N-India

This week has been amazing. George Bush gave to the world the impression that he could conquer India without a drop of blood (but with many drops of uranium).

This is a good opportunity to read this year's Worldwatch Institute State of the World report which has a special focus on India and China.

In a 3rd March press release, the Worldwatch Institute recalls:

"Proponents claim that nuclear power will be India's ticket to economic prosperity in this energy-starved country of 1.1 billion people. But according to Worldwatch's State of the World 2006 report, "Renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, and biomass are far more practical energy options for China and India. Both countries have vast land areas that contain a large dispersed and diverse portfolio o renewable energy sources that are attracting foreign and domestic investment as well as political interest." Nuclear power provides only 3 percent of India's electricity today, and even if the 30 new nuclear plants the government hopes to build are actually completed over the next two decades (India has consistently fallen short on its past nuclear ambition), nuclear would still provide only 5 percent of the country's electricity and 2 percent of its total energy."

"It would be ironic if Congress were to support this agreement, given the scrutiny that has been given to the Dubai ports deal," said Worldwatch President Christopher Flavin. "The security vulnerabilities that would be exposed by undermining non-proliferation at a critical time are unacceptable. It's going to be tough to argue that Iran and North Korea should be denied nuclear technology while India--which has failed to even join the Non-Proliferation Treaty--is given the same technology on a silver platter."

I had a look at the website of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. I found that their Environment section was a bit minimalist. It shows a photo of the Director of one of the nuclear power stations planting a tree in its vicinity on World Environment Day 2004. And a few photos of dedicated scientists taking soil and plants samples here and there. This "environment" section does not seem to have been updated since 2004. That's it.