A Viable Alternative at Koodankulam

Anuj Wankhede

Anuj is a Masters in Management Studies, an avid environmentalist who believes that bigger the problem, bigger the opportunity.

He can be reached at benchmark.anuj (at)gmail.com and 9757475875

The Koodankulam nuclear power project (KNPP) has become the face of the anti nuclear movement of not only India but of the whole world.

The operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) has steadfastly refused to budge from its stand and continued to withhold vital site, safety and environmental details which lead many to believe that the government is trying to hide critical and embarrassing dangerous information especially related to reactor design which is believed to have compromised due to last minute changes.

Be that as it may, the NPCIL (government owned, funded and controlled) has set up the plant under almost military style security. It claims that all safety drills have been completed (disputed and proven incorrect) and is ready to load fuel rods to commence operation within months – if not weeks.

In the face of such advanced preparations for the first reactor to commence, the government excuse is that thousands of crores have already been invested in the project and not commissioning the reactor will mean a national waste. That argument in itself is quite absurd when one compares the figures for the alleged 2G or Coal scams which run into several hundred thousand crores.

But this money need not be considered a waste or be written off. It would be extremely interesting to see what can be done for resolving the issue amicably and with minimum waste.

The KNPP is not the first instance of nuclear projects stalled because of resentment from the local populace. The US has witnessed this in the famous Shoreham reactor which was run for ONE DAY before closing down. The William H. Zimmer nuclear powerplant in Ohio was converted to fuel combustion when it was 97% completed. The Midland Cogeneration Facility at Michigan and at Seabrooke, New Hampshire which were abandoned at very advanced stages of over 85% completion for reasons varying from delays, cost over runs, technical and anti nuclear sentiments – sometimes a combination of all these ensured the not one unit of nuclear power was produced.