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Unclear over Nuclear
- Will the protests against the Koodankulam project force the government to pause and rethink its nuclear power plans?
- At a time when information is freely available through innumerable sources, governments and politicians should not express surprise when people ask uncomfortable questions. Yet, whenever there is a people’s protest, the response is always surprise and suspicion at the “suddenness” of the protest. “Why now?” is the inevitable question asked by the authorities.
- In the recent protests, away from the media glare, 127 people fasted for over 11 days and tens of thousands of people gathered to register their opposition to the project.
- Formalised in 1988 through an agreement between India and the then Soviet Union, the Koodankulam project finally got off the ground only in 1997. In 2005, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) received clearance to set up two Russian-designed, water-cooled and water-moderated VVER-1000 reactors. Shortly thereafter, NPCIL revealed its intent to set up four more reactors, making this one of the largest nuclear projects in India. Reactors one and two are almost ready, the former slated to be commissioned in December.
- In 2004, the Asian tsunami hit the very coastline where the reactors are to be located. In the light of the earthquake and tsunami in March this year in Japan, when pictures of the crippled nuclear power station at Fukushima flashed around the world, it is hardly surprising that the fears of the local population have grown sharply.
- The opposition to the project has gathered steam in the last few years precisely because the NPCIL has not addressed people’s concerns.
- The fishing community has yet to be assured that the inevitable discharge of hot water from these reactors will not raise water temperature to the point that their fish breeding grounds are destroyed.
- This has also raised environmental concerns as the project is close to one of the world’s richest marine biosphere reserves in the Gulf of Mannar. Another concern is about fresh water.
- The inevitable displacement of this population has added another layer of concern.
- At every site where nuclear reactors are being planned – in Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra – there is a groundswell of local opposition.
