Say No to Nuclear Power Plants in Jaitapur and Haripur
Let us first tell the readers that here we do not intend to express our total view on Nuclear Power vis-?-vis environmental concerns. We only want to draw attention to two dangerous projects that the government of India has planned and are in the mood of executing.
Our environ minister, having two "Ram" in his name (jaiRAM RAMesh) thinks himself twice as powerful as the mythical Ram. So "Nitin Sethi of TNN, wrote on Apr 27, 2011, "NEW DELHI: Despite protests that led to police firing, the government said it will press ahead with the nuclear power project at Jaitapur on Maharashtra's Konkan coast and fielded chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, environment minister Jairam Ramesh, MoS in PMO V Narayanasamy and Department of Atomic Energy chief Srikumar Banerjee to argue the case." Police firing is almost a non-perturbing word in this world's greatest democracy - the Times could have mention that a person got killed in the police firing and at least eight people were injured - but, well, this is also a 'nothing' in this great democracy. But not only that firing and attacking - a rally from Tarapur to Jaitapur against the proposed nuclear power plant in Jaitapur was forcefully prevented by the police, and many activists including two justices, one admiral and some prominent environmental campaigners were arrested. The police could realize the implication of arresting Their Excellencies the Justices, and so Justice Sawant and Justice Patil were soon released. (Perhaps readers remember that Justice Sawant was involved also in the no-SEZ-at-Raygad campaign which led to a plebiscite, the SEZ proposal was out and out outvoted, and the MR Govt had to step back.) But alas, Admiral Ramdas was not that much lucky - he was detained like other protestors for quite a time.
Now everybody in the world knows about Fukushima Nuclear Disaster after the Tsunami and earthquake. The Govt here may say that they will follow stricter design parameters taking into account earthquakes. But we know what happens in India - how shady designs get approved and more shadily get constructed. Jaitapur people cannot be cajoled or fooled, neither us, ordinary Indians. A Times of India headline prominently said — 20 years, 92 quakes: Ground trembles beneath Jaitapur's feet (Viju B, TNN, Mar 16, 2011, 02.17am IST). How dare or how foolishly men at the top can contemplate constructing a Nuke plant in such a place!
And this is only one side of the story. Let us take some excerpts from an expert who is not at all against nuclear energy. (Dr A Gopalakrishnan, Thursday, March 17, 2011, Why should Jaitapur be made a guinea pig for untested reactor? - DNA)
"In contrast, in India, we are most disorganised and unprepared for the handling of emergencies of any kind of even much less severity. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board's (AERB's) disaster preparedness oversight is mostly on paper and the drills they once in a while conduct are half-hearted efforts which amount more to a sham. In case of earthquake engineering, the Nuclear Power Corporation strategy is to have their favourite consultants cook up the kind of seismic data which suits them, and there is practically no independent verification of their data or design methodologies. ... India has built 18 Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) on our own. We have mastered the design through carefully learning from the mistakes of the past, and are currently moving on to build 700 MWe units of this type. We have three generations of Indian engineers who are familiar with the PHWR. If we need more nuclear power, the safest route is to consolidate and expand on our PHWR experience, import natural uranium, and build more PHWRs. ... Instead, the government is scattering our energies and talent in getting imported reactors like the French EPRs in Jaitapur, of which neither Indians nor the French know much about. ... The first objection is that the Evolutionary Pressurized Reactors (EPRs) to be built in Jaitapur, having not been commissioned anywhere in the world, is a non-existent reactor whose potential problems are totally unknown even to Areva, its developer, let alone India's Nuclear Power Corporation."
Shall we let the govt and the Nuke Plant supplier corporate play with the fate of millions of citizens around Jaitapur!
Haripur is an altogether different place. It is a small settlement by the Bay of Bengal. And Bay of Bengal is a very unpredictable sea that generates lots of tornadoes, cyclones; the latest devastating cyclone was named AILA. AILA hit West Bengal coast on 24th May to 25th May, 2009. Floods, thundershowers, hailstorms ... what not are there in abundance! An "Association for India's Development" — AID paper was titled "Hits of Cyclone - "Aila', increasing heartbeats once again in East Medinipur". That report stated: "Due to hit of Cyclone Aila a vast backward and marginal section were rendered homeless and their suffering knew no bounds. Mainly sea facing villages like Junput, Sawla, Haripur, Samuribar, Baguran, Jalpai, Biramput under Contai-I block ...had been submerged..."
(http://aidindia.org/main/content/view/842/407/). When the AILA reached Calcutta its speed was nearly 100kmph; surely the speed of the cyclone Aila was much more than 120-140kmph when it hit Haripur and other coastal villages. (Incidentally, the storm was so powerful that the coastal cyclone measurement meteorological station, which was not near the sea, was blown off!) Tsunami was also not unknown in Haripur; not long ago the famous Bay of Bengal Tsunami devastated coastal Bay of Bengal including Bengal coast. It is quite a lunatic idea to set up a nuclear power plant in a place like Haripur (more so, given the construction standards that are followed in India).
And besides these safety-related issues there are issues of displacement of a large population, doom of their livelihood etc which we leave un-discussed here.
People of Haripur have been agitating against the proposed plant for a couple of years.
We should support people's movements of the Jaitapur and Haripur against the proposed nuclear power plants that have been planned to be erected there.
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