nuclear-news

India is especially at risk from a nuclear disaster

 in India we need to worry much more about all risky development projects, because we have a larger and poorer population, with far lower social safety nets in place than in many other parts of the world, less transparency and regulatory accountability making people more vulnerable to risks than in other, more developed countries. …..

Losing the plot, THE HINDU, LIGIA NORONHA, 4 Mar   The response to the anti-Kudankulam protest shows that space for the democratic right of dissent is shrinking. I have been watching with a growing concern the unfolding story around the issue of the nuclear plant at Kudankulam. My concern is at two levels:

One, that it seems bizarre that it should not be expected that there would be an additional concern about nuclear energy post-Fukushima, given the whole new dimension of risk that the
incident brought to light around the nuclear question;

and two, that the manner in which the confrontation is unfolding is an example of a
larger pattern of not wanting any questions or dissent around India’s growth story.
It would indeed have been disturbing if people were not worrying about a nuclear plant post the Fukushima incident, especially in an area which has experienced a tsunami. ….
Japan is looking to move to more decentralised energy systems, what it
calls “smart community backed by information technology” so that the
energy systems are no longer centralised as these carry with them the
risks of serious accidents, either natural or man made.

The Japanese case demonstrates more than anything else that in India
we need to worry much more about all risky development projects,
because we have a larger and poorer population, with far lower social
safety nets in place than in many other parts of the world, less
transparency and regulatory accountability making people more
vulnerable to risks than in other, more developed countries. …..
t all risky development projects need to be studied carefully in terms
of the security that they address. Whose security? At what cost?…..
the handling of the protests is symptomatic of a larger malaise that
is becoming noticeable. As the enthusiasm with the oft repeated
comment of India’s arrival on the world stage as an economic power
grows, there seems to be an increasingly reduced space for questioning
and dissent, as if all of these protests, these inconvenient questions
raised, the people and groups doing so are obstacles to growth and the
race to the head table. ….
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2961219.ece

March 6, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general