therearealotofdesignswhichareperfecton
paper,butwhichdonotwork.'

heDeparmentofAtomicEnergyisseekingapprovaltostarttwonuclearparks,oneinvolvingsix
1,650MWeFrenchEPRsatJaitapurandtheotherofsix1,594MWeUSGeneralElectricESBWRsat
Kovaada,thoughnooperationalreactorofeitherofthesetypesexisttodayanywhereintheworld!
Mostofthedefectsanddeficienciesinanewlydesignedreactorshowsupintheinitialfewunits,within
fewyearsofearlyoperation.TheunduehastewithwhichIndiaisplanningtobuysixeachofthese
reactors,wellbeforesuchteethingproblemsarediscoveredandcorrected,givesrisetoseverallegitimate
suspicions,especiallyinviewoftheimmediatepasthistoryofwidespreadcorruptioningovernment.

Finally,today'sglobalwarmingistheresultofthegreenhousegas(GHG)presenceintheatmosphere
duetothehistoricaccumulationofemissionseversincethestartoftheindustrialage.(externallink)
DocumenteddataforthecumulativeemissionsshowthatIndia'stotalcontributiontothisfrom1850to
2000isonlyabout2.2%ofthetotal,whereastheUSandEuropehavebeenresponsiblefor29.3%and
26.5%ofthetotal.
(externallink)EventheannualCO2emissionofIndiain2012isonly1.6tonnespercapita,incomparison
to16.4tonnesand7.1tonnespercapitaintheUSandChina,respectively.
Therefore,theprimaryonuscannotbeonIndiatosavetheworldfromglobalwarming,whenwearestill
atthenascentstagesofdevelopment.
TherecentUSChinaClimateAgreementwillstillleaveGHGemissionsofChinaandtheUStoabout12

tonnespercapitain2030,whenIndianemissionswillstillbefarbelowthatlevel.So,thereshouldbeno
compunctiononIndia'sparttocontinuethebuildingofcoalfired,ultrasupercriticalsteambasedthermal
powerstations,withoutgettingpressuredintobuyingforeignnuclearplants.
Encouragingly,fewsensibleviewsonnuclearpowerhaveemanatedrecentlyfromsomeCabinet
ministers.UnionPowerandCoalMinisterPiyushGoyal(externallink)saidinNovemberthatthe
governmentwouldremain'cautious'abouttappingnuclearpowergeneration.
GoyalsuggestedthattheWestwastryingtopasson'discardedtechnology,'underthegarbofclean
energy,whichreflectsanearliergovernmentviewofimportinguraniumandnotreactorsfromoutside.
Similarly,ExternalAffairsMinisterSushmaSwaraj(externallink)saidonSeptember8,2014,'Scandals
liketheBhopaltragedytookplace.Thatiswhysuppliers'liabilityisalreadyincludedintotheNuclear
LiabilityActWewillnotpassany(revised)bill...IthinkwewillreiterateourstandbeforePresident
Obama.ThistimeastronggovernmentwillbetalkingtoObamathatwillmakeallthedifference.'
LetushopethesevoiceswillalsohaveasayinmakingthefinaldecisionsonIndia'snuclearpower
policy.
Image:TheKoodankulamnuclearplantinTamilNadu.Photograph:AdnanAbidi/Reuters.
DrAGopalakrishnanisaformerchairmanoftheAtomicEnergyRegulatoryBoard,Government
ofIndia.
DrAGopalakrishnan,forRediff.com

RelatedNews:AtomicEnergyRegulatoryBoard,DrAGopalakrishnan,India,Obama,Modi

Share

Printthisarticle

Comment

Morefromrediff
BJP'sgreatleapback
onthenucleardeal

It'sfree!

Togetsucharticlesinyourinbox

AnilKakodkar:Why
nuclearenergyis
critical

EnterYouremailID

NuclearLiabilityBill:
PM'sGifttotheUS

SUBSCRIBE>

>

Businessemail OfficeemailApp

Domainregistration

Website

Rediffmail Money

Companyemail OnlineShopping

Books

Gifts

Videos

Q&A

Blogs

Buzz

2015Rediff.comInvestorInformationAdvertisewithusDisclaimerPrivacyPolicyCareersFeedbackTermsofuse