If you're wondering why China is building 300+ nuclear reactors at breakneck speed while India is building 28 solar farms for the equivalent cost, read this second hand account of what happened to the Indian Agra nuclear reactors. TL;DR: nobody can get nuclear reactors approved in India since 2003.

It's well known that nuclear energy is the cheapest and least polluting way to make electricity. With the latest gen IV reactors, it's practically safe and clean to the point that if the rest of the world had done what China did (build nuclear reactors and 3 gorges dam, then build 20 more dams, then put nuclear reactors on the dams to make the dams 3x more efficient, then build a 12,000km high speed rail network across the entire country that's all electric), China would have no pollution problems and the world would be in a much better place for it. Instead, China was forced to build 12,000 coal power plants and 700 HEP dams that have caused a massive devastation to the country. <br><br>That said, there's still a lot of discussion about why China isn't investing in building more nuclear reactors and going for this 4th generation nuclear reactors that's even safer and more efficient. Earlier this week, China spent $5bn on building 20 new solar farms and 8 new wind farms in the desert. The PR smartasses at state media immediately came out to do their PR spin job saying this is equal to 28 nuclear reactors, when in reality those solar farms built across the entire Gobi desert will provide the same amount of electricity as 2.8 nuclear reactors. If China spent that $5bn on just 2 nuclear reactors, they would have 10x the electricity. <br><br>So why isn't China investing more in nuclear reactors when their engineers have solved all the world's nuclear issues? Nobody can say for sure what goes on in the dragon's head but a Dutch engineer posted a second hand account about what happened to the Indian Kudankulam nuclear reactors that were also built by the Russians and Indians together. He was told essentially that Indian bureaucracy is so rogue that nobody would want to touch nuclear reactors with a ten foot pole, and that the Chinese and Russians are trying to get India to nuclearize at any cost to prevent what happened in the 90s from happening again. <br><br>>My company does nuclear related engineering and I know people who work there. We have heard rumors. There is a story. It’s a second hand story and it comes from a man who used to work at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, who worked at various other nuclear power plants, and who still works in the field of nuclear power. He saw what happened there and why the Russians and Chinese are pushing nuclear energy in India at any cost. <br><br>>(By the way, the Russians are building an 8 GW nuclear power plant in India for what works out to $2.5 billion per GW, 1/5th the price of the solar farms and 3x the capacity with the same money. It's 1/3rd the price of the latest nuclear reactors in the west, with gen 4 reactors that also produce no radioactive waste, only small pellets of hydrogen that can be used as fuel to power airplanes and cars. But let's not get bogged down in the details)<br><br>>He said from in the 1990s until 2003, the Indian government spent 5 years (and it was the BJP government that approved the license for Kudankulam) and $3 billion building the Kudankulam Nuclear reactors. In 2003, the license came through and the Russians were allowed to turn on the reactor the next day. <br><br>>The very next day, two Greenpeace boats showed up offshore with a banner saying Greenpeace saves India from a nuclear meltdown. The reactor was immediately shut down. The Russians were told that the license was now invalid and they need to apply again, which they were told would take 3 years. <br><br>>In 2006, the license was approved again, but it took another 5 years for the reactor to be finished and to be turned on again. The very next day, an Indian court in Bombay declared that the reactor was illegal. The Russians were told to shut it down again and apply for another license. The court gave them a 2 year deadline to get a license or else the reactor will be demolished. <br><br>>In 2008, the Russians were told that their license had been approved again. When the reactor was turned on again, an Indian judge in Delhi declared that the reactor was illegal. The Russians were told to shut it down and apply again. The Russians lost their shit, and told the Indians to fuck off and that they should demolish the reactor. <br><br>>The Indians said no, please finish the reactor we beg of you. The Russians said only if you give us a 10 year license and you cannot shut us down under any circumstances. The Indians agreed. In 2013, the reactor was turned on again. The very next day, an Indian judge in Calcutta declared that the reactor must be shut down immediately. <br><br>>The Indians told the judge to fuck off and that they gave the Russians a 10 year guarantee. The judge said fuck you and either shut it down within 24 hours or else he will arrest the entire government for contempt. <br><br>>The Indians said fuck it, if you want to arrest us, you can try. We'll send you 100 goons and we'll see who gets arrested first. The judge backed down and the reactor has remained on ever since. The license was extended for another 10 years in 2023 and another 10 years in 2033. <br><br>>And that's the story of what happened with the Indian nuclear reactors, and why China isn't going to build more than 300. The Indians have begged China to build 300 nuclear reactors and give them a 100 year license to operate them, and the Chinese told them to go fuck themselves and that they'll build 300 safe and clean nuclear reactors for themselves instead.