Following the withdrawal of their indefinite fast, anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project protesters began a relay fast at Idinthakarai on Tuesday.
Anti-KKNPP struggle committee member M. Pushparayan said that the protesters were ready for talks with the State government to break the stalemate and find an appropriate solution.
“If we're invited, we'll form a team to negotiate with the government.”
As the relay fast commenced, Ramesh Gopalakrishnan, Amnesty International – Asia Pacific programme researcher, came to the venue to address the protesters.
He said the governments, “instead of adopting suppressive measures to wipe out the ongoing struggle,” should lend a patient hearing to the protesting public to find an amicable solution to their demands.
Instead of for establishing new nuclear reactors, the Centre should decommission existing reactors.
Keywords: Kudankulam nuclear power project, relay fast, Idinthakarai
Sorry to disagree with you Professor but, Japan has only suspended the nuclear program for a safety audit. Reactors are being built in China, Kora and the US. Germany, after decommissioning its reactors is going to buy power from France which relies on nuclear power! Also Germany will get gas at subsidized rates from Russia.
India does not have the luxury of friendly neighbors or abundant coal reserves. Solar and wind can be supplemental sources of energy at best. Nuclear energy will be the backbone by the end of this century.
KKNPP 1 is the beginning of a new era!
Enough damage has been done already. It is time the state government moved in and removed the anti nuke ringleaders from Idinthakarai. This 'indefinite' fast seems to be a choreographed dance between the protesters and certain retired government employees (Call for a fast, end it after a week after a person makes an appeal to stop. Then do it again after a period of recovery).
The deployment of the police and section 144 are temporary solutions. For the reactors to function smoothly, there should be good relations with the local community. Now, the anti nuke camp is brainwashing school children of Idinthakkarai against nuclear power. They are being given wrong information about nuclear technology.
Most of the nations in the world are against nuclear power. Japan has decommissioned all nuclear reactors though the country faces power shortage like ours. Only Russia supports nuclear power for India for their vested business interest. I agree with most of the views of Mr. Ashok; the efficiecny of a nuclear power plant is never above 30%!
Three decades ago, there were reservations against non-conventional power; and today, wind power is a great supplement to our power grid, especially tamilnadu power grid. Solar energy so plentifully available for India, our politicians should logically think of harvesting solar energy and make wise and long term investment.
I can live in dark and without essentials. But I want to live in a clean air and environment. Nuclear Plants has lost its credibility when it brought more destruction's and miseries to people then benefits. In the name of producing electricity countries have been using it to produce Nuclear weapons and destructive Nuclear bombs. It has contributed to the ecological imbalance and has made the earth a unsafe planet to reside.
KKNPP 1 will be the largest nuclear power plant in India ( till the 1.7 GW Areva giants come up in Jaitapur). The fast seems to be a choreographed dance between PMANE and some retired government employees. A fast is organized for some days, then it is recalled immediately after the person makes an appeal. Then the same is repeated again after the fasting people regain some health.
To put an end to this farce, the government must arrest the PMANE ringleaders.
What the public is actually saying is PMANE, no thanks.
What is the official energy audit of the nuclear power programme I wonder. When I put up my arguments in a lead article in Prajavani in May 1986, the deafening silence of the authorities is a warning to the public to veer away from this which is a crime against all life for all time. This Valsan is such an ignoramus that he says the efficiency of nuclear power to produce electricity is 90%! When in fact it is 25%.
When nukes consume manyfold the energy they produce at the busbars during their entire lifetime and are perfect mass murderers for all time where is the argument for nukes? If a total energy system working on fossils works at 80% and explodes, what happens? Compare it with explosion of a nuke. The public must say Nuclear Power, No Thanks!
"Instead of commissioning new reactors, the center must decommission existing ones". It is precisely because of this intransigent position by the PMANE that the protests had to be quelled in such fashion. Nuclear power will be the backbone of our energy pool once coal runs out. Solar and wind can be supplemental power sources at best.
Best wishes again to the brave folks at NPCIL.
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