Nuclear Synergy
Despite prime minister Manmohan Singh having won over top atomic scientists who had earlier opposed the India-US nuclear deal, bureaucratic opposition to the deal remains entrenched. There’s been a flap following the sensible suggestion from C N R Rao — who heads the PM’s scientific advisory council — that the private sector should be allowed entry into the nuclear energy field. Nuclear power plants are long-gestation projects. They require enormous investments in the beginning, but produce cheap power over the long term. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), the PSU tasked with generating nuclear power in India, has not covered itself with glory. The major benefit of the India-US nuclear deal was supposed to be a boost to civilian nuclear power production in India, but this can’t be realised if the sector remains starved of capital and technology. Since the deal clearly separates India’s military and civilian plants, and the latter will be placed under international safeguards anyway, security can’t be a reason for preventing entry of private and foreign players in the civilian sector. Perhaps it’s more that the atomic establishment has been used to operating in an atmosphere of secrecy and lack of accountability, and old habits die hard. International best practices in nuclear power generation might expose all too clearly the inefficiency of India’s existing plants.
There’s also the question of how the money needed to set up new plants is going to come out of tight government budgets. There’s an ongoing tussle between the finance ministry and the Planning Commission, about whether new spending plans are going to upset the government’s commitment to curbing budget deficits under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act. Currently, however, the private sector produces only 10 per cent of power, and is excluded from nuclear power. This ban is irrational and needs to be lifted.
Comments
Powerful nuclear science czars of India, responsible for massive plunder of the exchequer over the years, which may well have overtaken Telgi’s record of Rs 60,000 crore in fake stamp paper scandal, are sure to rubbish the edit, which advocates ending government stranglehold over N-technology. The care two hoots that that can make affordable energy available to the masses.
Ever since Emergency Queen Indira Gandhi diverted N-program from power and became Durga – Hindu goddess of power – by blasting a crude device in 1974, Department of Atomic Energy has taken refuge behind a thick veil of secretiveness. The Mafia operating in DAE enables people with “right connections” cut deals with cohorts in the establishment, often selling defective parts, which are then used to build reactors and other facilities. Not only has non-accountability bred incompetence turning the DAE into a huge flop show, but also rampant corruption has put the public at horrible risks with compromises in safety.
Most government-run establishments were forced after the 1990s economic reforms to show performance or perish. But, armed with their deadly, destructive “capability”, DAE thrives as a sacred cow spending massive sums on lobbying and publicity to command public adulation. In sharp contrast to retired Military officers’ sorry plight, even senescent scientists of DAE make politicians spanning the entire political spectrum cower at them. The communists of India, caught in a time warp after Russia and China have embarked on Market reforms and globalization, are great supporters of the Mafia. Even the spineless judiciary sings the Mafia’s tunes.
‘Sovereign R&D in Strategic Interests’ is just a ploy to scuttle competition in the sector. Only immediate assertive actions from international agencies can rescue India and the world from diabolic capabilities of our failed scientists.