Durga’s fury

“In the early days the government had big ideas.” Sreedhar continued. “But until now very little power has been generated. Of the 4,000 megawatts originally proposed, only 400 have in fact been generated by India’s reactors.”

“Instead India has spent its uranium on nuclear deterrence.” After all China and Pakistan make fractious neighbours.

As early as 1917, Rabindranath Tagore, the mystic poet and essayist, wrote about his doubts on the fortifying effects of military strength. If "in his eagerness for power", Tagore argued, a nation "multiplies his weapons at the cost of his soul, then it is he who is in much greater danger than his enemies". Indeed China is known to be alarmed at India’s nuclear promiscuity. But then Howard is talking up a deal with China, so escalation is inevitable.

“The previous government initiated the deal with the US but of course the current Prime Minister Monmohan Singh is a World Bank and IMF protégé, so has their (the US’) interests as well as those of India at heart.” Sreedhar went on, “It is how they coincide that is interesting”, seeming in every phrase to contradict the weasel words of those doing deals.

“India’s uranium sources are of a low grade, so we have in mind fast breeder reactors”, Sreedhar added. For those who think fast breeders to be rabbits, they are neutron reactors that produce more fuel so that more reactors have to be built to use up the supply. Or one could simply build weapons. They have been spectacular failures in Europe and other locations.

“Yes that is true,” Sreedhar agreed. “But despite that, our Minister cannot be swayed. Fast breeders are still the focus of Indians nuclear program.”

In 2004 Anil Kakodkar, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy told The Hindu newspaper that while nuclear power has many civilian applications, “We have also contributed towards nuclear weapons ability in the country. India today is a country with nuclear weapons to ensure its long-term security ...”

When asked if India’s fast breeders would be more successful than those of Europe, he responded:

Fast-breeder reactors are more important to India than to other countries which have capabilities in nuclear power technology. This is because of the nuclear resource profile we have in the country (sic). Our uranium reserves - what we have - as per the present state of exploration will be able to support 10,000 MWe generating capacity, which is not large. But it is the starting point for setting up fast reactors. When the same uranium, which will support 10,000 MWe generating capacity in the PHWRs, comes out as spent fuel and we process that spent fuel into plutonium and residual uranium, and use it in the fast reactors, we will be able to go to electricity capacity which will be as large 500,000 MWe. This is due to the breeding potential of the fast reactors, using the plutonium-uranium cycle. That is the importance of the fast-breeder reactors under Indian conditions, compared to other countries.

India has declared that it would divide its civilian and military nuclear programs, place safeguards on its civilian nuclear facilities, and allow international inspections. But India will have sole discretion over whether to classify any new reactors as military or civilian, a decision that will affect which ones are subject to international scrutiny. Already, eight nuclear reactors - and all future military reactors - will remain off-limits to inspections.

Howard and Bush may burble on about peaceful means and safeguards, but as I was halfway through this article Sreedhar emailed me from India with the news that a private company had bought rights to a huge uranium mine in Niger. One wonders: how accountable are private companies?

Taurian Resources Private Limited, Mumbai, has recently won a contract which gives it exclusive rights over 3000 sq. km. of the Sahara Desert known to be rich in deposits of uranium (The Hindu, August 19, 2007).