Daily Analysis of 'The Hindu' - 3rd March, 2020 | Additional Study Material for UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


Pushing the wrong energy buttons
? “P rim e Minister Modi and President Trump encouraged
the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and
Westinghouse Electric Company to finalize the
techno-commercial offer for the construction of six
nuclear reactors in India at the earliest date ”.
? India’ s promise made in 2008 to purchase American
nuclear reactors.
?Because of serious concerns about cost and safety,
the two organisations should have been told to
abandon, not finalise, the proposal.
?Electricity from American reactors would be more
expensive than competing sources of energy.
Page 2


Pushing the wrong energy buttons
? “P rim e Minister Modi and President Trump encouraged
the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and
Westinghouse Electric Company to finalize the
techno-commercial offer for the construction of six
nuclear reactors in India at the earliest date ”.
? India’ s promise made in 2008 to purchase American
nuclear reactors.
?Because of serious concerns about cost and safety,
the two organisations should have been told to
abandon, not finalise, the proposal.
?Electricity from American reactors would be more
expensive than competing sources of energy.
Page 3


Pushing the wrong energy buttons
? “P rim e Minister Modi and President Trump encouraged
the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and
Westinghouse Electric Company to finalize the
techno-commercial offer for the construction of six
nuclear reactors in India at the earliest date ”.
? India’ s promise made in 2008 to purchase American
nuclear reactors.
?Because of serious concerns about cost and safety,
the two organisations should have been told to
abandon, not finalise, the proposal.
?Electricity from American reactors would be more
expensive than competing sources of energy.
?Westinghouse is unable to guarantee the safety of
its reactors.
?U.S. presidential election in November.
?6 reactors being offered to India by Westinghouse
would cost almost ?6 lakh crore.
?The first year tariff for electricity would be about
?25 per unit.
Page 4


Pushing the wrong energy buttons
? “P rim e Minister Modi and President Trump encouraged
the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and
Westinghouse Electric Company to finalize the
techno-commercial offer for the construction of six
nuclear reactors in India at the earliest date ”.
? India’ s promise made in 2008 to purchase American
nuclear reactors.
?Because of serious concerns about cost and safety,
the two organisations should have been told to
abandon, not finalise, the proposal.
?Electricity from American reactors would be more
expensive than competing sources of energy.
?Westinghouse is unable to guarantee the safety of
its reactors.
?U.S. presidential election in November.
?6 reactors being offered to India by Westinghouse
would cost almost ?6 lakh crore.
?The first year tariff for electricity would be about
?25 per unit.
?On the other hand, recent solar energy bids in
India are around ?3 per unit.
?Lazard, the Wall Street firm, estimates that wind
and solar energy costs have declined by around
70% to 90% in just the last 10 years and may
decline further in the future.
?Starting with the Tarapur 1 and 2 reactors, in
Maharashtra, India’ s experiences with imported
reactors have been poor.
Page 5


Pushing the wrong energy buttons
? “P rim e Minister Modi and President Trump encouraged
the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and
Westinghouse Electric Company to finalize the
techno-commercial offer for the construction of six
nuclear reactors in India at the earliest date ”.
? India’ s promise made in 2008 to purchase American
nuclear reactors.
?Because of serious concerns about cost and safety,
the two organisations should have been told to
abandon, not finalise, the proposal.
?Electricity from American reactors would be more
expensive than competing sources of energy.
?Westinghouse is unable to guarantee the safety of
its reactors.
?U.S. presidential election in November.
?6 reactors being offered to India by Westinghouse
would cost almost ?6 lakh crore.
?The first year tariff for electricity would be about
?25 per unit.
?On the other hand, recent solar energy bids in
India are around ?3 per unit.
?Lazard, the Wall Street firm, estimates that wind
and solar energy costs have declined by around
70% to 90% in just the last 10 years and may
decline further in the future.
?Starting with the Tarapur 1 and 2 reactors, in
Maharashtra, India’ s experiences with imported
reactors have been poor.
?The Kudankulam 1 and 2 reactors, in Tamil Nadu,
the only ones to have been imported and
commissioned in the last decade, have been
repeatedly shut down.
?In 2018-19, these reactors produced just 32% and
38%, respectively, of the electricity they were
designed to produce.
?The fraction of electricity generated by nuclear
power in India has remained stagnant at about 3%
for decades.