Hafizzz
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India can't renounce N-power: US experts
India can't renounce N-power: US experts - The Times of India
WASHINGTON: Two American principals who were instrumental in pushing the US-India civilian nuclear deal said on Monday that New Delhi couldn't afford to forsake nuclear energy even in the wake of the Japan tragedy though the disaster will have a salutary effect on India's choice of sites and technology.
Carnegie Endowment's Ashley Tellis and US-India Business Council's Ron Somers, who propelled the nuclear agreement within the American strategic and business community respectively, maintained that India must and will continue to embrace nuclear power given the enormous energy deficit the country faces, shortage that cannot be met from any one source.
"India does not have the luxury of renouncing nuclear power,"the Mumbai-born Tellis said at a conference on "The Rise of India,"hosted by the American Enterprise Institute. "What India will push for is to be more careful about where plants are sited...that is salutary. It will insist that (nuclear reactor) designs are validated a lot more. I don't think there will be a downward revision (of nuclear power targets)."
India plans to increase its nuclear power production from its current 4000 MW installed capacity to 20,000 MW by 2020 and 40,000 MW by 2030 in one of the largest expansions in the world. The earthquake-induced tragedy in Japan has opponents of nuclear power up in arms over a source and technology that is seen by them to be of a catastrophic nature. But USIBC's Somers maintained Japanese designs were of 1972 vintage and current technology would have coped better with the circumstances.
"In that sense, it's a blessing India is getting its civilian nuclear programme started now because new technology in the event of such an earthquake would automatically shut down and there won't be a possibility of meltdown,"Somers said. Critics of this line of argument, who have already been venting about India considering untested technology for its new projects, say there is no way to insure against catastrophic incidents. Carnegie's Tellis said that while the Japan tragedy is going to "give India pause"it won't lead to any fundamental revision of targets.
India cannot say NO to USA.
? Why would we want to stop all the growth just because of a radiation problem in Japan? It wasn't Japanese who sabotaged their plant; it was a tsunami. If we look at it that way, we shouldn't make any development because someday or the other, some natural disaster will come and pose a threat to us. 
