NEW DELHI: An amber light is flashing on the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power plant with the project expected to proceed only after apprehensions raised by the Japanese tsunami in the public mind have been thoroughly assuaged.
The widely televised and reported struggle of Japan's nuclear establishment in containing overheating nuclear cores at the Fukushima power plant have rung alarm bells in India with environment minister Jairam Ramesh calling for more reviews and the Maharashtra government striking a cautious note as well.
Official sources said the state government is keen that the plant's detractors do not gain the upper hand and give political traction to opposition to the Jaitapur project. It is felt that the project will move forward only after the dust raised by Japan's nuclear crisis settles.
India's nuclear establishment, including former atomic bosses, argue that the elevation of 25 metres at Jaitapur makes the site safe even if a 7-metre tsunami like the one that hit north Japan were to occur. It is also said the probability of a tsunami off India's west coast is minuscule. (Read: Reactors in India four times safer, says Russia)
Nuclear experts also say that the failure to cool the core of the reactors – the reason for the crisis at Fukushima – will not happen at Indian plants where safeguards have factored in such situations. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also ordered a thorough review. (Read: Safety review begins at Kalpakkam)
But images of the radiation laden steam clouds arising from four tsunami-struck nuclear reactors in Japan have made the political leadership wary of the costs of a disaster. Jaitapur is in a seismically active zone and the effects of a massive quake are not predictable. A swift cost-benefit analysis indicates a wait and watch approach.
It will be left to the nuclear agencies to respond to popular fears as well as scientific data put out by activists before the state government takes the next step. Local queries on why the plant was not being moved to constituencies represented by political bigwigs if it was such a boon are harder to answer while forceful measures will be avoided.
toi
The widely televised and reported struggle of Japan's nuclear establishment in containing overheating nuclear cores at the Fukushima power plant have rung alarm bells in India with environment minister Jairam Ramesh calling for more reviews and the Maharashtra government striking a cautious note as well.
Official sources said the state government is keen that the plant's detractors do not gain the upper hand and give political traction to opposition to the Jaitapur project. It is felt that the project will move forward only after the dust raised by Japan's nuclear crisis settles.
India's nuclear establishment, including former atomic bosses, argue that the elevation of 25 metres at Jaitapur makes the site safe even if a 7-metre tsunami like the one that hit north Japan were to occur. It is also said the probability of a tsunami off India's west coast is minuscule. (Read: Reactors in India four times safer, says Russia)
Nuclear experts also say that the failure to cool the core of the reactors – the reason for the crisis at Fukushima – will not happen at Indian plants where safeguards have factored in such situations. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also ordered a thorough review. (Read: Safety review begins at Kalpakkam)
But images of the radiation laden steam clouds arising from four tsunami-struck nuclear reactors in Japan have made the political leadership wary of the costs of a disaster. Jaitapur is in a seismically active zone and the effects of a massive quake are not predictable. A swift cost-benefit analysis indicates a wait and watch approach.
It will be left to the nuclear agencies to respond to popular fears as well as scientific data put out by activists before the state government takes the next step. Local queries on why the plant was not being moved to constituencies represented by political bigwigs if it was such a boon are harder to answer while forceful measures will be avoided.
toi
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