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Jaitapur nuclear project highlights conflict of interest

Despite assurances by the government, experts feel an honest assessment of hazards is impossible. “Like the International Atomic Energy Authority, the Indian DAE too is trapped in conflict of interest. They are both the promoters and regulators of atomic energy. How can one expect an honest assessment from them?” asks Krishna. “Safety audit should be independent,” says Bidwai. Even Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has called for an independent regulatory body for nuclear energy.  “Fukushima has changed everything,” says Krishna

JAITAPUR’S own Fukushima | Hard News After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it’s time for a moratorium on all unsafe nuclear complexes in India, Sadiq Naqvi 12 April 11, “…….”JAPAN HAS CHANGED the paradigm of debate vis-à-vis the proposed Jaitapur nuclear park,” says Vivek Montero of the Konkan Bachao Samiti. He says that the Fukushima disaster has shown that radioactivity affects everything, all life, agriculture, plantations, animals, human lives. “People have categorically stated their position. The question is not of compensation. We don’t want the project, that’s all,” he adds.

People in the Jaitapur area received land acquisition orders in 2007. By January 2010, the government of Maharashtra had completed the acquisition of 938.026 hectares. Despite forcible acquisition of land, only 114 out of the 2,375 affected families have claimed compensation. “Most of the people who have accepted the compensation are absentee landlords,” says Bidwai, who visited Jaitapur recently.

At a recent public meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan (a hardliner for nuclear energy) and Congress heavyweight Narayan Rane at Jaitapur, the project was unanimously opposed by the villagers. This was expressed politely in front of the chief minister. However, soon after the meeting, repression followed, despite the popular protests having been peaceful all through.

“The chief minister had called us on February 26. The interaction was attended by many locals and most of them told him in plain words that the project won’t be allowed,” says Montero. Since then, the police have been picking up locals and activists on fabricated and old cases. Montero says that 24 people have been taken into police custody; some of them were detained for long periods without being produced in court. “The government is forcibly pushing the enhanced compensation package down our throats,” says a local.

The entire area is under siege. Even parliamentarians and judges have been barred from entering the area. In December, former Bombay High Court judge BG Kolse Patil was detained for five days and not even produced before a magistrate within the stipulated period of 24 hours. Other who have not been allowed include CPI General Secretary AB Bardhan, former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral L Ramdas, former Supreme Court judge and Press Council of India chairman PB Sawant, well-known Pune-based social scientist Sulabha Brahme, and ecologist Madhav Gadgil.

Post the unfolding disaster in Fukushima, the local community is wary. “The area is prone to earthquakes and falls in Seismic Zone IV, a high damage risk zone,” says Montero. “Over the past 20 years alone, there have been three earthquakes in Jaitapur exceeding 5 points on the richter scale. In 1993, the region experienced one quake reaching 6.3 leaving 9,000 people dead. In 2009, due to an earthquake, the bridge to Jaitapur collapsed. None of this was taken into account when the site was chosen,” says a report by Greenpeace.

Home to the succulent Alphonso mangoes, Jaitapur is one of the 10 hottest bio-diversity hotspots in the world. Cradled in the scenic Konkan region, it called the Kashmir of Maharashtra. “There is not one inch of land which is devoid of lush green vegetation. They are virgin rainforests,” says Bidwai. The Sahyadri mountain range is home to over 5,000 species of flowering plants, 139 mammal species, 508 bird and 179 amphibian species, including 325 globally threatened ones. “People know that the project will destroy their land and livelihood,” says a local. There are fears that the project will seriously hamper the fishing economy of the area. In Jaitapur and Madhban, a sizeable population is engaged in fishing.

Plans are afoot for mega nuclear parks to take the power generation through atomic energy to an astronomical 63,000 MW from the current 4,780 MW. The government has planned a nuclear park at Jaitapur, which will have six reactors producing 1,650 MW each. It is slated to be the world’s biggest nuclear plant. A French firm, Areva, has been given the contract of six European Pressure Reactors (EPR) at a whopping cost of Rs 42,000 crore. There are nagging worries over the design, functionality and efficiency of these reactors.

“Areva’s 1,650 MW EPRs are based on the French N4 and German Konvoi-type reactors. Nowhere in the world has an EPR been fully built or commissioned so far. There are four EPRs in different stages of construction in the world. Two of them are already beset by serious safety and financial problems and delays,” says Bidwai. Areva itself has been going through a devastating financial crisis. In 2009, it sought $4 billion in a short-term bailout from French taxpayers, and its shares plunged by over 60 per cent. Post Fukushima, Areva’s shares took a further 10 per cent beating. “The Jaitapur case shows that the private nuclear companies are more powerful than the government itself,” says Gopal Krishna, an activist with Toxics Watch.  …..

Despite assurances by the government, experts feel an honest assessment of hazards is impossible. “Like the International Atomic Energy Authority, the Indian DAE too is trapped in conflict of interest. They are both the promoters and regulators of atomic energy. How can one expect an honest assessment from them?” asks Krishna. “Safety audit should be independent,” says Bidwai. Even Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has called for an independent regulatory body for nuclear energy.  “Fukushima has changed everything,” says Krishna……JAITAPUR’S own Fukushima | Hard News

April 12, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, environment, India