At a time when the country is divided over the Indo-US nuclear deal, three prominent nuclear scientists have urged the government not to go ahead with the controversial deal.
Former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Dr. P K Iyengar, former chairman of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Dr A Gopalakrishnan and former director of Bhabha Atomic Research Center Dr.A.N. Prasad say that there is a great deal of disquiet among the scientific community at large about the deal.
They also said they had met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] earlier and discussed about the after-effects of the deal, besides writing to the MPS.
The scientists say the government should not proceed to seek IAEA board approval for the current draft safeguards agreement until its implications are debated completely the country.
Disputing the government's claim about the energy security aspect if the deal is signed, the scientists say it has been quantitatively shown that the additional power will come at a much higher cost per unit of electricity compared to the conventional coal or hydro power, which India can generate without any foreign imports.
In a release, the scientists argue about the repercussions of the nuclear deal.
Here are the excerpts:
"Once the deal is in place, it is also clear that India's commercial nuclear interactions with the US as well as with any other country will be firmly controlled from Washington via the stipulatio
RE:What our top scientist says about Nuclear Deal
by kiainth on Jul 08, 2008 05:22 PM Permalink
of the Hyde Act 2006 enforced through the stranglehold which the US retains on the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Any argument to the effect that the deal will be governed only by the bilateral 123 Agreement is untenable , because this Agreement in turn is anchored in US domestic laws , which include the Hyde Act . And , the Hyde Act contains several stipulations which are extraneous to the issue of bilateral nuclear co-operation , including foreign policy behaviour which India needs to adhere to if the deal is to be kept alive.
The real issue facing India , therefore , is whether or not we want this mythical extra 'energy security ' through this deal , paying almost thrice the unit capital cost of conventional power plants , with the additional burden of subjugating the freedom to pursue a foreign policy and indigenous nuclear R&D programme of our own.
The nuclear deal could also have other serious repercussions, including a potential weakening of India's nuclear deterrent and an inability to protect & promote indigenous R&D efforts in nuclear technology. A combination of the extreme secrecy with which the government has carried forward this deal , the media hype they were able to generate in its favour , the parochial interests of opportunistic individuals & organizations, and the unfortunate ignorance
RE:RE:What our top scientist says about Nuclear Deal
by kiainth on Jul 08, 2008 05:23 PM Permalink
The central issue about the IAEA safeguards agreement has been the doubt as to how "India-specific" these are . In particular , since it is distinctly clear from the Hyde Act and the 123 Agreement that no uninterrupted fuel supplies have been guaranteed in these documents for reactors which India will place under safeguards , the government had assured that this defect will be corrected in the safeguards agreement . Since the IAEA was all along known to be no fuel-supply guarantor , there is serious doubt whether Indian negotiators obtained any assurance in this regard.
As per the 123 Agreement , the government has all along asserted that the IAEA safeguards will have "provisions for corrective measures that India may take to ensure uninterrupted operation of its civilian nuclear reactors in the event of disruption of foreign fuel supplies. Taking this into account, India will place its civilian nuclear facilities under India-specific safeguards in perpetuity" . The nation would like to know clearly what these "corrective measures" will be , before plunging headlong into this deal . India being merely allowed to withdraw from safeguards the Indian-built PHWRs we may place under safeguards , and that too after stripping them of all spent & fresh fuel and components of foreign origin , is no corrective s
RE:What our top scientist says about Nuclear Deal
by sundar on Jul 08, 2008 05:39 PM Permalink
then why m.s. srinivasan, placid rodriguez, anil kakodkar and our beloved ex-prez kalam are supporting the deal?
RE:how can a colation partner in Govt is a third party
by prabhat mohanty on Jul 08, 2008 06:25 PM Permalink
- Party giving outside support and being part of the Govt. are two different things.
The privileges and risk go down when you are giving outside support.
Congress is hurrying for the deal to divert peoples' attention from galloping inflation, population explosion, farmers' suicide etc.
The deal is very good from USA's point of view, as they will get huge orders for nuclear power plant at exhorbitant prices. That is the reason USA has pressing us to sign the deal. Even the next President will also b willing to sugn the deal, may b at more favourable terms for us.
RE:Congress is hurrying for the deal to divert peoples' attention from .....
by crystal Ng on Jul 08, 2008 05:29 PM Permalink
Dont talk brainless nonsense- most of the orders will go to France
commies are the dirtiest filth of india. their paid agents like sahadevan are vermin and should be expatriated to china, where chinee will roast them and gobble them up.
may b some of our neighbour countries(nt d one in west bt bigger one in east) want to knw d xact thing we r gettin in this deal..n til nw they may b unabl 2 get thru thr intel groups so they r tryin thr proxies in india 2 get watevr they cn catch on....
evry1 knws which indian party supported china in 62 war
Government should share all the text regarding the N deal should be disclosed to all parties as well as to the public since people have the right to know.
RE:All need to be Accounted
by Duniya ka problem Apna problem on Jul 08, 2008 05:20 PM Permalink
mr murli do you read the budget given by our finance minister which is published in full the next day??...you cant possibly read & understand all points in an agreement...thats why we have a huge amount of IAS officers & secretaries being paid....
RE:RE:All need to be Accounted
by Duniya ka problem Apna problem on Jul 08, 2008 05:22 PM Permalink
this article is misleading....as is rediff...in general against the ruling govt....the small part clearly says "the text is available...join the govt"...why should the Left a team of fence sitters be allowed to ratify something without any responsibility??
RE:All need to be Accounted
by KiranKumar Vattikonda on Jul 08, 2008 05:47 PM Permalink
see, don't think like "people are not reading the budget paper given by finance minister or some thing" At least u can read imp points right! in the sameway we can know from this deal also. Atleast they have to show the agreement to UPA naa.. Otherwise what is the use of supporting the Govt? Excluding left rest of all are in ministry tht's why they are not objecting bcz if they object they will loose their ministry. According to my opinion he should show the agreement to UPA supported parties atleast.
Congress ka haat AAM Admin (USA KA) ke saat. They are giving our money to feed the americans. Soon all the nuke waste and outdated technology will be sold to india at huge cost. Please remember, the NSG will only provide fuel to the new reactors and not the existing ones. Ab bhooke nango ka desh duniya ke amir desh ko bhik de raha hai. Congress had done it earlier with Bofors ab nuke deal mein paise kama rahi hai. Kya bakwas baat karth ke coliation partner ko hi nahi disclose karenge ke kya sign ho raha hai and they want the left to support it blindly.
RE:Congress ka haat
by prasanna pai on Jul 08, 2008 05:21 PM Permalink
so lost indian what was happening earlier. Billions of dollars were spent on buying Oil from Muslim Nations who were funding terrorism in india. And aligning with US HAS HELPED EVERY Nation take it Europe Japan ,south korea or even pakis also. Aur india ke log bhuke nange hai to aapake politicians are responsible. Even usa is funding so many NGOS and humanitarian aid.
RE:Congress ka haat
by G A on Jul 08, 2008 05:18 PM Permalink
U forgot a similar deal called Enron, how many MW power was produced and for how much ? We had heard the same arguments about national interest etc even then.
RE:Congress ka haat
by Ram Sharma on Jul 08, 2008 05:38 PM Permalink
Enron got black listed even in USA due to corrupt deals. Many highly corrupt politicians also got lot of money from them. Congress, Sharad Pawar, P Chidambaram (who was then not in Congress and was a lawer for Enron) had supported Enron.
RE:Congress ka haat
by Lost Indian on Jul 08, 2008 05:19 PM Permalink
yep they can share the text with Mulayam Singh but not with the Left who kept them to power for over 4 years. Kya bakwas karta ha yeh Pranabda.
The same people were not ready to share the full text of the agreement earlier also, and were not willing to let the people of India to know its contents, will be sharing it with people who would join the government... Ha Ha Ha ... What a joke?
