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� A sustained high growth rate of 8-10% for the next two decades is needed for eradicating poverty. � To deliver such a high growth rate and meet the energy needs of all citizens, would require that the installed electricity generating capacity should increase to between 778 GW (for 8% growth rate) and 960 GW (for 9% growth rate) by 2031-32. dcvii 1. Growth for whom? One problem with this argument is that it assumes that GDP growth leads to increased prosperity and better living conditions for the ordinary people. We have argued in detail elsewhere that today, for the common people, the opposite is the case: “The word ‘GDP growth rate’ has come to have a sinister meaning for the poor. The upper classes measure their increase in wealth by growth in GDP. For the vast masses, it is a measure of the devastation of their lives…” For instance, during the period 2003-07, a period which saw the Indian economy grow at above 8% per year, total employment in the organized sector actually declined in absolute numbers, farmers committed suicides in record numbers, lakhs of people fell below the poverty line and malnourishment in the country increased further from already record levels, and so on. dcviii Likewise, increased electricity generation also does not mean more electricity for the common folk living in small towns and rural areas. This is borne out by past experience – all the growth in electricity generation during the six decades since independence has gone towards fulfilling the galloping demands of the rich in the big cities in the country. Thus, the total installed electricity generating capacity in the country has gone up by more than a hundred times since independence, from 1.4 GW dcix Table 10.1: Power Generation Capacity in India (MW) – as on 31 March, 2010 dcx Thermal Coal Gas Diesel Total Hydro <strong>Nuclear</strong> Renewables 1 TOTAL 84,198 17,056 1,200 102,454 36,863 4,560 15521 2 159,398 in 1947 to 160 GW in 2010. Despite this phenomenal increase, more than 44% of the country’s households still have no access to electricity even six decades after independence. The situation is 1 Renewables includes wind energy, biomass gassifiers, minihydel turbines (
especially bad in the rural areas, where about 56% of the households have still not been electrified. dcxi Further, even the 44% villages that have been electrified actually have very inadequate supply of electricity. Most villages have power supply for durations less than 12 hours a day on an average. Even this meagre supply is of very poor quality: it is neither regular, nor is it provided when people need it most. Additionally, the low voltage conditions and frequent interruptions make the electrification a cruel joke on the villagers. Anyone familiar with the rural areas of the country is well aware of this. A recent survey of five states in four regions of the country carried out by Greenpeace also bears this out. In all these five states, there has been a continuous increase in power availability. However, says the report, “most of the additional power available in each state seems to have gone to the cities and towns to meet their insatiable demands ... whereas the villages continue to suffer with inadequate amount of electrical energy even for basic needs.” The government’s drive to further add millions of MW of additional capacity based on the present model of electricity generation – conventional power sources and centralised power supply system – will also go towards meeting the ever-growing electricity demand of the urban population, it will not ensure quality power to the rural population and will therefore not lead to their development. Therefore, the report calls for “a paradigm shift in our energy policy.” dcxii 2. Destructive Projections Let us leave aside the issue of equitable development, assume that GDP growth is needed, and accept the Planning Commission’s argument that for the economy to grow at an average rate of 8% till 2032, it is necessary to increase electricity generation capacity in the country by 640 GW over the next two decades through setting up large centralized coal-hydro-nuclear based power plants. To meet these projections, the IEP assumes a capacity addition of 63,000 MW from nuclear energy and full exploitation of the hydropower potential of 150,000 MW in the country. It also says that coal shall continue to remain India’s most important energy source till 2031-32 and possibly beyond, but because of capacity addition from nuclear and hydro, it expects the share of coal-based electricity to drop from 72% at present to 61%. dcxiii The problem with these projections is: they are simply unsustainable! We have already discussed extensively in this booklet the disastrous implications of the government’s plans to go in for a quantum jump in nuclear energy generation – from 4560 MW (as of January 2011) to around 63,000 MW by 2031-32. The IEP has drawn up various possible energy mix scenarios for 2032, and even in the most renewable energy friendly scenario, it expects share of coal based electricity to be 270 GW. dcxiv Even assuming that the government does pursue this energy mix over the next two decades, the social and environmental costs of setting up coal based thermal power plants of a total capacity of around 190 GW and large dam based hydro power plants of around 110 GW capacity over the next two decades are going to be equally terrible. dcxv 149
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NUCLEAR ENERGY Technology From Hell
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Introduction Part I: Government Pla
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yet to find solution to the problem
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Mithivirdi: A powerful movement of
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eing proposed to be set up in the c
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nuclear power plant accident, in ou
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was subsequently endorsed by the he
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Atoms are so small that they can’
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called enriched uranium. [Note that
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of a nuclear power reactor. A typic
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Coolant: A liquid or gas circulatin
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Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor Hea
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Is Nuclear Energy Safe? Chapter 3 A
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iii. Gamma radiation: This is akin
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haematopoietic system). Radiation c
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Part III: Radiation Emission in Nuc
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The radioactivity from the tailing
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power plant contains an amount of l
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Tritium is a particularly scary mat
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Plutonium cxi Named after Pluto, th
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Firstly, reprocessing does not redu
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sports and fishing were also banned
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detail the impact of these 'once th
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We today know for a fact that the n
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Till 2005, there were at least 10,0
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The report mentions 16 “events”
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In an article published in The Nati
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Even asssuming that there will not
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fossil fuels. It has now come up wi
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Opinion of Credit Ratings Agencies
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it acknowledged that the expected c
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plant owners to use much more of th
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was the Vice-President of the USA):
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6. Blithely Ignoring Health Costs S
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Is Nuclear Power Green? Chapter 5 S
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Energy Balance attempts to make an
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nuclear energy as compared to elect
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Table 1: Estimates of Total and Nuc
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� At the end of 2009, there were
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Therefore, despite all the optimism
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1. Reviewing the Nuclear Renaissanc
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certification also runs out in 2012
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nuclear phase-out plans which are n
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lower house (Bundestag) to pass a b
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UK and French nuclear safety author
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The second and more important reaso
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eactor or two, but considering that
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Pre-Independence Period India’s N
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Page 103 and 104: Background Part III: US-India Agree
Page 105 and 106: 2. New Reactors Even before the Ind
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Page 115 and 116: India’s Nuclear Installations: Sa
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Page 119 and 120: area due to uranium mining. cdlxxxi
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Page 125 and 126: the AEC has not instituted an award
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Page 131 and 132: Fires have also occurred repeatedly
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Page 135 and 136: can't catch anything else, and ther
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Page 139 and 140: Tulsunde (population 800), Janshipa
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Page 147: The Sustainable Alternative to Nucl
Page 151 and 152: of the human body. In particular, t
Page 153 and 154: While the costs of large dams are h
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Page 157 and 158: such absolutely non-essential uses?
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Page 161 and 162: Solar water heaters are a very simp
Page 163 and 164: Renewable Energies: Poised for a Le
Page 165 and 166: (iii) Small Hydro Power The governm
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Page 179 and 180: analyse. We must develop our politi
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dxciii M. V. Ramana, ibid. dxciv Mu
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dclix Union of Concerned Scientists
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