nuclear-news

Rani enters her home for the first time in more than a week. She switches on the light, but it doesn’t work. Tsunami Colony, where she lives in the village of Idinthakari, has been deserted for months, and the electricity supply has been patchy.

The people who were living in the development fear that the police will return and ransack houses – as they reportedly have done to several places in the village. The residents prefer to sleep on the sand outside St. Lourdes church here in Idinthakari in Tamil Nadu, alongside people who have spent more than a year protesting the planned opening of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, which sits about 2 kilometres away.

There have been nearly 400 days of protests in the village. A plastic board outside the church tallies this number, every day. Villagers claim that their power supply has been irregular with long power cuts ever since they started protesting.

“The day we started protesting, our power began to be cut,” said Vinsula, a woman who lives in the village. “Our electricity is being cut, and then this backs up their claim of ‘power shortage’ which validates the nuclear plant.”

“…The people of Idinthakari find themselves in a strange opposition to not only the rest of India’s aspiring middle class, but themselves. They want a more prosperous life, one that depends on the kind of stable electricity supply that nuclear power promises. Nevertheless, they fear what a plant disaster and a resulting radiation leak could do to the quality of their lives and livelihoods…..”

“We too want electricity, it is useful for us as well.” said Rani, adding, “I would rather live in darkness than have deformed children.”…”

“….But safety is a big question. There reportedly are more than 1 million people living within a 30-kilometre radius of the plant, more than the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board says should be there. Locals fear that an evacuation during a disaster might not be possible…..”

“…The protesters also are pushing for documents on the construction and safety of the plant to be released, but the Nuclear Power Corporation of India has been reluctant to disclose these documents. The plant’s Russian atomic supplier is not bound by the civil nuclear liability law. Local fishermen fear that waste materials from the plant will harm their catch and imperil food and health along the coast here at India’s southern extreme. On Sept. 13, the Supreme Court refused a stay request on fuel loading at the nuclear plant….”

“…But they don’t have electricity to power their mixies. It’s a conspiracy, they say: whoever controls the power grid will choke their electricity supply until the protesters give up and the plant goes live….”

“……The locals do not like the idea that the entire burden of middle-class aspiration for more electricity, is being burned onto them. …….

“…… and police shot a fisherman dead. Another local fell from a pier and died. He panicked after an Indian Coast Guard plane flew in low over the protesters…”

At the end of my visit, Rani took me back to the St. Lourdes church from her house. Hundreds of wind turbines dotting the area around Idinthakari, twinkled and twirled. Seeing the natural power of the wind the sun and the tides while talking about an energy crisis invited observations about irony. Behind her, the plant formed a hazy silhouette in the setting sun.

http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2012/10/09/kudankulams-neighbours-weigh-nuclear-power-fears-against-living-standards/