The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : 123 agreement

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Thursday, Aug 09, 2007
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Opinion - Letters to the Editor

123 agreement

Even though a lot is being said on the Indo-U.S. civil nuclear deal, one is yet to see a discussion in the public domain on the economics of nuclear power generation. The capital cost per mega watt of installed capacity of nuclear power plants is known to be much higher than that of plants based on fossil fuel. Will the nuclear power plants be able to supply power to State Electricity Boards at a price the latter can live with or will it require huge government subsidies?

K. Vijayakumar,
Bangalore

India will surely have to incur a huge political cost once the deal becomes operational. It will inhibit the development of our nuclear programme and impact our bilateral and multilateral relations. The Hyde Act has many hidden implications for India’s foreign policy and future. Let us rethink on the 123 agreement or prepare for compromises.

V. Pandiraja,
Maruthangudi

Before any final decision is taken on the deal, the government should seek the support of the Left and the BJP and work towards evolving a consensus. Our scientists, who were detractors of the deal till not very long ago, should be consulted again. If there is no unanimous agreement among all these sections, it is better to drop the 123 accord and depend on indigenous sources of energy.

T.R.S. Rangan,
Bangalore

The agreement will have to overcome severe protests from the opposition. The Left parties have upped the ante and opposed it because they feel it will compromise our independent foreign policy. The government will have a tough time convincing the Left and the BJP to support the deal with its far-reaching implications. It should initiate a healthy debate in Parliament.

Akhil Kumar,
New Delhi

Under the deal, the U.S. will get access to Indian markets for reactor technology and military hardware. In return, India will enjoy reprocessing rights in addition to uninterrupted supply of nuclear fuel. Plutonium can be reused with thorium, which is abundantly available in India, to operate fast breeder reactors. This is enough to prove that the nuclear deal is balanced.

B.R. Pantulu,
Hyderabad

Parties that oppose the deal do so for political reasons. We hardly had any bargaining power and yet we came up with an agreement that we can live with. This is a laudable achievement.

N.K. Raghavendran,
Bangalore

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