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Plan for nuclear power in Bhavnagar district dumped, as locals remember Fukushima

N-power project junked due to Fukushima disaster Gujarat CM. Energy World

The project was proposed to be set up at Mithivirdi village in Bhavnagar district, said Energy Minister Saurabh Patel.   March 09, 2018, Gandhinagar: Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani today told the Assembly the proposal to set up a nuclear power plant in Bhavnagar district has been scrapped owing to a movement by panic-stricken locals following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.

The project was proposed to be set up at Mithivirdi village in Bhavnagar district, said Energy Minister Saurabh Patel.

He was speaking during a debate on the issue during Question Hour of the Assembly which is having its budget session.

Taking part in the debate, Rupani said though the state government had signed an MoU with Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) in 2007, the project was eventually scrapped by the PSU after villagers raised apprehensions about their safety in the wake of radioactive “leak” from the Fukushima nuclear plant following a tsunami.

Rupani was replying to a question by Imran Khedawala (Congress) about the status of the proposed 6,000 MW nuclear power plant, for which the state had signed agreements with NPCIL in 2007 during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

“This project has been scrapped permanently by NPCIL. During the UPA rule, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had signed a nuclear deal with the USA. After that, a total of six nuclear plants were planned across the country and this plant in Bhavnagar was one of them,” he said.

“However, locals turned against this project after tsunami waves caused (radioactive) leak in Japan (in 2011)……. https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/n-power-project-junked-due-to-fukushima-disaster-gujarat-cm/63227178

March 9, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics