Hi Rediff, It seems like you have lost sense. Yesterday u wrote that Dr. Kalam, who was mentioned as "the father of India's nuclear program" said that India should concentrate on using Thorium as a fuel in the long run and concentrate on the breeder reactor that converts Thorium into fissile material. I consider that as an opinion that we DO NOT REALLY NEED THE NUCLEAR DEAL.
And going by what US has done to its 3rd World 'allies' like Pakistan in the past. I would really not go for it. Like Microsoft, the US will make India dependant on its products and India will lose the importance of its scientific community. The urgency of the US in pushing the deal also concerns me. The government should pay heed to the former President that it notoriously prevented from taking a 2nd term, and not go for the deal.
RE:Thorium
by RP on Oct 26, 2007 01:01 AM Permalink
Agreed! Instead, invest the munny on our R&D to develop thorium based nuclear reactors. Atleast we don't have to depend on USA (and thus get blackmailed) for nuclear fuel, as we have 25% of world's thorium reserves.
RE:Thorium
by Makarand Narawane on Oct 26, 2007 01:53 AM Permalink
Thorium based is dream that is away by 7-8 years by Dr Kalam's estimate. In reality it is probably 10-15 years away. How many of you who oppose this deal are willing to leave without electricity for next 10 years so that government can divert all the electricity to the industry. Or we do not want any more growth? We need lots more electricity and that too very quickly. Coal fired, gas fired is not an option in long term. Hydro is very limited going forward. Nuclear is the way forward. And people who refuse to understand this are just burying their heads in the sand
RE:Thorium
by on Oct 26, 2007 07:58 AM Permalink
To get an idea of a realistic time frame for Thorium based commercial scale Fast Breeder Reactor, one has to just look at the history of indigenous Main Battle Tanks or fighter aircraft, each of them are about 20 to 30 years behind schedule. Thorium based FBR is more complicated than either of those items. And then get an idea of the availability of that holy grail called Tu based FBR.
