Cancer in India’s nuclear workers – the other side of nuclear power’s rosy picture

http://nuclear-news.net/2012/02/29/cancer-in-indias-nuclear-workers-the-other-side-of-nuclear-powers-rosy-picture/

Cancer in India's nuclear workers – the other side of nuclear power's
rosy picture

After being in denial for years, last month the selfsame Department of
Atomic Energy for the first time admitted that the deaths of its
employees and their dependents at the Kalpakkam nuclear site were
caused by multiple myeloma, a rare form of bone marrow cancer linked
to nuclear radiation.

Not that the DAE willingly divulged the information – it came to light
in response to a Right to Information (RTI) inquiry from October 2011,
… one can only wonder what other reports the DAE is sitting on

The Darker Reality of India's Nuclear Power Goals, By John Daly
Oilprice.com  26 February 2012 India is betting heavily on nuclear
power to meet its surging energy needs. While India currently has six
nuclear power plants (NPPs) with 20 reactors generating 4,780
megawatts, seven other reactors are under construction and are
expected to generate an additional 5,300 megawatts.

This current rate of nuclear power generation pales into
insignificance with New Delhi's future plans,as on 22 February Power
Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told a seminar at the India International
Nuclear Symposium, "India plans to have a total installed nuclear
capacity of 63,000 megawatts by the year 2032, using both indigenous
technology and imported reactors. Nuclear technology has several
distinct advantages – it is compact and highly manageable in terms of
handling, transportation and storage of the fuel. Thermal technologies
have the problems of greenhouse gas emissions, fly-ash and handling,
transportation, storage problems of large quantities of fuel as well
as availability of coal." As for worries about the hazards of nuclear
power generation, earlier this month Atomic Energy Commission Chairman
Srikumar Banerjee told a gathering at the Department of Atomic
Energy's Raja Ramanna Center for Advanced Technology in Indore, "All
atomic energy plants in the country are totally secured as per
international standards and are also capable of dealing with natural
calamities like tsunamis or earthquakes."

But amidst the bland assurances lurks a darker reality.

After being in denial for years, last month the selfsame Department of
Atomic Energy for the first time admitted that the deaths of its
employees and their dependents at the Kalpakkam nuclear site were
caused by multiple myeloma, a rare form of bone marrow cancer linked
to nuclear radiation.

Not that the DAE willingly divulged the information – it came to light
in response to a Right to Information (RTI) inquiry from October 2011,
with the DAE acknowledging that nine people, including three employees
working at the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) at Kalpakkam, 44
miles from Chennai, died of multiple myeloma and bone cancer between
1995 and 2011. The DAE had previously stonewalled all previous
requests for information.
The report paints a troubling picture of the policies at the DAE,
which sends out high-ranking officials with bland assurances for the
public about the nation's NPPs while privately compiling reports about
their health effects, concerns that can only grow as New Delhi presses
forward with its nuclear program. Furthermore, the statements that
Indian NPPs can withstand earthquakes and tsunamis, made in a country
vulnerable to both, smacks of more than a little hubris, as Tokyo
Electric and Power Co. made similar pronouncements before the 11 March
2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed its Fukushima Daichi nuclear
power complex.
…… Opposition to India's nuclear power program is growing, most
notably at Kudankulam. Accordingly, given the projected scope of
India's proposed nuclear future, the country may well prove to be
either the salvation or graveyard of nuclear power worldwide.

And one can only wonder what other reports the DAE is sitting on.
While no doubt all Indians without electricity would like a light
bulb, is appeal is considerably diminished if its hanging over one's
hospital bed years from now as one slowly expires from
radiation-induced cancer.

Accordingly, the fishermen protesting the Kudankulam NPP could be
doing their fellow countrymen a greater service than they currently
realize.

http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/The-Darker-Reality-of-Indias-Nuclear-Power-Sector.html