Professors in court over radiation death, and injuries
Radiation Leak: DU Professors Summoned on March 12 Outlook India.com PTI | NEW DELHI | FEB 27, 2012 Six Delhi University professors were today summoned by a court here to explain their alleged criminal culpability in death of one persons and critical injuries to seven others in 2010 due to radiation from a radioactive irradiator, disposed of in a scrap market here.
The summonses seeking the professors’s appearance on March 12 were issued by Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen, who took cognisance of the chargesheet, which was under the court’s consideration since September last year.
The Delhi Police had filed the chargesheet accusing the professors of endangering lives by auctioning a radioactive Cobalt-60 gamma irradiator without due mandatory precautions….. The matter came to fore when one person died and seven people were critically injured in
April 2010 after they were exposed to radiation when they cut open a Cobalt-60 irradiator at Mayapuri scrap market here. The irradiator was traced to the varsity’s Chemistry Department……. http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=753243
India’s P.M. blames anti nuclear activists for his government’s paralysis
Dr Singh’s statement was rejected by a coalition of women, fishermen and farmers from 17 villages that have been protesting against the plant. ”By making these absurd allegations, he is diverting everybody’s attention from the real issues here,” activist V. Pushparayan said.
Indian government paralysed, but PM blames others, The Age Rama Lakshmi, February 26, 2012 FIRST it was the fault of the news media, then of his coalition partners, but now Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is blaming someone else for his government’s inability to carry out planned projects.
On Friday, Dr Singh raised the Cold War-era bogy of the ”foreign hand”, accusing US and Scandinavian non-government organisations of stalling the commissioning of a nuclear power plant in southern India and delaying implementation of government plans to commercialise genetically modified crops by supporting protest groups.
His comments attracted a barrage of criticism….. Continue reading
India’s nuclear deal for the benefit of foreign commercial interests
The “foreign hand” argument perhaps applies more to the government than to the people, Sarma said. “Is it not the foreign hand that was responsible for compelling the UPA government to push through the Indo-US nuclear deal to serve the commercial interests of another country more than promoting self-reliance?
Anti-nuke groups slam PM remarks Deccan Herald, HYDERABAD/CHENNAI, Feb 26, 20012, Ex-secretary rubbishes foreign hand theory Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks that some foreign NGOs were behind the agitation against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) were rubbished by a former energy secretary at the Centre and drew a strong backlash with anti-nuclear groups organising a big rally in Chennai on Sunday.
Singh’s remarks in a TV interview that some US and Scandinavian NGOs obstructed India’s nuclear energy programme in the backdrop of the seven-month long agitation the nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu drew a sharp retort from former Union energy secretary E A S Sarma in Vishakhapatnam. He trashed the Prime Minister’s talk of “foreign hand” and made out a strong case for suspending the works on nuclear plants in the interests of the country’s future and safety. Continue reading
Indian govt uses funding stop to counter NGO anti nuclear protest
India freezes aid group funds over nuclear protests Business Recorder, FEBRUARY 26, 2012 India said Saturday it had frozen the assets of three non-profit groups it alleges were diverting foreign aid funds to fuel protests against plans to build two atomic power stations.
The country’s move to construct two giant nuclear power stations in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and one in the western state of Maharashtra has been thrown into disarray following the protests by villagers and activists.
A senior officer at the prime minister’s office told AFP that the home ministry had frozen the accounts of three non-government organisations.
Two big hurdles to USA selling nuclear reactors to India
US control regime a hurdle in N-deal, Deccan Herald, Kalyan Ray New Delhi, Feb 22, 2012, US export control regime has become a major stumbling block for concluding commercial nuclear agreements under the four-year-old Indo-US civil nuclear agreement signed in 2008 for peaceful uses of nuclear power.
US nuclear suppliers on Wednesday identified their own country’s control regime as the spoil sport for entering into agreements with Indian companies. The most immediate concern for the two US nuclear majors – GE and Westinghouse – is a specific provision in the US export control rules under which they have to 
obtain clearance from the US government not only for supplying reactors to NPCIL but also for other Indian companies involved in constructing a nuclear power plant. “The 810 licence in the US export control regime is the most immediate issue,” Aris S Candris, president and chief executive officer of Westinghouse told Deccan Herald. on the sidelines of an international nuclear symposium here.
At the symposium organised by the World Nuclear Association, both Westinghouse and GE flagged 810 licence as the most immediate stumbling block to kick-start nuclear commerce between the two countries, though both admitted that stiff Indian nuclear liability regime posed another big hurdle. India currently plans to purchase two AP-1000 light water reactors from Westinghouse to install in Chhaya Mithi Virdi in Gujarat and two 1000 MW reactors from GE for Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh. However, land acquisition process has not started yet.
Candris said Westinghouse obtained the 810 approval for the Indian operator, Nuclear Power Corporation of India and regulator, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. But it needed similar clearance for other nuclear industry players like Larsen and Toubro as well as other companies who will be engaged in constructing nuclear power plant….. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/229404/us-control-regime-hurdle-n.html
India’s peaceful, fasting, anti nuclear protestors face armed police
Around 500 police personnel were deployed near the road leading to
the project site on Monday and commandos have been positioned at the main gate of the KKNPP premises with automatic weapons.
Anti-nuclear protesters embark on 72-hour fast, THE HINDU, 22 Feb 2012 P. SUDHAKAR Even as a two-member International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team is camping at the Kundakulam Nuclear Power Project site for a routine annual review of reactors that fall under IAEA monitoring, anti-nuke protesters have announced a 72-hour-long fast in protest against the State Experts’ Panel convener S. Iniyan’s assertions that the panel members would not meet the protesting villagers.
“The 72-hour long struggle will commence from Monday midnight as Maha Sivaratri falls on this day. Continue reading
Russia getting annoyed with delays in selling its nukes to India
Russia running out of patience as nuclear plant row intensifies, Daily Mail, By M C RAJAN 16th February 2012 Russia seems to be stuck in a catch-22 situation. The ongoing anti-nuke stir in Southern Tamil Nadu has placed the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in a limbo.
It is only now that Russia has realised that the going might get tough. Continue reading
Opponents of nuclear power for Gorakhpur village joined by 10 other villages
10 villages join protest against nuclear plant Times of India, Bhaskar Mukherjee, TNN | Feb 11, 2012, FATEHABAD: Protesters against the proposed nuclear power plant in Gorakhpur village got a major support on Friday when 200 villagers from 10 nearby villages came out in the streets of Fatehabad, the district headquarter, to oppose the power plant, expressing security concerns.
The protesters gathered in the local grain market and then marched to the mini secretariat to hand over a memorandum against the plant, signed by 10,000 people, to deputy commissioner M L Kaushik. Villagers including women from Kharakheri, Dhanger, Mochiwali, Khajuri, Chobara, Jandli, Dahman, Kajal Heri, Nehla and Gorakhpur participated in the demonstration.
President of Kisan Sangharsh Samiti Hans Raj Siwach said, “We are on a protest call for the past 546 days but the government does not care. We shall not let the government acquire our agriculture land.” He asked, “Why does the Haryana government want to set up nuclear power plant. Don’t they realize what the Fukushima nuclear disaster did to Japan?”
At least 1,313 acres of land in the village are to be acquired for the nuclear plant. Farmers of Gorakhpur had recently held three officials hostage when they visited the village for taking measurements. The officials were only let go when they promised never to come to the village again. They were forced to write down their promise on paper and sign it.
In the meantime, the residents of the village submitted memorandums against the setting up of the nuclear plant on their land. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/10-villages-join-protest-against-nuclear-plant/articleshow/11843998.cms
Call to replace nuclear proponent Srinivasan with an independent expert on safety panel
‘Remove pro-nuclear Srinivasan from panel’ Press Trust Of India, Hindustan Times, Chennai, February 10, 2012 The anti-nuclear forum spearheading the stir against Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project on Friday demanded removal of former Atomic Energy Commission chief MR Srinivasan from the state expert panel to allay people’s safety concerns, calling him “pro-nuclear”.
People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) said it welcomed constitution of the four-member state panel but pointed out that Srinivasan was a “well-known pro-nuclear person.”
Srinivasan was the former chairman and a current member of India’s Atomic Energy Commission. He was also a member of the site selection committee in the 1980s for the KNPP and has been writing and speaking in favor of nuclear power and the Koodankulam project itself, S P Udayakumar, leading the anti-nuclear movement, said in a statement.
He said people had expected that the state expert team would be neutral and independent “but Dr Srinivasan is neither.So it is hard for the PMANE to accept Dr Srinivasan.”
It asked the chief minister to replace Srinivasan with another expert and expand the team with experts in Geology, Oceanography and
Hydrology. PMANE also requested Jayalalithaa to make the State Expert Team meet its own experts, consider their findings and engage in a “genuine dialogue” and listen to the fears and concerns of the people and arrive at a conclusion in a democratic manner on the basis of majority opinion.
He alleged that having failed to allay the fears of the people, the Centre was sending spies into the areas around Koodankulam “to divide
our communities, create fear and panic among the people and instigate violence..”… http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Chennai/Remove-pro-nuclear-Srinivasan-from-panel/Article1-809419.aspx
Tamil Nadu government appoints pro nuclear enthusiast to head nuclear safety panel!
N-expert to head Kudankulam panel, TNN | Feb 10, 2012, CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday constituted a four-member expert committee, headed by former chairman Atomic Energy Commission M R Srinivasan, to look into the safety aspects of the Kudankulam nuclear power project and address the fears of the locals. Srinivasan’s inclusion is significant as he isknown to be a strong votary of nuclear power. He was one of the .architects of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
BRICs – Brazil, Russia, China, India, all nuclear prospects looking dodgy
China is looking much less committed to nuclear power than it was a year ago.
The reality is that China needs nuclear power much less than the nuclear industry needs China.
Prospects for Nuclear Power in 2012 Source: Platts – a leading global provider of energy, metals and petrochemicals information. London, 30 January 2012 “….BRICs [Brazil, Russia, India and China] + South Korea China has dominated new nuclear plant orders in the past few years, accounting for 25 out of the 38 reactors on which construction started worldwide between 2008-2010. Six of these units were for Gen III+ designs, four AP1000s and two EPRs. Almost all the others used a design imported from France in the 1980s, which in turn had been licensed from Westinghouse in the early 1970s. This design, the CPR1000, is showing its age and there was an expectation, even before Fukushima, that the AP1000 would replace it. This would have been a huge boost to the AP1000, giving it the volume of orders that might have allowed costs to come down and for teething problems to be solved. The EPR, by contrast, appears to have no prospect of further orders in China.
However, there were signs that the strain of the rapid pace of construction was beginning to show. In 2011, no new starts were made, compared with ten in 2010. Fukusima explains this to a degree, but some might have been expected in the first three months of 2011 before disaster struck. The reason behind the slowdown is the high cost of the AP1000. The large Chinese utilities appear to be looking at other options.
There is now talk of pursuing indigenous advanced designs developed from the CPR1000 as well as Small Modular Reactors. China has always been adept at convincing nuclear suppliers that there was a great future for their particular technology in China.
It is unclear whether talk of SMRs and new advanced designs will go any further. Continue reading
Church leaders head anti nuclear protest in Kudankulam
Kudankulam: Anti-nuclear forum stages protest Tirunelveli: IBN Tamil, Nadu, Live 27 Jan 12, An anti-nuclear forum spearheading the stir against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant on Thursday staged a demonstration in a coastal village near the site in protest against moves to get it commissioned.
Organisers of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy said PMANE activists staged the demonstration at Chettikulam after coming in a procession from Perumanalpuram.
Both villages are about five km from the KNPP site.PMANE convenor SP Udayakumar and heads of various churches led the protestors.
The commissioning of the plant was earlier slated in December 2011, but has been delayed after protests by locals, who have been agitating since September last, demanding scrapping of the Indo-Russian project, citing safety concerns following the Fukushima disaster.
The previous three rounds of talks between the Central experts committee and Tamil Nadu Government panel set up to break the impasse over the project, held on November 7, 18 and
December 15 last year failed to make any headway towards commissioning of the first unit as locals were not satisfied with the replies given by the expert group to their queries.
The fourth round meeting between the committee and panel is planned to be held on January
31.http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kudankulam-antinuclear-forum-stages-protest/224546-62-128.html
Renewable energy development for Karnataka, India
Renewable energy potential 28GW+ in Karnataka, Construction Week online India, Jan 24, 2012 Karnataka’s renewable energy potential is more than 28 GW, says Pune based World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE). Karnataka is one of the pioneers where states in India are concerned to draft an RE Policy for the state for the period of 2009-14.
The policy envisions a generation of 6600 MW of renewable electricity by 2014 and about Rs.23,890 crore of investments during the said period. Studies by the World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE), Pune, suggest that Karnataka has much more RE potential
than envisaged, which is more than 24 GW, out of which currently, only 3.45 GW has been tapped so far (as on Nov 2011). This includes 1929 MW of wind, 86 MW of biomass, 782 MW of bagasse cogen, 646 MW of small hydro, and 9 MW of solar. Wind offers the maximum potential with an untapped potential of 11 GW. Obviously the huge untapped potential also creates a huge investment opportunity…..
http://www.constructionweekonline.in/article-7672-renewable_energy_potential_28gw_in_karnataka/
Economic growth for India through renewable energy
Renewable energy holds key to growth, says Sheila, Times of India, TNN | Jan 21, 2012, NEW DELHI: Chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday unveiled the first Renewal Energy Assisted Pump (REAP) system at a function in Mayur Vihar. Developed by discom BSES Yamuna in collaboration with IIT Delhi, the REAP system is an easy-to-install submersible pump connected to a water tank, with a specially designed motor powered by a solar panel.
Officials said REAP would meet water storage and pumping needs in both rural and urban India by harnessing renewable energy sources. “It will help in combating global warming and other environmental issues. In addition to reducing dependence on fossil fuels, it will help BYPL manage the electricity demand better,” said an official.
The first REAP system was installed at a plot owned by the All India Panchayat Parishad (AIPS) in Mayur Vihar. Dikshit said the REAP technology would reduce consumption of power during morning peak hours, when most people switch on their pumps to get water as well as store it. “The technology will also prove useful in agriculture, hospitals, schools, hotels, restaurants, malls and group housing societies,” said a government official. The solar panel will be connected to a pump, which will draw ground water and store it in an overhead tank. The REAP has a capacity to draw 30,000l of water per hour. The CM said generation of power with coal and gas is not a viable solution as these resources are getting depleted. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Renewable-energy-holds-key-to-growth-says-Sheila/articleshow/11573708.cms
Solar energy investment looking up in India
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