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“problems”, including damage to the reactor's switchyards, burst pipes, fires, radioactive leakages into the atmosphere and into the Sea of Japan, and the toppling of hundreds of drums of low-level radioactive wastes. Even more serious is the possibility that an earthquake can cause totally unexpected failures. In the case of the KKNPS accident, underground electric cables were pulled down by ground subsidence, creating a large opening in the outer wall of the reactor's basement – a "radiation- controlled area" that must be completely shut off from the outside. According to a plant official, “It was beyond our imagination that a space could be made in the hole on the outer wall for the electric cables.” dxcvii The Jaitapur region has the possibility of suffering an earthquake even more intense than the one that stuck the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station. Considering this danger, constructing such a large number of high capacity reactors in this area is inviting disaster. No Waste Disposal, Decommissioning Plan So far as the long-term storage of radioactive waste is concerned, the EIA says: “The radioactive waste depending upon the activity levels are buried in secured earth trenches, in steel containers which are immobilized in secured concrete vault. The solid waste disposal site is fenced, secured and designed to store waste for sufficiently long time of the order of 100 years.” dxcviii That is, the EIA admits that the plant waste storage system is designed to safely store the waste for only 100 years, which, according to it, is a ‘sufficiently long time’! What happens after that? For, the waste is going to remain radioactive for 2.5 lakh years!! Well, India’s environmental planners are just not worried, why worry about our coming generations, we’ll not be there, they can look after themselves. The EIA report does not have a decommissioning plan too. It has left this to the future: “At the end of the operating life of the operating units, which would be around 60 years for EPR-type NPPs proposed to be established at Jaitapur site, a detailed decommissioning plan will be worked out.” No new nuclear plant can be built in Europe or the US without such a plan. dxcix And yet, the MoEF granted environmental approval to the Jaitapur plant! Fig Leaf: 35 Conditions To be more precise, the Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh gave environmental clearance to the project with 35 conditions attached, of which there are 23 specific conditions and 12 general conditions. dc Much has been made of these conditions, giving the impression that they would take care of the environmental hazards that may be caused by the plant. Let us examine these. Take the general conditions. They are actually sanctimonious platitudes. Condition 1 reads: “The sand for construction purpose shall be obtained only from the approved quarries.” Condition 6 says: “The installation and operation of DG (Diesel Generator) sets shall comply with notified 144
guidelines.” It’s unbelievable – the MoEF means to say that all other equipment can violate notified guidelines!. Now, for the specific conditions. Some of them are plain stupid. For instance, condition 12 reads: “During construction of the township and other buildings, it shall be ensured that the buildings confirm to the energy efficiency, water utilization efficiency, as well as the GREHA norms.” Probably Mr. Ramesh is also holding the PWD portfolio, and has got confused with his multiple responsibilities. Most of the specific conditions are actually what the EIA should have tried to prove. Condition 13 reads: “It shall be ensured that the temperature differential of the discharged water with respect to the receiving water does not exceed 5°C at any given point of time.” Condition 14 says: “Appropriate safeguard measures shall be taken to ensure that the biodiversities in the sea adjoining Ambolgad are not affected adversely due to the project.” Condition 18 stipulates: “The radioactive dose apportionment from each unit shall be as per the limits prescribed by the AERB.” And so on... It was the job of the EIA to assess whether the temperature of the discharged water would exceed 5°C or not, whether the biodiversity of the area would be adversely affected or not, whether the radioactive leakages would be within the AERB limits or not, and so on. The EIA has not done any of these assessments! The EIA should have been scrapped, the environmental clearance withheld, and a fresh EIA ordered. Instead, the MoEF gives environmental clearance to the plant, and expresses the pious hope that the plant would fulfill these ‘conditions’. Condition 2 states: “The following additional details shall be submitted within 12 months: A comprehensive biodiversity plan shall be prepared for Jaitapur ...; a special plan will be made to put in place adequate safeguard measures to ensure that the fisheries in the sea adjoining Ambolgarh are not affected adversely due to the project...; etc. etc” Actually, only after completion of these studies and development of these plans should the environmental clearance have been given. Instead, again the pious hope is expressed that these plans would be drafted in a year’s time. Actually, while giving environmental clearance for the project, the Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh himself stated the real reason for granting the approval: “On the one hand there have been many issues raised on the preservation of marine biodiversity, an area in which India has been very weak. But at the same time there are weighty strategic and economic reasons in favour of the grant of environmental clearance now.” dci Or rather, despite the adverse environmental impact, it was “weighty strategic and economic” reasons because of which the project was given the clearance! The irresponsible DAE! Let us for a moment keep aside our main argument that nuclear power is deathly, it cannot be the solution to our energy problems, construction of all nuclear plants should be stopped immediately, and all plans to build new nuclear plants should be scrapped. Let us for the moment accept the government of India argument that the country needs nuclear power as a solution to our 145
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NUCLEAR ENERGY Technology From Hell
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Introduction Part I: Government Pla
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yet to find solution to the problem
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Mithivirdi: A powerful movement of
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eing proposed to be set up in the c
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nuclear power plant accident, in ou
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was subsequently endorsed by the he
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Atoms are so small that they can’
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called enriched uranium. [Note that
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of a nuclear power reactor. A typic
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Coolant: A liquid or gas circulatin
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Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor Hea
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Is Nuclear Energy Safe? Chapter 3 A
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iii. Gamma radiation: This is akin
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haematopoietic system). Radiation c
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Part III: Radiation Emission in Nuc
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The radioactivity from the tailing
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power plant contains an amount of l
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Tritium is a particularly scary mat
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Plutonium cxi Named after Pluto, th
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Firstly, reprocessing does not redu
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sports and fishing were also banned
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detail the impact of these 'once th
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We today know for a fact that the n
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Till 2005, there were at least 10,0
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The report mentions 16 “events”
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In an article published in The Nati
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Even asssuming that there will not
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fossil fuels. It has now come up wi
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Opinion of Credit Ratings Agencies
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it acknowledged that the expected c
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plant owners to use much more of th
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was the Vice-President of the USA):
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6. Blithely Ignoring Health Costs S
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Is Nuclear Power Green? Chapter 5 S
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Energy Balance attempts to make an
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nuclear energy as compared to elect
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Table 1: Estimates of Total and Nuc
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� At the end of 2009, there were
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Therefore, despite all the optimism
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1. Reviewing the Nuclear Renaissanc
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certification also runs out in 2012
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nuclear phase-out plans which are n
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lower house (Bundestag) to pass a b
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UK and French nuclear safety author
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The second and more important reaso
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Page 95 and 96: Pre-Independence Period India’s N
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Page 103 and 104: Background Part III: US-India Agree
Page 105 and 106: 2. New Reactors Even before the Ind
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Page 115 and 116: India’s Nuclear Installations: Sa
Page 117 and 118: extremely sensitive material used i
Page 119 and 120: area due to uranium mining. cdlxxxi
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Page 125 and 126: the AEC has not instituted an award
Page 127 and 128: The biggest deficiency in the Rajas
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Page 131 and 132: Fires have also occurred repeatedly
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Page 135 and 136: can't catch anything else, and ther
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Page 141 and 142: are going to be correspondingly hig
Page 143: governing the computers and systems
Page 147 and 148: The Sustainable Alternative to Nucl
Page 149 and 150: especially bad in the rural areas,
Page 151 and 152: of the human body. In particular, t
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Page 157 and 158: such absolutely non-essential uses?
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Page 161 and 162: Solar water heaters are a very simp
Page 163 and 164: Renewable Energies: Poised for a Le
Page 165 and 166: (iii) Small Hydro Power The governm
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Page 171 and 172: anticipating a change in NSG rules,
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Page 179 and 180: analyse. We must develop our politi
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Page 185 and 186: cliii The IAEA maintains an interna
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cdlxix Dhirendra Sharma, India’s
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dxxxviii “Nuclear power in India
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dxciii M. V. Ramana, ibid. dxciv Mu
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dclix Union of Concerned Scientists
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