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Blockade by protestors delays Kudankulam nuclear plant

Commissioning of India Kudankulam nuclear plant delayed BBC News, 10 Nov 11 Commissioning of a controversial planned nuclear plant in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has been delayed by a few months, officials have told the BBC. Kudankulam plant Chief Superintendent MK Balaji said that the delay was due to public protests at the site which had disrupted building work.

He said that the site had been subjected to a total blockade by protesters since 13 October. Protesters say the facility is unsafe and in an earthquake area. They fear a repeat of the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant…. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15684591

November 11, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

India’s nuclear propagandist, Abdul Kalam is a fake

 From our Antinuclear correspondent in India, 9 Nov 11  I was reading Kalam’s report on how Koodankalam was safe and why nuclear is the future for India when I had a suspicion about his educational background. All his rantings seemed very unscientific to me so I did some research and found out that HE IS A TOTAL FAKE! He has only a degree (bachelor’s in science) BSc and the prefix Dr. has been conveniently been added by him in front of his name to promote himself as a doctor of science. In fact he has not received even an honorary doctorate degree from any institution or group as they sometimes arbitrarily give someone a doctorate even if they have just a fifth standard education in India (as in the case of Kurananidhi, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu who according to a report in Facebook apparently  has stashed away 3500 crores of indian rupees in Swiss Banks (an astounding amount).
 Abdul Kalam and  his missile tests were actually a botched job covered up by the BJP govt to save their face. Kalam is probably under threat that he will be revealed if he takes a anti nuke stand on Koodankalam so I’m sure if We bring the truth out about him and make it public, this would help the Koodankalam movement a great deal.
What is so sacrosanct about A.P.J. Abdul Kalam?’
ARVIND SWAMINATHAN writes from Madras: The larger-than-life, conversation-stopping image of the former President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is the fruit of assiduous self-promotion, audacious political opportunism and pumped-up nationalism, combined with the gee-whiz ignorance of an uncritical media.
# A missile technologist who is routinely confused for a “nuclear physicist”.
# A scientist without a formal PhD—who was turned away from the Indian Institute of
Science (IISc) because he didn’t have the “requisite scientific credentials”—who happily uses
the appendage “Dr”. Continue reading

November 10, 2011 Posted by | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties | 8 Comments

Kudankulam nuclear power plant good for the rich, and Russia, not for the poor

The nuclear debate Electricity for whom? Deccan Herald Bharat Jhunjhunwala, 10 Nov 11
Diversion of just 2 per cent of present power generation can meet the needs of all of India’s unelectrified households.
Local people are opposing construction of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu. People of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra are opposing the Jaitapur nuclear plant. Mamata Banerjee has scrapped the proposed nuclear power plant in Purba Medhinipur. Continue reading

November 10, 2011 Posted by | India, politics | Leave a comment

Strength and determination of India’s anti nuclear movement

Protests galore expected in Kudankulam  IBN Tamil Nadu |  Nov 10, 2011   Press Trust of India ChennaiExtending support to locals agitating against Kudankulam Nuclear Power project, about 100 anti-nuclear activists will embark on a yatra from Madurai to the site on Thursday.

The activists, under the aegis of Chennai Solidarity Group for Kudankulam Struggle would start their journey from Madurai on November 10 and stop at towns and villages en route to Kudankulam to explain “the terrible environmental and health effects of nuclear energy.”

At Kudankulam, they would conduct a national seminar titled “National Conference on Safety issues at Nuclear installations in India.” The Yatra will culminate in Chennai on November 13, where a seminar for students would also be held. There are also plans to hold a photo-exhibition, depicting the horrors of nuclear energy, a press release from the group said.

The yatra has been organised by National Alliance of Anti-Nuclear Movements. Some of those attending the yatra are nuclear physicist Suvrat Raju, Prof Banwarilal Sharma, mathematician and former president of the International Congress of Mathematics and Thomas Kochery of National Fishworkers Forum, it said. (Watch CNN-IBN live on your iPad. IBN7 and IBN Lokmat too. Download the IBNLive for iPad app. It’s free. Click here to download nowhttp://ibnlive.in.com/news/tn-protests-galore-expected-in-kudankulam/200859-62-128.html

November 10, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Christian Bishop backs Kudankulam anti nuclear struggle

Tuticorin Bishop clarifies stand on Kudankulam nuclear plant row Christian Today, By: George Anthony, 10 November 2011, Rumours that the Church had distanced itself from the people’s movement against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu are just imaginary. The Bishop of the Tuticorin Diocese has affirmed that the Church backed the locals in the struggle….

The Bishop, however, clarified to media that the Church was in solidarity and is continuing to create awareness to warn the people about the environmental and health effects of nuclear energy.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Bishop said he was with the people “morally and spiritually”. “As per the Catholic Church’s teachings and the Tamil Nadu Bishop Council’s resolution, I continue to show my solidarity with my people who are under great fear and anxiety concerning the Kudankulam Nuclear Plant,” he said.
http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/tuticorin-bishop-clarifies-stand-on-kudankulam-nuclear-plant-row/6810.htm

November 10, 2011 Posted by | India, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Nuclear crisis as Indian villagers reject bribes

N-plant crisis: Villagers reject Kalam’s proposalsHindustan Times 8 Nov In a major setback to the central government, which is trying to resolve the Kudankulam nuclear plant crisis, villagers protesting against the plant have dismissed former president APJ Abdul Kalam’s endorsement of the project. They have also refused to accept Kalam’s proposals on the development of Kudankulam and neighbouring areas.

The former president had visited the project site in Tirunelveli district on Sunday. Kalam had also come up with a 10-point development plan, which includes building of four-lane highways, houses, schools, hospitals as well as cold storages, in Kudankulam and surrounding areas.

“If anyone thinks that he or she can bribe the villagers like this, they are sadly mistaken,” said anti-nuclear activist SP Udayakumar on Monday.

Villagers who had been on a relay hunger strike for weeks at Idinthakkari village, continued their protest on Monday.

They said Kalam was speaking for the government. “Is Kalam a president, PM or a minister to come out with a plan? Whose sanction has he got to make such recommendations?” questioned a protester.”The plan does sound great. But why a 500 bed hospital? Do they think that so many people will fall ill,” asked a villager. http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/TamilNadu/N-plant-crisis-Villagers-reject-Kalam-s-proposals/Article1-765800.aspx

November 8, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Call for better “marketing” of nuclear power

Market N-technology properly: Kalam to scientists IBN Live, 8 Nov New Delhi: “Market nuclear technology properly.” This was the brief message former President APJ Abdul Kalam had for nuclear scientists.

“Today the nuclear technologists are all doing
great work for the world, but it is essential for the services of nuclear science and its future prospects to be marketed as the only
continuously available clean energy source,” he told an international conference.

Kalam’s message comes in the backdrop of protests over the Kudankulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu following concerns over safety and environmental issues.

The Department of Atomic Energy had admitted that it had not succeeded in reaching out to the locals on the safety aspects of the Kudankulam nuclear project…http://ibnlive.in.com/news/market-nuclear-technology-properly-kalam/200165-3.html

November 8, 2011 Posted by | India, marketing | Leave a comment

Kudankulam activists withstand pressure to drop their anti nuclear protest

the activists have also alleged that a person who was in no way connected with the ongoing protests was included in the expert panel formed by the state government to represent the protestors. PMANE had suggested M Pushparayan, convener of Coastal People’s Federation and M P Jesuraj as members of the panel. But Udayakumar alleged that another person was inducted into the panel as people’s representative

Safety of nuclear plant ‘old wine in new bottle’ : Activists – Times of India TNN | Nov 7, 2011, KUDANKULAM : Activists protesting against thenuclear plant at Kudankulam brushed aside the justifications by former president Abdul Kalam on the safety of the nuclear plant and termed them as ‘old wine in a new bottle.’ They also and stated that they would not hold talks with him.

Protestors also maintained that their agitation against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) would continue till the plant is shut down. Continue reading

November 8, 2011 Posted by | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

India’s Kudankulam nuclear project halted

Work halts at Kudankulam, The Hindu, T. S. SUBRAMANIAN 4 Nov 11,Personnel unable to enter plant: AEC chairman Work at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in Tamil Nadu has “halted” because the plant personnel are “unable to go inside” and this situation has arisen “when we need several thousands of people to work inside during the last phase of work” of commissioning of the first reactor there, said Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission. Continue reading

November 4, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, India | 2 Comments

India’s top nuclear scientist wants a stop to nuclear power programme

India does not need nuclear energy: Top scientist, Nov 3, 2011,  By Kumar Chellappan   Chennai   DNA One of the pioneer nuclear scientists in the country says that India can very well suspend its entire nuclear programme. “It is true that we have spent thousands of croresof rupees to set up nuclear power plants. But we will be forced to spend thousand times more than that in the eventuality of a nuclear disaster,” said Dr MP Parameswaran, former scientist of the Atomic Energy Commission. Continue reading

November 4, 2011 Posted by | India, politics | Leave a comment

Indian government’s nuclear plans fraught with problems

The anti-nuclear lobby has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), while protests are on the rise at Jaitapur in Maharashtra, a new site for a large reactor project, which got the approval for work to begin.

In Kudankulam, protests have been getting bigger. The Chief Minister, Ms J. Jayalalithaa herself wrote to the PM, 

 There is also the question of ageing of the existing reactors. 

Daunting road ahead for nuclear power, THE HINDU, M. SOMASEKHAR, 2 Nov 11 The Department of Atomic Energy is bullish on the power programme, but achieving the target of 20,000 MW by 2020 is plagued by resource crunch, technology issues and environmental problems. Continue reading

November 3, 2011 Posted by | India, politics | Leave a comment

USA companies want to sell nuclear to India, but not be liable for accidents

The crux of the issue is: Who will be held responsible in case there is an accident at a plant that is set up by foreign investors?

US may press India to amend nuclear legislation, Business Standard   New Delhi November 02, 2011,  Friendly, but blunt. That will be the tone of the message from the
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to India.

When NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko comes here later this month to meet with his counterparts in the Atomic Energy Commission and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, he would say that this country’s civil nuclear liability law would not pass muster in the US. For, as sourcesnote, it would require to be substantially amended if New Delhi hopes to get business from the US.
The US has discussed the law — The Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010 — with France and Russia. These are the other two countries with whom India wants to do business in nuclear power…. Continue reading

November 2, 2011 Posted by | India, politics international, USA | 1 Comment

India’s uranium enrichment plant at risk from cyber attack?

Uranium plant faces cyber attack, Deccan Chronicle November 2, 2011 , By S. Raghotham , Bengaluru India’s lone uranium enrichment facility at Rattehalli, near Mysore, may become the target of the gravest act of cyberwar against India to date, attacking no less than its strategic nuclear programme, sources in the Indian hacker/cyberwarfare community have warned.The sources said that computers at the Rattehalli facility, euphemistically called Rare Materials Plant (RMP), have likely been infected by the deadly Stuxnet, or a Stuxnet-derived malware, as a precursor to an attack to destroy thousands of centrifuges installed at the facility. Such an attack was made on Iran’s Natanz enrichment plant last year, destroying over 1,000 centrifuges and setting its alleged nuclear bomb programme back by at least 12-18 months…..

The discovery last week that the new Duqu malware, a trojan derived from the Stuxnet worm, had infected computers at a private Web hosting firm, Web Werks, in Mumbai, has lent new credence and urgency to the warning about the Rattehalli facility. While attempts to elicit the views of officials in the Department of Atomic Energy went unanswered, an Indian government official charged with protecting critical infrastructure against cyber attacks said he did not ‘rule out Stuxnet-like attacks on India’. http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/bengaluru/uranium-plant-faces-cyber-attack-157

 

November 2, 2011 Posted by | India, safety, Uranium | Leave a comment

Anti nuclear fasting continues in Koodankulam

Tamil Nadu Koodankulam relay fast continues IBN Live, 1 Nov 11, CHENNAI: The protest fast against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) continued for the 14th day Monday in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, an activist said.

“Around 400 people from Thomaiarpuram, Idinthakarai and Kudankulam participated in the fast,” S. Sivasubramanian, coordinator of the People’s Rights Movement, an organisation fighting for the plant’s closure, told IANS.

India’s nuclear power plant operator NPCIL is building two 1,000 MW nuclear power reactors with Russian technology and equipment in Koodankulam, around 650 km from here. The first unit is expected to go on stream in December. The project is estimated to cost around Rs.13,000 crore…. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/tn-koodankulam-relay-fast-continues/197977-60-118.html

November 1, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

India and Japan planning a deal on rare earths

Japan, India to jointly develop rare earths, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 31 Oct 11 Japan and India agreed Saturday to promote at the private level joint development of rare earths, which are indispensable for automobiles and information technology products.

Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and Indian Foreign Minister Shri S.M. Krishna also agreed to step up negotiations toward conclusion of an India-Japan nuclear agreement during a meeting at the Foreign Ministry’s Iikura Guest House in Minato Ward, Tokyo, according to officials.

In addition, they agreed to enhance cooperation in security policies by carrying out joint exercises by the Maritime Self-Defense Force and Indian Navy and in other ways, they said.

The exercises are likely to focus on ensuring the safety of sea-lanes in the Indian Ocean, observers said…..   India, which has nuclear weapons but does not participate in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, is cautious about Japan’s stance in promoting nuclear arms reduction and nonproliferation through conclusion of a bilateral nuclear pact.

Japan wants to hold negotiations with India on the export of nuclear technologies and nuclear-related equipment, but it may be some time before an agreement is reached, the observers said… http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111029002574.htm

October 31, 2011 Posted by | India, Japan, politics international, Uranium | Leave a comment