According to a recent report on world nuclear industry, nuclear share of the world’s power generation declined steadily from a historic peak of 17.6 percent in 1996 to 10.8 percent in 2013. (1)
“PM Abbott has been travelling around the world peddling uranium that his own people have rejected. He is under pressure to open up new markets for uranium since the world is moving away from Nuclear power. Japan has moved from 30% nuclear energy to 0% since the past one year, after the Fukushima accident that ironically used uranium from Australia”, said Karuna Raina, Senior Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace India.
Since there are no nuclear power reactors in Australia, mined uranium is mostly exported to other countries. Tony Abbott hopes to revive Australian uranium mining industry by supplying uranium to India as well as inviting Indian companies to set up uranium mines in Australia. Australia has 31% of the global uranium reserves, but due to low market price, decline in nuclear industry and intense opposition, these uranium deposits remain mostly untouched. (2)
“There is no point in building bridges to a place where no one wants to go. Instead India and Australia should be forging ties to develop and implement a renewable energy pathway for its domestic energy needs that can deliver quality power now rather than later” stated Raina.
The environmental watchdog said that the nuclear deal between India and Australia will not fuel economic development in both the countries but will instead lead to radioactive contamination and health hazards for the people living around the mines and power plants.
India does not have an independent nuclear regulator. The Indian nuclear industry is plagued with lack of transparency and regulatory failures. Two Indian constitutional bodies, Comptroller Auditor General of India as well as the Parliamentary Action Committee have criticised the Indian nuclear regulator for being a toothless and an inefficient regulator (3).
During an interaction with press in Mumbai, Tony Abbott reportedly stated that 33 years ago, while backpacking through India, he had seen a bullock cart take material into a nuclear power plant in Mumbai (4). “Mr. Abbott thinks that safety of nuclear power plants in India can be judged by the evolution of bullock carts to dumper trucks, but he does not factor in that the regulator and the company that it regulates is one and the same entity” concluded Raina.
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