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N-fears set off debate in India
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, March 15
The Indian nuclear establishment is gearing up to take on the opponents of atomic power plants following the suspected partial meltdown of reactors at Fukushima in Japan.

With the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation all set to kick off India's tryst with large-scale atomic power, under the Indo-US nuclear agreement, scientists from the body have begun to aggressively woo elected representatives. In this connection, Anil Kakodkar former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission held a PowerPoint presentation for Maharashtra’s MLAs at the secretariat.

“Other options to generate electricity are not enough for our needs....If we don’t use nuclear power, we will have to import coal in the future. We need a dialogue on nuclear contributions,” Kakodkar said in his presentation.

He noted that India currently generates 800 MW of nuclear power. Contrasting the situation between India and Japan, Kakodkar said the dangers of earthquakes were lower here. “After the Bhuj quake, the Kakrapar plant was functioning,” he said. Kakodkar further added that the technology used to build reactors was still evolving and would get better with time.

However, environmental groups and activists have renewed their opposition to India’s large-scale adoption of nuclear power following the mishap in Japan. “The disaster in Japan only shows that a nuclear power is inherently dangerous,” says Karuna Raina, a Greenpeace activist.

The mishap has, however, caused Indian nuclear scientists to take a fresh look at safety measures at nuclear plants. Officials at the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board say they are in touch with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is monitoring the situation in Japan. But they insist that India’s nuclear plants were safe. According to SK Malhotra, who heads the public awareness division of the Department of Atomic Energy, nuclear plants shut down automatically during a crisis. “During the 2004 tsunami, the Kalpakkam reactor shut down on its own,” says Malhotra.

Meanwhile, the Opposition is mounting pressure against the proposed nuclear power complex at Jaitapur in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district.