No answers on project cost were given by NPCIL: Samiti
The Konkan Bachao Samiti (KBS), which is opposing the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power plant (JNPP) in Ratnagiri, has said that several questions on the project remain unanswered.
At a recent press conference, Vivek Monteiro and Adwait Pednekar of the KBS said several issues were raised at meetings held among the KBS, Janhit Seva Samiti (JSS) and officials of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), at the instance of Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests.
Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan had said that the plant's cost would be Rs. 1,00,000 crore and people would be offered the best rehabilitation package.
Mr. Pednekar said till now no answers on the project cost were given by the NPCIL and nothing was said about the cost of power. At the two meetings held with the NPCI L and the others, it was clear that the JNPP, till date, did not receive regulatory approval from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). I
In fact, till date, the design and detailed project specifications were not submitted to the AERB for scrutiny and approval. What was submitted was only a safety assessment report for the French Evolutionary Pressurised Reactor (EPR), at Flamanville, as a sample, he pointed out.
The NPCIL's claim that the cost of power would be competitive and affordable was not backed by any verifiable data.
Mr. Pednekar said, “We have received reliable information that the European regulatory authorities from Finland (STUK), France (ASN) and the United Kingdom (HSE) had jointly written to Areva, (which is building the JNPP), raising certain serious objections to the current design of control and instrumentation for vital safety aspects of the EPR plant. It is reliably learnt that only last month, the U.S. regulator (NRC) has written to Areva, expressing similar concerns.”
The KBS urged that before any further steps were taken in respect of the JNPP project, and certainly before entering into any binding contract with Areva, the detailed and specific design of the EPR should be subjected to a thorough regulatory scrutiny and receive formal approval.
It said that during the process of scrutiny by the AERB for regulatory approvals for the design, public hearings should be conducted, as done in the U.K, the U.S. and elsewhere.
The KBS and the JSS said the local residents were opposed to the JNPP and refused to accept any compensation.
The KBS and the JSS have not raised the issue of compensation at any point in the discussions with the NPCIL or the Environment Ministry.
“The most important point that has come from the discussions with the NPCIL is the information that the project does not have proper disposal or storage mechanism for nuclear waste and the information in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), prepared by the NEERI about the nuclear waste storage and disposal, is completely false,” the KBS said. The KBS and JSS demanded that the EIA be scrapped.
The KBS has circulated a set of some questions that need to be raised and answered related to approval of the plant, land acquisition, cost, radioactive by-products, reprocessing of spent fuel and disposal of radioactive waste and civil nuclear liability limits.
Keywords: Jaitapur nuclear power plant, Ratnagiri, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, NEERI, Jairam Ramesh, Konkan Bachao Samiti
The place in Jaitapur where they are building the Nuclear plant, how are the farmers there to cultivate crops? It will be radioactive and also the land will go barren and on top of that no fruits and vegetables and no rice as the whole Konkan region produces that so do you want fresh food or contaminated radioactive food? When a crisis like Fukushima occurs, the politicians will blame each other. Even if you have procedures that this sort of melt down will not happen, do not try to convince us as these procedures fail once the melt down overpowers the security procedures and it is not in any ones hands but to wait for the outcome which is very devastating. Let us not create a repeat of BHOPAL OR FUKUSHIMA OR CHERNOBYL where these chemical and radioactive chemicals are only harmfull and no CURE FOR at least 20,000 YEARS.
No doubt India is in dire need of electricity for its development.But to progress at the cost of weakest section of the society does not behove us. If the local people are resisting there must be some reason for their opposition. A neutral expert committee of experts from each field should look into the matter of nuclear waste disposal,radioactivity and its effects on Konkan's biodiversity, increase in water temp and its effects on livelihood of fishing community,effects of particulate matters on mango,cashewnuts plantations,etc.unless and until these questions are not answered satisfactorily no green signal should be given for the project.
The government should stop false propoganda.Nuclear plant will be disastrous for Konkan.They show some farms,some trees,some children playing and say that see,there is no bad effect on them. This is ridiculous.There is no systematic study on the health of people staying around the plant.In fact there is no government health facility for general public in Tarapur.Also,how can you explain the untimely deaths of large no. of technicians & scientists working in atomic plants all over India.No nuclear plant is totally safe.
The cost difference in the nuclear power with conventional power is very high and if we include the decommissioning and waste disposal, environment and health costs, the nuclear power costs can be as high as five times. If we add all the forms of subsidies given to NPCIL and DAE units and insurance costs are added this will go up to eight times. NPCIL and DAE has to support the new type EPR reactors, in various ways. Excluding the subsidy aspect, nuclear power cost for a design life of 25 years of EPR reactor and the final installation capacity could result in a loss of more than five lakh crore Rupees to our nation. This Rs 5 lakh crore loot for the West is like the 2G Rs 1.76 lakh crore Italian job carried out by the Italian plant Sonia and the illegal PM Manmohan recently. I support the call to stop the nuclear power plants completely in India. We should go for distributed solar plants . See my blogs. bit.ly/hah2Ef, bit.ly/f5COAK, bit.ly/dFXrWO, bit.ly/gDcYqR.
So the people of the region where the plant will come up are just so much 'collateral damage'? Would all these guys who say Go India Go, give up their lands and flats and jobs for 'the greater good'? Why only in India is development always at the expense of someone poor who can't fight back? Try putting a nuclear plant in the middle of Lutyens' Delhi or Mumbai's Malabar Hill and see what happens.
I agree with Mr.Rakesh Mahajan.No one is thinking about the after effects of this project.The NPCIL(Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd) is planning to import untested nuclear reactors from French company, Areva. The reactor is not in operation anywhere in the world. US and European nuclear regulators have identified severe flaws in the reactor and none of them have approved the complete details of the design. after 60 years this project is of no use.The natural beauty of Konkan would have already been destroyed and the future generation will be paying for it risking their health.
some facts: 1.Nuclear waste remain active and harming for more than 10000 years even if they are dumped many kilometer below the surface. 2. Nuclear plant remain harmful for 5000 years. 3.Developed countries have planned to reduce their present nuclear power capacity from 15% to 12 in next 12 yaers. 4. No technique is available to dispose off the nuclear waste. 5. Contries like Australia having largest Uranium deposits and largest Enriched uranium producer do not produce a single unit of power with it. 6. Initial cost of Nuclear power plant is very high. 7. We do not have the Uranium and the Technology for Nuclear power plants. 8. Any country supplying the Tech.And Material can blackmail us. 9. We have very good alternatives like Hydro and Bio power. 10.We have Tech for Hydro power. 11.These alternatives can generate much more employment. 12.We have World's 18% Thorium.This is less harmful,easy to handle,not dependable on others. 13. There is immese poverty around the Narora nuclear power plantin UP
Do the people opposing the project have alternate solutions to offer? No Sir, they do not. However, they will come in the way of progress but at the same time will want a slice of the development pie. It has become fashionable in India for organizations like KBS, JSS, etc., to oppose any initiative that the government comes up with. Pay no heed to these guys...Go India Go...
Nuclear power is safe energy, green energy and future energy. At present India is starving for electric power and due to this India is unable to progress and compete with other world. And we always appreciate outside world for their development and on other hand we are not allowing to develop the nation. We all are selfish. I have seen during initial stage of establishment of any project lot of opposition from people comes. This is due to some antisocial elements who want to expose them self they are fighting for the good cause of the society. In reality, they are fighting for their benefits. We should think our generation we have to think of our next generation. Nuclear energy is very cheap compare to other and definitely it helps poor people and nation building.
this project should be rejected.Mr. Jairam Ramesh should not give permission for such project.Konkan is a very beautiful place having clean environment.The project will cause harmful effects on local people and marine life at konkan.So people should come forward and oppose such harmful project. There are many alternative energy sources are available like solar energy,wind energy.These energies should be used for generation of electricity.
From the starting of this project only one man is giving legal proof of the report of various government authority which they were try to hide from public, Dr. Waghdhare who is 75 year old person fighting all alone for enviornment issue for couple of years with various government agencies. He is the person who's house come under "sterlize zone", in this perticular reagion. If any body from your office need government proof about problems as well as dangerous issue in this project pls let me know.
Such project should not come up in places like Konkan., where lot of clean air is serving the son of soil. The Konkani person is ready to srvive without bread than to accept such a projects. Rather he prefer darkness than light. Of course we are with development but not at the cost of our native places which are such a nice natural sites.
Mr.Ramesh can once more prove his honesty and dedication towards the cause of environment by preventing the installment of jaitapur nuclear project. For ensuring clean and green Konkan and saving the coast and livelihood of many fishermen the nuclear power plant should be shifted at some safe location. It will protect the people as well as the marine life from nuclear waste.
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