Nuclear Energy

Unite, to Fight this Madness!
Part I: Why this madness?
Chapter 11
Why are India’s rulers indulging in this mindless spree of constructing giant foreign-
supplied nuclear parks and indigenous nuclear plants? And not just nuclear power plants, but also
ultra mega coal power plants, giant hydroelectric projects...
So that Foreign Corporations can Party through the night…
It’s obviously not for meeting the energy crisis of the country: as we have seen above, there
are simpler, environment-friendly and cheaper options to mitigate the energy crisis. The real reason
is: to provide US, French, Russian and other foreign corporations, and apart from them, the big
Indian business houses, a fantastic investment opportunity, so that they can make huge profits. This
was in fact the real 'deal' behind the Indo-US Nuclear Deal: the US signed the deal in return for
India agreeing to buy $150 billion worth of U.S. nuclear reactors, equipment, and materials. dcxcvii
And not just nuclear reactors, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Special Envoy Shyam
Saran also promised that US companies would "benefit for decades" from Indian orders for military
hardware orders, ranging from fighter jets and aircraft carriers to anti-nuclear missile shields. dcxcviii
The nuclear deal had thus nothing to do with India's growing strength, with the US recognising
India's growing clout in the world, etcetera, etcetera. It was all about big business. This is why both
US and Indian big corporations lobbied hard to get the deal approved by the US Congress. Ron
Somers, the president of the US-India Business Council, put it very straightforwardly in July 2007:
"[The U.S.-India nuclear deal] will present a major opportunity for U.S. and Indian companies." He
added that the deal would create up to 27,000 "high-quality" jobs per year over the next decade in
the U.S. nuclear industry. The Confederation of Indian Industries, a lobbying group of big Indian
business houses, funded numerous trips to India for US congressional delegations. Modest estimates
place the total cost at about $550,000. dcxcix
Even before the deal was finally approved by the US Congress in October 2008, several US
multinational energy firms, including General Electric, Bechtel, Edlow International, Nukem,
Thorium Power and Westinghouse, sent representatives to New Delhi for discussions on future
contracts. (Westinghouse, although a subsidiary of Toshiba since 2006, is based in Pennsylvania.)
WM Mining, a uranium mining firm, even negotiated an agreement with the Nuclear Fuel Complex,
Hyderabad, to supply 500 metric tons of uranium annually with an expectation of $1.3 million in
profits. dcc And within months of the deal being signed, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and
Westinghouse signed memorandum of understandings with NPCIL regarding deployment of their
1350 MW Advanced Boiling Water Reactor and AP 1000 Reactor respectively. dcci
Similarly, the 45 member countries of the NSG also gave their approval to ending the
embargo on nuclear trade with India, for lucrative business opportunities. In early 2007,
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