Why the Indo Japanese Nuclear deal is a bad idea

- By P K Sundaram  

Because Japan shouldn't compensate for its Fukushima losses by exporting nuclear technology to other countries. Because the Indian govt is violently imposing reactor projects on its people who are up in protest against the unsafe, uneconomic and undesirable nuclear expansion. Because going for nuclear reactors after Fukushima doesn't make sense at all.

The agreement

Having secured majority in both the houses of the Japanese parliament in the July elections, the LDP government has decided to re-start the negotiations with India for a nuclear agreement. This time Prime Minister Abe seems more confident of sailing through the internal opposition to opening doors for nuclear supplies to India. Last time, despite positive noises on both sides on the eve of the Indian PM's visit to Tokyo, the final joint statement did not even mention the word nuclear.

Abenomics at the cost of other countries

While Japan seeks to compensate for the huge economic losses incurred due to the ongoing nuclear accident in Fukushima, for India the agreement with Japan has pivotal importance for two reasons. Firstly, an accord with Japan is a requisite for the planned imported reactor projects in Mithi Virdi, Kovvada and Jaitapur as Japanese manufacturers supply some crucial components used in the American and French reactors. Also, the US nuclear corporates GE and Westinghouse are now owened by Japanese companies Hitachi and Toshiba and this necessitates a formal agreement with Japan for the US-imported reactor projects to take off in India.

Secondly, the agreement with Japan would be an important diplomatic achievement for the Indian government as it would mark the final end of nuclear embargo that India's has been facing ever since its 1974 nuclear test, which it conducted by diverting nuclear material that it acquired from other countries under peaceful rubric. When the US engineered India's re-entry into international nuclear commerce in 2008 by pushing the Nuclear Suppliers Group to exempt India, the atomic bomb survivors from Nagasaki wrote a protest letter saying it would be a bad precedent to effectively reward India, while the world is grappling with new and potential proliferators like North Korea and Iran. But to ensure India's diplomatic bandwagoning and rehabilitate the nuclear corporates who have been facing terminal crisis in the West, the US changed the global nuclear regime to India's favour.

The agreement is so important for India that in August it deployed Ashwini Kumar, an ex-minister who had to resign after the coal block scam, as the Prime Minister's special envoy to Tokyo. The Japanese PM Mr. Shinzo Abe will be visiting India in October and Japan's royal couple's visit in November-end will follow shortly. The two countries would try hard to finalise the nuclear agreement in this season of diplomatic parlays.

Voices of protest

Both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Peace Declarations this year on the anniversary of the nuclear bombings in Japan mentioned the India-Japan agreement as a departure from japan's long standing policy to respect NPT and promote nculear disarmament internationally. The Nagasaki Declaration said "Japan’s cooperation with India would also provide North Korea, which withdrew from the NPT and is committed to nuclear development, with an excuse to justify its actions, hindering efforts toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." Echoing similar concerns, Hiroshima's mayor said in his statement that the India-Japan agreement is likely to hinder nuclear weapons abolition.

Manmohan Singh with PM Abe in Japan

Earlier this year, in May during the Indian PM's visit to Tokyo, several groups registered strong protests jointly and independently. 335 civil groups in Japan issued a statement saying "We are international appeal against the nuclear agreement was signed by more than 2000 people from nearly 50 countries, urged that "the governments of both countries must refrain from promoting nuclear commerce, jeopardising the health and safety of their people and environments."

 outraged that...the governments of Japan and India are forging ahead with negotiations for a nuclear cooperation agreement. We who experienced the Fukushima nuclear accident are reminded daily of what a nuclear disaster does to people’s lives and to the environment."

And in a forwarded letter to the Prime Ministers of India and Japan on the occasion, eminent Indian social activist Lalita Ramdas suggested the two countries to strengthen their bilateral relations by together using the lessons of Fukushima and promoting sustainable energy solutions. She wrote:

“we want you to use this opportunity to welcome the assistance and collaboration with our Japanese friends in finding practical solutions and making the investments so necessary in renewable energy – especially solar and wind. Recent press reports speak of the Green Phoenix rising from the Ashes. Their aim is to be totally self sufficient from renewable sources alone in Fukushima Prefecture by 2040. Imagine that India, China and Japan could together transform the global energy scenario into a safer, cleaner and certainly greener future. This could be a wonderful moment for Asia and one on which there is need for powerful, independent and collective leadership!”

The agreement will further nuclear insanity in India

MithiVirdee Protests Apr 2013

The nuclear agreement with Japan will provide a boost to the Indian government's anachronistic nuclear power ambitions that it is following in complete denial of Fukushima. Huge, expensive and untested reactors projects are being implemented at places like Jaitapur, Koodankulam, Mithi Virdi, Kovvada, Gorakhpur, Mahi Banswada, and Chutka where local residents have been peacefully protesting for last several years. These projects are being pushed undemocratically and violently on the people whose safety and livelihoods are at stake. The government has violated its own safety rules and reactor siting norms in order to placate the western nuclear suppliers whom it has promised huge orders.

In August when Fukushima took a turn for the worse and the news about massive leaks of highly radioactive water broke out, the Indian nuclear establishment was busy promising a workaround for the liability norms for the domestic and foreign suppliers in a meeting of industry chambers. 

Fukushima Workers struggle to locate sources of new leaks (Pic. Aug/13)

The Department of Atomic Energy has officially sought an exemption from the Right to Information Act recently, which would mean complete removal of public scrutiny for it. Emboldened by its treacherous conquest of Koodankulam, the government will push these projects more vigorously if the Japan-India nuclear agreement culminates.

While the world is still grappling with the implications of the Fukushima meltdowns, completion of the Japan-India nuclear agreement would be anachronistic. It would strengthen the insanity of India's imposing nuclear reactors on its people against their will. It would further fuel the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan and would provide the ultimate legitimacy for India's nuclear tests. The agreement would destabilize the Asian continent by promoting the ill-conceived strategy of India and Japan encircling China.

STRIKING BACKROOM CORPORATE NUKE DEALS

-- By Anuj Wankhede

ASSOCHAM Nukes meet – A Quasi Government sponsored event?

This would have been funny if it was not for the fact that this has the potential to adversely affect millions of Indians.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) held their 5th International Conference on Nuclear Energy of 2013 on 23rd August at The Park Hotel in New Delhi. 

This was nothing but a self-back-patting of the industry event. Even after knowing about the disasters that are unfolding almost on a daily basis from Japan to US. Not surprising, given the propensity of the nuclear industry to treat every disaster as another profitable business by offering so-called “safer” alternatives!

In the first session of this conference, big names in the Government if India Nuclear Establishment shared the stage, along with L & T (Heavy Engineering co. ) the President and the Ambassador of Korea. 

Mr. M. V. Kotwal of L&T sang praises of Homi Bhabha and the 3 stage nuclear program (which was effectively “sold” to Jawaharlal Nehru who was the first Prime Minister of India) 

As per Kotwal, it was Indian talent that was responsible for building the Tarapur reactors in 16 months. Funny- as I always thought they were American and then Canadian turnkey models replicated here in India - just a copy paste job! 

As far as the Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR), L&T also gloated about playing a key role in the development of India’s prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) -a key element of the Homi Bhabha plan - and he had no qualms about it even after considering that most other countries with extensive experience in FBRs like France and Japan have had to effectively abandon their FBR programs. 

Well, HOW much can you pat your own back???  

The joke was when

Korean Ambassador, Joon-gyu Lee

Korean Ambassador, Joon-gyu Lee, who spoke next, was on a massive sales pitch that included Korea’s “impeccable safety record” on nuclear reactors, completely ignoring the fact that even as he spoke, a large numbers of Koreans were sweltering through the summer because of the power shortages created by shutting down 7 of the country’s 23 nuclear reactors due to safety scams and other causes not detailed. (Reuters report here)

Another few gems were of course expected from the government end. 

And they came in the form of the Secy., Department of Atomic Energy Dr. R.K.Sinha and they did not disappoint because what he said was blatant sucking up to the private sector. 

He reiterated L&T’s Kotwals’ enthusiasm for indigenous talents, claiming that after Pokhran, India was deserted by all international nuclear cooperation and “we had to stand completely on our own.” Well, if these learning experiences were so great, then one wonders why India ever had to sign the controversial Civil Nuclear Deal with the USA and invite all and sundry to build nuclear reactors in India? But then, again no such doubt was expressed by Dr. Sinha who told us about the failsafe models that have been developed to build all the planned nuclear reactors at once… For him Fukushima is NOT a disaster, Chernobyl never happened and everything is a cakewalk.

File photo of Dr. R,K, Sinha

Dr. Sinha also dwelled upon DAE putting nuclear technology to supposedly  improve food and agriculture as 41 mutant seed varieties have been developed which is helping livelihood security (can you believe that he calls mutated seeds as development!!!!) Water security and reverse osmosis technology is another issue the DAE is involved with which is very important because water is polluted with arsenic and…uranium. Once again it does not cross the distinguished Doctor’s mind that the DAE-NPCIL have caused the problems in the first place!!! And then he of course, dwells on the medical uses of radiation, with a new cancer hospital coming up in Punjab. Again, it didn’t seem to occur to Dr. Sinha that in fact the DAE may actually be the cause of people’s livelihoods being robbed, of water being polluted and cancer case increasing…

Dr. Sinha ended with a pearl of wisdom that he said that he had read on the internet somewhere: “We fear things in proportion to our ignorance” …and vowed to end ignorance on all things nuclear so those people in Koodankulam will understand what a blessing they really have!!

Wow….how much can you grandstand Dr. Sinha? 

What ignorance were you talking about? Have you seen the latest facts from Fukushima that is threatening the whole of Japan? Have you even bothered to see independent reports and documentaries from reputed broadcasters like BBC on Chernobyl lately? I guess NOT, else you would not be making such asinine statements which make sense only in your nuclear community. Neither Chernobyl after over a quarter of century nor Fukushima is controlled yet… 

That is a fact Sinha misses completely and conveniently. He is also on a complete sales pitch!

There was no limit to this lying and deceit, until the Chief Guest for the  Conference, Mr. V. Narayanasamy, Minister of State for the PMO, Government of India spoke and which was the final white lie.  Narayanasamy focused on another theme - why the Indian nuclear programme is not progressing faster. This according to his “wisdom” is because of the many foreign NGOs - and surprisingly, even some Indian nuclear scientists who used to work for the DAE who have been spreading supposed “mis-information” since Fukushima. 

File photo of V. Narayanasamy

Well, call it sour grapes, but if the ex-heads of AERB start to question the Koodankulam projects safety, where can poor Mr. Narayansamy hide anyway? (details here)

But yet Narayansamy plodded on ahead saying that despite all these agitations, the Indian Government is committed to nuclear energy as the most important solution to our energy needs of the future, as not much progress has been made with solar for example, so the government will forge ahead with its nuclear programme in the best interests of the country, in order to bring back our growth rate to around 8%, nuclear is the only option. 

Well, Narayansamy needs to take a look at what the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) may have to say to THAT statement!! 

Narayanasamy – with his usual foot-in-the-mouth also claims that India must take on foreign hands and provide “proper information” to the people who will be living near the nuclear reactors so that they realize there is nothing to fear or be misled by foreign NGOs. In his own “analysis” Narayanasamy, cites a social media survey which apparently showed that 97% of people in Koodankulam now believed that the nuclear reactors are safe and that they also had been convinced by the DAE’s ample and clear information on this plant. Obviously and unsurprisingly, there is no reference to who did this study or what questions were asked etc. Tarapur had been running with absolutely no safety issues for over 40 years, so according to him Koodankulam would be fine as well. 

It was obviously just blatant lies in a series……For all you know, the “survey” probably might have polled some NPCIL/DAE employees?? 

“Someone must have insured Koodankulam—that was a condition of starting it up…who was that?” asked Rajendra Shrivastav, Managing Director of Nuclear Business at Alstom India even as he pleaded for someone in the government to explain in normal sentences what CLND actually means.

But unfortunately, all the illustrious speakers of the first session had already dispersed and no one was able to answer this question…Probably they knew that there are no easy answers to lure the foreign money while the CLND Act is still in effect (see below)

One is then left with the burning doubt that in all probability, no one insured Koodankulam and the government of India has started it uninsured - as this seems to be the only way by which the nuclear industry will solve all its self-admitted problems. 

The pro-nuclear advocates were quite capable of revealing the problems in their industry to themselves pretty quickly because the bankers and CEOs in the audience are much more likely to listen to their own kind. 

I would like to add here that in fact, if anti-nuclear activists had participated, then they would probably have just been dismissed just as rabble-rousers. The two worlds are perhaps too far apart and the languages and concepts just too different for a meaningful dialogue to be able to take place. 

The second session, however, allowed the pro-nuclear lobby to slip the noose over its own head. 

On the agenda of discussion was CLND. 

Well, THAT is a HUGE disaster for the nuclear industry and they know it and that they are really scared of it showed clearly at the ASSOCHAM conference.

The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act which was passed in 2010 but is now being

sought to be diluted by the government to favor suppliers of nuclear reactors.  This is because the foreign nuclear suppliers will now have to seek re - insurance for their projects and which will in turn push up their costs leading to lesser profits for these companies.

CLND was quite competently addressed by Mohit Abraham, a lawyer from PVX Law Partners. He admitted that the law as it stands is indeed ambiguous and we can’t expect corporations to enter into deals, at least nuclear deals where the stakes are so high, when there is a possibility that the law allows any citizen of India to sue them in the event of an accident. 

This fear was very much echoed by Mr. Rajendra Shrivastav, Managing Director of Nuclear Business at Alstom India who pleaded for someone in the government to explain in normal sentences what the Liability Laws actually mean…at present, he quipped, even someone who makes sandwiches in the power plant canteen may be held liable. He assured all present that his company remains interested in doing nuclear business but for 5 years (since the Nuclear Deal) they have been sitting around twiddling their thumbs and all they get is more negotiations, when what they really need, if they are to prepare for this nuclear expansion properly, is more or less firm timelines. 

Mr. Anil Kumar, the Inspector General of Security at the DAE, hit the nail on the head when he suggested that the veil of secrecy that this industry works under is the reason people think that they were doing something bad and he too suggested improved PR (AND THIS, from the head of security!!!). He even suggested that DAE needs to come clean with true costs such as decommissioning and said the public remains unconvinced that nuclear waste can be kept safely for half a million years, even if there is not so much of it. He himself assured the audience that all storage of high level waste is not a problem, but storage of large amounts of material that will eventually be ‘recycled’ in the FBR and may have to be stored for quite a long time until it is used, and keeping this secure, will be “a challenge.” 

It is amazing how the industry keeps hoping that the nuclear waste problem will somehow vanish. For them nuclear waste is not a problem but an opportunity to build FBR's!!Indeed, if experience of other countries is anything to go by, this so-called recyclable material may have to lie around for a very long time until the FBR is commissioned i.e. if indeed Indian scientists manage to achieve what no other scientist ever has—have a viable FBR comissioned and in operation. 

Uranium ore carried in open trucks

Mr. Kumar sent out a practical call for help to Assocham, admitting that as of the present there is no dedicated company that can provide secure vehicles for transporting radioactive substances. One wonders how they have been doing it for the last 50 years, although Mr. Kumar did mention something about normal trucks transporting radioactive materials in steel containers!!!!!

Well, this was a conference that was all about - Shooting oneself in your foot.

That is because the pro-nuclear industry simply does not see the end or the writing on the wall and go about pressing their own agenda. They are of course, ably assisted by the Government of India and Defence Establishment to set up more nuclear plants – all for their own benefits. Yet their biggest fear is PUBLIC OPINION which Narayansamy et al let it be known publicly. 

The Establishment may call it “ignorance”, but we call it “Empowerment”

(This is an updated version of the article which appeared on Dianuke.org today)

THE POWER OF UNKEPT PROMISES

THE POWER OF UNKEPT PROMISES       -- By Anuj Wankhede

 Not many people would have heard of a person R.K Gupta from Mumbai. Earlier this year we spoke with him, and he had some telling insights about the functioning of the Indian Nuclear power industry and what really happens in the background. 

This is his story.

R.K Gupta

BUT FIRST THE BACKGROUND:

 India should listen awaken and try to understand exactly how this country functions despite over 60 years of this so called “Independence” from British Raj.

And as India gears up to display and show-off its military might on 15^th August, one needs to also ponder and reflect on the fate of the sailors aboard the submarine which India has lost just a day before its Independence Day.

India has today has become a nation which can be easily bought.

Everything in India is today on a fire sale. From politicians, to journalists, media, bureaucracy, police, and courts……all are “buyable”, naturally, only if the price is right. That price is being set by foreign companies and it’s a huge price!!!

These companies can afford to pay the price because India is such a huge market for any product and the profits are practically limitless when compared to the investments which these MNC’s and trans-national companies have to make before setting up shop in India.

This shift started somewhere in the 1990’s when India – under current PM Manmohan Singh’s wisdom - decided to “liberalize” its economy and opened the flood gates for foreign investments into India. The decision to do so was motivated by the IMF and World Bank (which are totally controlled by the US and European countries.) And politicians from across the spectrum have embraced this as a solution to all problems in India – from poverty to health to transport and to practically everything……All has been sold out to foreign companies..

Why is India celebrating an Independence Day? 

It is more of a joke now because this is now a country where Gandhi led a struggle against the British and independence was “earned” at a huge cost of lives and a long struggle. And yet, today, the country wallows in its supposed dependence from Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) or on Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) money to prop itself up!

All this has hurt this country badly - its social fabric has broken down; the poor have become poorer and on the whole it has caused enormous losses which are not measurable in monetary terms at all.

One such person who has been a victim of this Independent India is one Mr. R.K. Gupta.  

NOW:

India has in a way been sold away to the nuclear industry - although nuclear power contributes barely 2-3% of the Indian power generation. But the gains for this industry, the bureaucracy as well as the "nuclear scientists" is so huge that a person like R.K. Gupta has been left crippled and in a bad shape at an age when the establishment which employed him should have been caring for him. 

Homi Bhabha convinced Nehru to invest in Atomic Energy because "it would in future be too cheap even to meter it"....a failed promise as usual....

R.K. developed psoriasis,and also got a hip injury while working at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai. He was diligent at work and hence never complained about the working conditions at the Plutonium extraction facility where he served for 35 long years -Silently.  He joined BARC and he retired from it believing in the Homi Bhabha dream of making India into a nuclear super-power.

Yet, today he has many serious health problems; he has written to the government about them, and what is worse is that nobody has even acknowledged his issues. As he says, when he was seriously ill, the officials and hospital authorities manipulated his seriousness of health and he had no recourse to claim any compensations or to go to court for any kind of assistance.

R.K. Gupta worked in the plutonium extraction division with BARC which makes the raw material for the Indian Atomic (nuclear) weapons that are supposed to be a “national pride”. And yet this man has been left practically on the streets by the very organization he worked with for decades!!!

He has been denied benefits accruing to him out of retirement and service for the many decades he served in that hazardous job at the Nuclear Fuel Extraction facility at BARC and now he has been tossed out like a vegetable. His thoughts are for the poor farmers, fishermen and ordinary people who will continue to face the brunt of the high handedness of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in Delhi and these officials will continue to sit in their plush air-conditioned offices and claim that nuclear energy is ‘safe’.

And this is what India has got for its independence -:

Dependence on Russia for the Kudankulam nuclear project, Dependence on France for the Jaitapur project, Dependence on USA and Japan for the Mithivirdi and Kovadda projects…..

Sure, and this is the REAL INDEPENDENCE  INDIA has obtained from the British!!!

Let’s all celebrate the sellout of a nation on this Independence Day with R.K.Gupta and salute our corrupt establishment which has become a source of extraction of resources and energies of people and no care for them once extracted.

A nation that has tumbled down in the world corruption index and fares poorly to be seen as one of the most corrupt nations. (Transparency International)

A nation that does not see shame about the fact that it has seen the most number of scams and scandals in the world.  (Read more here about them.)

Happy Independence Day, India.

A Big Thank You to the government for NIMHANS

-- By Anuj Wankhede

The Central government outsourced the task of checking and influencing the mental health of Anti-Nuclear protesters to the Bangalore based National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Studies (NIMHANS) details here and here.

(First published on May 22, 2012 and updated July 14, 2013)

Protesting groups should warmly welcome this news for at least two reasons:

1) The Government admits that “real people,” (and not morons,) are protesting and that these people have been adversely affected by its brain washing. In short, it indirectly admits that these people actually DO “have” some brains.

2) That this premier institute can do a job that has not yet been accomplished with state torment, state terror and unilateralism and all the states previous dirty tactics have failed to make any discernible difference to the mental resolve of the Indian people.

One wonders whether the Indian government is trying to emulate Alexander the Great, Hitler or the Chinese militia by getting into PSYOPS,  - Psychological operations used to induce or reinforce behavior favorable to state objectives. But, then you need to be a master of the game and be successful for this. 

The problem is that the Indian government does not learn from other countries’ experience. 

They prefer to take bites of something from somewhere and then apply that little knowledge in bits and pieces with an objective of making a masterpiece. In this process, they fail so miserably that you almost pity for this Government. They look like a bunch of jokers suddenly discovering that the joke is on them and very embarrassing for themselves and the country.

Well, these are such grim times economically, with the country reeling under hyper inflation, and a good dose of government induced comedy would certainly be welcomed by all. Humor definitely takes the stress out of daily life. That much we know for sure by experience!!

It is interesting to take a look at the Indian government’s expensive and repeated efforts in shaping public opinion.

They forced people to watch pathetic “documentaries” in cinema theatres.

So utterly pathetic were these documentary films that a whole organization – Films Division – is now practically closed down after spending decades of efforts and tons of cash upon it.

Another white elephant of the government is the DAVP (Department of Audio Video Publicity). Their production quality of print and radio advertisements is so horrible that even second grade kids make better posters at a drawing exhibitions.

The Indian Government’s efforts to dominate television have also yielded equally pathetic returns. Its flagship Doordarshan – with its “basket” of channels -is fondly termed as

Dukhdarshan (sad viewing).

The programming, presentation and anchors all seem to be in a time warp.

Sensible people prefer to watch umpteen reruns of 1970s M*A*S*H than any current program on these government owned channels. The Doordarshan channels are Free to Air unlike most other private say channels. Even this carrot of “free” does not entice viewers, a fact borne out the TRP numbers. To claim that the channel is doing “public service” programming is ridiculous when you consider that there is NO public watching it! Even when they get opportunities to telecast live sports, they make a hash of things with unbearable commentary and advertising that extends into the “Live” action! The moment the sporting event is over, this forced audience makes a dash for the remote for changing channels.

Now that the government has decided to sort out the mental health of Indians, it could probably extend the services of NIMHANS to some of its own party people and partners.

For long people have been questioning the mental health of senior party leaders who talk absolute rubbish on national television without even realizing that they are actually buffoons personified. And when these politicians see things on the Internet which 'hurt' them, then they think that they can take down the whole World Wide Web with censorship. These Central Ministers have no clue about the ways and means of getting around its censorship. If they would spend some time with their children at home, they would learn tons of lessons from their own kids on proxies and bypassing firewalls and getting information.

The government’s mortal fear of knowledgeable and informed citizens is well known to all. What these mentally challenged senior ministers don’t realize is that the world order has changed.

Information has empowered people. People don’t fall for propaganda like they did in the times of Alexander and Hitler when there was a single source of (dis)information.

Now, people check, cross check, verify, watch videos, interact online with experts around the world and network together. Then and only then do people make decisions and these decisions are deeply “informed.”

The government opens its mouth only to put its foot into it. So frequently does it end up issuing ‘clarifications,’ ‘denials,’ ‘quoted out of context,’ ‘lack of communication,’ ‘misunderstood’ and other sundry excuses to backtrack its own official statements that people no longer believe “anything” which the government officially states.

Their attempts at using social media for public information (read as propaganda) are a joke in itself what with late, inaccurate and inane flashes of news. An unofficial parody Twitter account of the PM’s office does a hugely better job than the official ones by the Congress.

The Indian government is patting its own back claiming success in Kashmir and thinking they won back the locals and extremists with “communication” (and a healthy dose of repression).

My theory is quite the reverse. It is very much possible the people of Kashmir got proper information of their neighboring Pakistan’s real state of affairs through the internet. And when they looked at the sorry state of affairs in that country, they decided that India is a less evil place than it - because a known devil is better than an unknown one.

To claim that Indian North Eastern militancy is down is another figment of this government’s imagination. What has been communicated to the youth there? Allowing Irom Sharmila to fast for ELEVEN YEARS is the sign of great mental health? It is a sign of delusion and a complete lack of ground level understanding. This shows how much the government of India depends on mental torture.

People these days also read much more and follow news in real time. 

They don’t have the inclination to be taken in by this “paid” media. 

Rather, they seek information from special interest groups, blogs and websites run by industry veterans. Insiders who once worked for governments are talking openly. Industries too are raising informed debates after realizing their earlier mistakes. People get their information from multiple and independent sources. These online sources cannot spread misinformation because then the retribution comes almost immediately from the readers – so they do not spread falsehoods. Hence, any attempts to use these PSYOPs by the government are bound to be still-born because such tactics have always banked on slanted facts, partial truth or upon pure lies. None of these have a place in the digital age.

People can simply calculate the costs of various forms of energy per unit, check the safety claims of the government, check cost over runs, compare the time to set up nuclear projects vs renewable projects, see the continuing horrors at reactors 1-4 at Fukushima, witness the miseries of those who have been evacuated, contemplate Chernobyl’s ‘dead zone’ condition even after over 25 years and THEN decide what they want.

If after all this, someone still makes a pro-nuclear case, his/her mental health definitely needs the expertise of NIMHANS. 

Anyway, the Congress government and its leaders don’t not rely too much on their own institutions and prefer to go abroad for treating their own secret illnesses and simultaneously conducting business there, why will they go to NIMHANS? Sonia Gandhi's mysterious treatment costs Rs 1,880 cr: Swamy

The NIMHANS experiment will accomplish what the anti-nuclear groups have not yet been able to achieve.

This involvement of government will immediately force skeptics and fence sitters to verify what the official statements really means and the hidden agenda of this government. And once people check things out, they will become committed anti-nuclear advocates.

While at this experiment, the mental health doctors at NIMHANS could also study the reasons for increased suicide rates, dangerously high levels of depression, divorce and assaults among the Indian population. They should search for correlations between these reasons and the income inequality in society post “liberalization” of the Indian economy since the 1990's by their fond leader Dr. Man’moan’ Singh.

They could also search the brain of another civil servant who goes by the name of Montek Singh Ahulwalia who challenges the nation’s tolerance with his ridiculous poverty levels that go lower and lower each year even as inflation gallops. It is not that the latter is mad; he is after all just changing the goal post to make the poor disappear from government stats. But his crass and inhuman manner of doing this noble (sic) task deserves investigation by mental health experts.

Indeed, it would be apropos if the government’s own mind undergoes a thorough ‘routine’ checkup at NIMHANS. Because this government expects citizens to believe that a nuclear bomb makes India a safe place.

What safety? You can bomb your neighbor but then you yourself too will be under a radiation cloud.Is that safety? 

That surely speaks volumes about the mental health of these career bureaucrats and illiterate politicians. To own a nuke bomb is very easy. But who will have the guts to use it? Does either India or Pakistan have the guts? 

Hell, they don’t even have the guts to hang a terrorist caught on camera killing hundreds of innocent citizens for years and neither any other terror suspect. What guts does the nation have?

To this, these wily people will say that nuclear weapons are a “deterrent.” 

That is another blatant lie which is exposed by the fact that almost immediately after the last nuclear test, Pakistan launched the Kargil war that resulted in huge casualties for India and even then, the armed forces coffin scam occurred - abetted by these same government controlled bureaucrats.  

So whose mental health needs a checkup?

This Government wants to promote nuclear power because of increased because of its perceived demand supply mismatch. Meanwhile the dimwits in its ministry take extremely minuscule steps to minimize electricity wastage or to disconnect power of defaulting industries which are resulting in power shortages for the ordinary citizens.

Everyone knows that when you don’t have money in the pocket, you should cut down on your demands and not to increase demands because that does not fill your pocket. But whether it is electricity or government spending, the establishment takes these curiously insane decisions of over spending and yet calling others crazy when they point out the truth.

So be it. 

Such PSYOP's will certainly benefit the anti-nuclear lobby more and will hurt the government.

Thank God for small mercies.

 (First published on May 22, 2012) and updated July 14, 2013)

A Viable Alternative at Koodankulam

T

he Koodankulam nuclear power project (KNPP) has become the face of the anti-nuclear movement of not only India, but of the whole world.

(Originally published June 22, 2012 and updated)                                                                                  -- By Anuj Wankhede

The plant operator - Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) has steadfastly refused to budge from its stand and continued to withhold vital site, safety and environmental details which lead many to believe that the government is trying to hide critical and embarrassing dangerous information especially related to reactor design which is believed to have compromised due to last minute changes.

Be that as it may, the NPCIL (government owned, funded and controlled) has set up the plant under almost military style security. It claims that all safety drills have been completed (disputed and proven incorrect) and is ready to load fuel rods to commence operation within months – if not weeks.

In the face of such advanced preparations for the first reactor to commence, the government excuse is that thousands of crores have already been invested in the project and not commissioning the reactor will mean a national waste. That argument in itself is quite absurd when one compares the figures for the alleged 2G or Coal scams which run into several hundred thousand crores.

But this money need not be considered a waste or be written off. It would be extremely interesting to see what can be done for resolving the issue amicably and with minimum waste.

The KNPP is not the first instance of nuclear projects stalled because of resentment from the local populace. The US has witnessed this in the famous Shoreham reactor which was run for ONE DAY before closing down. The William H. Zimmer nuclear powerplant in Ohio was converted to fuel combustion when it was 97% completed. The Midland Cogeneration Facility at Michigan and at Seabrooke, New Hampshire which were abandoned at very advanced stages of over 85% completion for reasons varying from delays, cost over runs, technical and anti nuclear sentiments – sometimes a combination of all these ensured the not one unit of nuclear power was produced.

In fact, of the 253 nuclear power reactors originally ordered in the United States from 1953 to 2008, 48 percent were canceled while 11 percent were prematurely shut down! That is a startling statistic in a country which invented the technology in the first place.

One could argue the US being a rich, developed country can afford this luxury of sunk cost, so let us turn to a country similar to India – Philippines

Bataan Nuclear Power Station (BNPP)

BNPP was built and ready before it was abandoned following a change of political leadership following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster besides stiff opposition to the project from the citizens. Over $2 billion had been spent on the project, nuclear fuel had been transported to the site when it was abandoned.

Today, it has been made into a tourist attraction primarily to recover the cost of  $40 million needed to maintain the idled reactor and the complex.

Built nearly three decades ago but never used, the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in the Philippines is now being promoted by its parent company, the National Power Corporation, as a new ecotourism site. Visitors can tour the plant and stay the night at an adjacent beach, which is home to a turtle sanctuary. (More)

Some of the canceled nuclear projects in the US were attempted to be run on alternative fuel  - with mixed results. It is important to bear in mind that most of these attempts happened during the 1970's and 80's and this includes the Philippines reactor.

The BNPP revival plans included the option to convert it into a thermal power plant run either on coal or natural gas. Detailed studies were carried out on both  the plans but were shelved as nonviable. What made them nonviable? And in such a situation, how can KNPP be honorably salvaged?

The option of converting BNPP into a coal fired plant was discarded primarily because of non availability of quality coal and environmental pollution. In case of KNPP, the adverse environmental impact of coal based plants means that it cannot be considered viable although Tamil Nadu has good coal reserves especially at Neyveli from where lignite coal is transported over a thousand kilometers to run thermal power plants in North India.

The natural gas fired power plant is therefore the default choice and was examined in detail at BNPP. The two reasons attributed for non viability  were that firstly, the upgradation cost was prohibitive and secondly, the amount of natural gas available in Philippines is very limited. In case of KNPP, the technology used is quite contemporary – unlike BNPP which was built in the late 70's and evaluated for upgrade in the late 1990's. KNPP retrofitting costs are not likely to be very high or require massive engineering modifications.

Coming to the next question of natural gas, it is agreed that even in India, there is a shortage of gas and hence many private gas power plants are affected.However, state owned Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) is successfully operating gas based projects in western India.

One reason Philippines abandoned the idea was because it did not have adequate transportation infrastructure to make gas available to BNPP.

However, the scenario in India is quite different. There is an extensive network of gas pipeline and which can be extended to feed the KNPP. GAIL and other companies are building additional pipeline network in South India and  these are progressing rapidly. The presence of significant amount of gas on the East coast presents a significant advantage. The Cauvery and Krishna Godavari (KG) basins are already operational and many other explorations are currently in progress. Neighbouring Kerala has significant gas reserves and which are operational.

Even if gas needs to be imported, the location of KNPP offers an advantage being on the seashore. It would not be impossible to conceive a full fledged port for importing LNG. There are other ports in the region which have world class LNG terminals – Kochi, Chennai, Ennore for example are not too far and pipelines can be extended to the project.

Imported LNG can be brought to these ports plus, regrassification facilities at these landing ports are available and can be upgraded too.

The cost of imported LNG for running a gas based plant at Koodankulam would be lower than that of many other private operators situated inland. Additionally, there is abundant gas supply to the East in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan. India already imports LNG from Australia which comes in to the Kochi terminal.

It should be noted that nuclear power plants involve a very substantial subsidy from the government. Right from the building of the power plant (Cost of Work in Progress – CWIC) to the actual running of the plant involves subsidies running into thousands of crores of rupees. This money incidentally comes from the Indian tax payers and starts right from the time the project starts – in case of KNPP, Indians have already been paying for this since over twenty years and will continue to pay for at least the next 30-40 years, probably more.

A large number of gas based ultra mega power plants (UMPP) set up by the private sector are in doldrums because of the (DELIBERATE) high cost of gas by Reliance Industries (RIL) and ONGC. The government can definitely avoid the huge nuclear subsidy and instead offer part of it for KNPP gas. The hidden cost of decommissioning a nuclear reactor is not considered by most people. This cost is 70-100% of the cost of setting up the reactors. One reason BNPP was made into a tourist attraction was the huge cost involved in taking down the plant.

From a purely financial point of view, the gas conversion of KNPP makes a lot of sense. If we look at the available inventory, it makes even more practical sense. The land and building along with support facilities are ready. The turbines can be used to run on gas instead of nuclear fuel with modifications.

The switchgear is in place as is the control and monitoring system. Given that NPCIL is talking of commissioning the plant soon, it can be assumed that grid connectivity is also in place. With this entire infrastructure existing, it would take a mere 2 years to operationalize a gas fired project. The modifications can largely be carried out by Indian companies which have enough engineering expertise in setting up gas based UMPP’s.

At a plant load factor of 80%, the gas based project can deliver electricity at the same cost as nuclear power and if it operates at 100% (TATA Power manages even 102% in Maharashtra) the cost of the gas based plant power can be lower than that of nuclear power without the attendant risks of meltdown, danger to thousands of lives, radioactive contamination and possibilities of rendering huge tracts of fertile land barren and displacement of significant number of people. The marginal pollution caused by a gas power project is far more tolerable when compared to the ridiculous “acceptable” risk of a nuclear accident.

Another factor which can work in favor of KNPP is that there exists a sterile or exclusion zone about 3 km around the plant. Since this land is already acquired, it can be used for setting up a solar farm using concentrated solar cells and generating substantial power. Apart from solar, wind farms can be considered in this zone. Tamil Nadu is known for its wind farms and has a number of commercially operating farms. The location of the plant gives the opportunity to explore near-shore wind potential which give better output compared to inshore farms. Being grid connected means these projects can be set up in no time, probably as soon as three months!

The government has been lucky that all the advantages are stacked in its favor and canceling the nuclear part of the project is only a minor hurdle. In the case of BNPP, Philippines challenged the payments due to its American suppliers but lost the case in court and eventually paid up. Add to this the idling cost of $40 million per annum for about 30 years shows that if the government is keen and willing to listen to its citizens, no cost is too high.

NPCIL will obviously throw a fit and put many spanners in the work. That is to be expected. However, as human beings first, the NPCIL should look at this as a testimony that they have built the framework on which a new plant rests. There is no question of any job losses, only the loss of control over the project for the NPCIL brass. Even here, it is not unconceivable that NPCIL take up equity in the new venture and profit from it.

It is now up to the government to be pragmatic and not allow this to become an ego issue.  It is honorable to accept the peoples mandate (which the government talks about at every election) than to have blood on its hands in case of any eventuality.

(Originally published June 22, 2012 and updated)

Anuj is a Masters in Management Studies, an avid environmentalist who believes that bigger the problem, bigger the opportunity.

He can be reached at benchmark.anuj (at)gmail.com and +919757475875