MEGA FAILURE Koodankulam group evades questions

http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=392221&catid=38

*THE STATESMAN *

*05 December 2011*

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*Editorial*

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*MEGA FAILURE
**Koodankulam group evades questions*


THE Experts Group on Koodankulam constituted by the Centre to allay fears
of the Tamil Nadu government and the People's Movement Against Nuclear
Energy has proved to be a mega failure. Its 39-page report evades critical
questions to which people want answers. Some members of the Central group
hinted at the competence of people to ask such questions and even doubted
their motives for seeking answers. The report is flawed as it is premised
on obsolete demographic data and is evasive on the risks from sub-volcanic
activity near the site. Lava rocks are found at Abhishekapati, just north
of Koodankulam, of the kind that prompted the US government to abandon the
Yucca Mountain site for nuclear waste storage for fear of its structural
integrity. The Koodankulam site is also prone to mega tsunamis arising out
of the presence of the East Comorin slump and the Colombo slump,
agglomeration of loosely bound sediments that could trigger tsumanis in the
Gulf of Mannar. The 2004 tsunami produced waves that covered the 133 ft.
tall Valluvar statue off the Kanyakumari coast.


  The Experts Group's report only confirmed the worst fears of the people
that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India had cut corners, compromised on
safety and failed to perform statutory due diligence in implementing the
project. The report claimed environmental impact assessment and CRZ
clearances were obtained in 1989 when such norms did not exist. On meeting
the cost of decommissioning the plant after its expected life-span of three
to four decades, the report says 2 paise per unit would be charged on the
sale of energy which adds up to Rs.640 crore only. The estimated cost of
decommissioning the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan is Rs.100,000
crore.


The experts were of the opinion nuclear liability was beyond their purview.
For the people of Tamil Nadu, Russian liability is very much relevant to
the Koodankulam plant. Clause 13 of the agreement that the governments of
India and Russia signed in 2008 states that the Russian government would
not be liable for any accident at the Koodankulam site. Having put foreign
interests above those of citizens, New Delhi has not shared terms of the
2008 agreement with the public or Press. Nuclear liability, for which rules
have just been framed, takes away rights of victims to approach courts of
law against the supplier. This right remains with the government which
often seems more concerned with appeasing the foreign supplier. In the
Bhopal case, the government arrogated to itself the right to represent all
victims and let Union Carbide off the hook.


Though there is no emergency in the country, the Centre has successfully
used its might to browbeat the media, to ensure that activities of people
opposed to the Koodankulam plant are not reported. How many people in the
country are aware that more than 3,000 activists of PMANE, including its
leader Dr. SP Udayakumar, have been charged with waging war against the
country and sedition?

In a sermon to media persons after taking over as chairman of the Press
Council of India, Justice Markandaya Katju, said: "One of the basic tasks
of the media is to provide truthful and objective information to the people
to enable them form rational opinions, which is a sine qua non in a
democracy." Will the learned judge censure those who have reined in the
media from discharging its legitimate duty?



--
Peace Is Doable