of late, there has been huge bhai-bhai syndrome over india america nuclear deal. government officials, elected politicians, etc of india has been gung-ho about the deal.

not only that it seems nri's and the affulent middle class of india also welcomes this deal.

but what has been missed is the fact that in america there has been no new nuclear plant for nearly 25 years. european union countries like belgium, netherlands, germany, uk, etc have been dismantling nuclear plants.

sunita naraian observes with 2 very valid points in her editorial and it is

• It was in 2001 that his government released the national energy policy, which gave a go-ahead for nuclear reactor construction — after 25 years of abstinence. At that time it was widely reported how the powerful energy industry had ‘cashed’ in to the millions it had reportedly paid for the election campaign.
• The problem was that after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, people turned away from this deadly energy source. Investment dried up. By 2010, 70 per cent of the world’s 442 nuclear reactors would be ready for decommissioning. In fact, the sector was only alive because most countries were extending the life of older nuclear plants. By 2002, all reactors with a combined capacity of 360 gigawatt-electric provided just 16 per cent of the world’s energy — a share which had not grown since 1987 and was not expected to grow.

my question is: why is nri's and middle class jumping at this, when the fact is clearly showing that local communities of america does not want nuclear power. when the fact is that no new nuclear power plant has been commissioned in past 25 years. even after announcing the 2001 policy to encourage new nuclear plant, hardly there is any enthusiasm among governors of various states for the policy. why?

we should have asked questions on these. but have failed to do so. for in the pursuit of being a great power we have blindly ignored environmental issues, nuclear issues, nuclear mining issues, spent nuclear fuel storage issues, local communities protest issue, land acquisition issues, the fact that our power grid is obsolete and causing 30 to 40% t&d loss issues, etc.

in name of development, we have lost our minds. when countries like europe, america developed they also put in strict controls in place to protect communities and environment. this sorely is lacking in india.