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Untested nuclear reactors for earthquake zone in India

The concerns raised by the TISS report are all the more worrying given the fact that the nuclear reactors Areva will supply are of an untested and problematic design

Rethink Jaitapur’, DECCAN HERALD, 3 Jan 2011, ‘Biodiversity of Madhban plateau will be lost.”There is sufficient reason for the government to reconsider its decision to set up a nuclear power park at Jaitapur in Maharashtra. A social impact assessment conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) confirms what experts and activists have been saying for a while: the proposed nuclear power park will have “huge negative impact on social and environment development.”

The most worrying risk is that Jaitapur lies in a high to moderate severity earthquake zone. Should an earthquake strike the nuclear plants, the destruction caused will be horrific. A joint collaboration between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and French nuclear energy giant, Areva, the Jaitapur nuclear power project will have at least six plants.

It requires about 968 hectares of land.
Roughly seven villages will be erased to make way for the project. Much of this land is currently being used for agriculture, horticulture and grazing purposes. Thousands of people will be displaced and deprived of their livelihoods. The nuclear park will also destroy fisheries in the region as the hot water released by the reactors will force fish to move away. The unique biodiversity of the Madhban plateau on which the nuclear plants will be built will be lost.

The TISS report has also drawn attention to the lack of transparency over the project. It accuses the government of hiding and manipulating facts. The government has termed the land to be acquired as ‘barren’. This is mendacious as Jaitapur is a region where mangoes and cashews are grown in abundance. Consultations with people in the area have been a huge farce as the government has used force to silence protests by local farmers.

The concerns raised by the TISS report are all the more worrying given the fact that the nuclear reactors Areva will supply are of an untested and problematic design. So, has the government looked into the huge risk involved? Proponents of the project are pointing to the 10,000 MW of power that Jaitapur will provide one day. Indeed this is a benefit.

However, when one asks the question ‘at what cost?’ it is hard to dispel the fact that the costs far outweigh the benefits. There are huge risks to human, plant and animal life and to the environment. The ministry of environment has given a conditional go-ahead to the project. It needs to rethink its decision. It needs to put people above profits.

Rethink Jaitapur

January 2, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, India