By IANS,
New Delhi : Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Sunday accused the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of stubbornly refusing to draw lessons from the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan and said Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh’s stance on the proposed Jaitapur nuclear plant in Maharshtra was “adamant”.In “Fukushima should make us cautious” – the latest post on his blog, Advani also said that the only serious trial of strength faced by the Manmohan Singh government was in July 2008 on the issue of India’s nuclear energy and the government decided to win the confidence vote by “bribing” MPs.
Underlining the tragedy in Japan has disturbed all countries of the world having nuclear power plants, he said: “Against the above background, it is surprising to find GOI (Government of India) spokesmen practically ridiculing everyone who voices reservations about rushing headlong into the direction of new nuclear energy plants.”
“If any environmentalist strikes a note of caution that the tragedy in Japan should not be disregarded, particularly in parts of the country which are known to be in a seismic zone, he invites sarcastic remarks from the Environment Minister that it is ‘paradoxical’ that the environmentalists are against nuclear energy!” Advani said.
He accused the government of losing its moral centre and political bearings.
“The unnending series of scams that are making headlines these days and the continuing reprimands being administered to the Manmohan Singh Government by the Supreme Court (the latest being about Black Money: ‘Is the Government Sleeping’) are forceful pointers to its loss of moral centre – ethical deficit as a union minister described it.
“I wish to stress today that New Delhi’s stubborn refusal to draw any lessons from Fukushima illustrates how Government has lost even its political bearings,” Advani said.
He said Ramesh had explained his “adamant stand” on Jaitapur by stating that he has been trying to balance four objectives – energy required to sustain a growth rate of nine percent, proportion of fuel mix, environmental concerns, and strategic diplomacy, specially after the civilian nuclear deal.
“One can understand and appreciate the first three of these objectives. But how does ‘strategic diplomacy’ became an objective for the Environment Minister unless it is acknowledged that one of the objectives of signing this treaty even at the risk of losing UPA’s majority was to promote the commercial interests of U.S. nuclear firms,” Advani said.
Citing Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s remarks that energy diversification was important but safety of citizens will be the most important factor, Advani said: “Is it not strange that this most important factor of safety does not even figure in the parameters spelt out by Jairam Ramesh?”
He said that Germany had closed down seven nuclear plants for three months to examine them for safety while France, the world’s most nuclear-dependent nation, had ordered tests on security systems in all nuclear reactors and had announced that the results will be made public.
The BJP leader said that the European Union had announced that risk assesment of possible damage by earthquakes and high water levels would be made at all nuclear plants and Russia and Spain had made similar announcements.