The 10,000 MW nuclear power plant, which is being set up by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), at Kovvada in Srikakulam district, could prove to be vulnerable to natural calamities such as cyclone Hudhud that devastated the three coastal districts recently just with its wind speed that reportedly crossed the 240 kmph barrier, according to former Union Energy Secretary E.A.S. Sarma.
“We are lucky that cyclone Hudhud was a dry tropical cyclone and was not associated with heavy rainfall and sea surge. Normally, cyclones of this magnitude bring larger devastation with tidal waves. And Kovvada plant is a bang on the coast and falls in the usual route of these tropical cyclones. Sea water flooding can give us another Fukushima on our coast,” said Mr. Sarma.
According to Mr. Sarma, as it is the plant is vulnerable to earthquakes, as four seismic fault lines run through the area, where the plant is being set-up.
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The former bureaucrat pointed out that Kovvada Site Selection Committee had recommended a 300-km radius tectonic study, which was never taken up.