Ever since a guy named Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi walked on Indian soil, protesting has been the way of life here. While Gandhi protested against the British, we protest against everything. To give you an example, when the Mumbai police recently cracked down on auto guys with tampered meters, THERE WAS A PROTEST AND A STRIKE!
I don’t think there can be a more ridiculous protest than that. Or at least I thought, till the Kudankulam protest came along.
Honestly, I tried really hard to contemplate the reasons for this protest. But the more I think about it, more I feel there is something majorly wrong.
For starters
5. WHY PROTEST AGAINST A POWER PLANT, WHEN TAMIL NADU IS A WOEFULLY POWER DEFICIENT STATE.
Tamil Nadu, as a state, has never been flush with electricity. During my engineering days, my University was subjected to a daily power-cut of two-three hours. That too, bang in the middle of the blazing afternoon. I used to wonder sometimes, whether this was a cunning plan by the Electricity board to ensure students like me, instead of dozing off in our rooms, attended afternoon classes (The classrooms had generator back-up).
Well, the reason was far simpler than that. The power situation, even back then, was dire. This was in 2006.
Which was when, Tamil Nadu decided to go for big ticket industrialization.
While pitching the whole, ‘Tamil Nadu is an industrial destination’, to the rich people, TN state planners overlooked a very tiny fact of life. That industries need something called, ‘Electricity’.
Which explains why, even though new industries were being added at the pace of a Chris Gayle inning, augmenting the state’s creaking electricity generating capacity was totally forgotten. I say creaking, because bulk of Tamil Nadu’s power, needed for the new and the existing industries, still came from its three oldest plants, the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), Tuticorin Power Plant and the nuclear power station at Kalpakkam.
The youngest power plant amongst these, The Madras Atomic power station, was established in 1985.
In other words, these three are
The AK Hangals of Power Generation
Now, these new TN industries were not your small cute cottage ones, which had miniscule power requirements. They were your big badass ones, like automobiles, electronics, textiles etc etc, the Hummers of the power consumption world. The ones that consumed 100’s of MWs, just to remain idle.
The inevitable had to happen.
In 2011, when these new industries got ready to roll, TN’s total power requirement jumped to 12,000 MW. As the rulers, had forgotten to add to the state’s existing electricity generation capacity, the total power output, stood at 9000 MW’s.
Power Generation in T.N – Power Requiement in T.N = – 3000 MW.
You know the state is in trouble, when there is a minus before that figure. Because, it means,
TAMIL NADU HAS A POWER DEFICIT OF 3000 MW. There is no power left in Tamil Nadu.
You can find details of the apocalyptic power situation in Tamil Nadu, here.
Now, to account for that huge deficit in power and balancing the requirements of the industry with that of the aam junta, the electricity guys started something, called the ‘load-shedding activity’.
Which meant statewide power cuts for 3-8 hours. Everyday, including bank holidays.
Now you know, why your granny can’t watch her favorite afternoon serial. And you have to suffer horrible power cut jokes on your FB/Twitter timeline.
Like this
Translates to, 'When will I get the electricity'
Or this one
or this one
To sum it up, Tamil Nadu today, does not have power and is heading for a complete catastrophe. And the only thing that can save it, is a superhero, whose superpower is to generate unlimited electricity.
No, Not this guy
That too immediately.
Enter Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.
If you did not know, Kudankulam was built with Russian help. And, Russia isn’t exactly known for its subtlety.
For the Russians, this is 'A Small Room'
So, in true, big badass Russian style, they helped us build a reactor complex, which has four reactors. And when commissioned will generate a total of 10,000 MegaWatts of Power.
And of the four, Two are ready.
These two reactors, if started, will instantaneously transform Tamil Nadu, from a beggar to a millionaire as far as power is concerned. For the common man, this will mean no more load shedding, no more afternoon TV missings. It will enable the students to rediscover the lost tradition of the afternoon nap. The industry will begin function at peak capacity, finally resulting in the progress and prosperity of Tamil Nadu.
And of course, It will once and for all solve the power crisis in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu will never have power cuts ever again.
So, Why protest against something that is going to solve the states’ most critical problem?
More importantly, Why protest now? When
4. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE KUDANKULAM POWER PLANT STARTED IN, 1988.
This is the Kudankulam power plant
One thing is quite clear, IT IS BIG.
This is not some small time, illicit kallu sarayam factory that blossomed overnight. They have been building this thing for 24 damn years. Right there, in Kudankulam. Under the very eyes of most of the protestors.
For 24 years.
Just to give you an idea on how long it has been; the initial survey for the Kudankulam plant was not done by Russia, but by the Soviet Union, whose Premier was Mikhael Gorbachev. When the site was finally decided, Rajiv Gandhi was still alive and was busy kick-backing. And, Sachin Tendulkar was a talented 17 year old who was just pitchforked into the Indian team, before he had played a Ranji Trophy match.
My question to the protestors is, what were you doing all this while? Waiting for Sachin to score 100 hundreds?
Sure, some people will point out that there were protests against the plant, since 1987. But those were your little protests, protests that happen in India everyday. The meetings where 20-30 old men, armed with conspiracy theories and a lot of time, hold up one placard and call it a protest.
If you happened to read that link, the biggest protest against the plant, had a grand total of 150 people.
That protest looked something...like this
More people participated, back in my college, in a protest against the mess food.
Today, after 24 years of continuous construction, when the plant is finally complete and ready to go critical, suddenly you have a mob of 20,000 people converging onto this hitherto non-descript village and make a very big fuss. It is as if, these 20,000 people had a simultaneous epiphany regarding the Kudankulam power station.
This feeling, occuring simultaneously, in 20,000 ppl
And these guys are so bloody stubborn. Even when Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, a man who knows a little bit about nuclear science, personally came down to Kudankulam and assured them on the plant’s safety, they simply refused to budge.
Do the protestors know something that Dr Kalam doesn’t? Have they utilized the intervening period of 24 years to do an in-depth study on the plant’s effect on the local eco-system? Do they possess conclusive, scientific proof that Kudankulam is unsafe?
Do they have enough data to prove all Indian scientists, starting from Dr Kalam and down, conclusively wrong?
Simply put, does the protest have a strong, scientific foundation to it?
Turns out
3. THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC JUSTIFICATION FOR THIS WHOLE PROTEST
When you are protesting against a project, which involves a branch of science, that is out of bounds for 99 percent of the scientific community, you need to tick two boxes
1. The Guy who is leading the protest should be qualified.
2. The arguments that he, which by extension covers the whole protest, is putting forth should be scientifically credible.
For item no 1, let us meet the leader of this agitation. A certain gentleman called S P Udayakumar, or as it appears in the media, Dr S P Udayakumar.
I give it to him, that he means business when he argues against the plant. And the vehemence he argues, makes Arnab Goswami look like that timid Scooby Doo sidekick, Shaggy. And in today’s world of television, that is all you need to get you the airtime.
What our glorious media didn’t do was, verify whether this dude had the standing and the merit to elucidate on this subject. A subject which as I said before, is out of bounds for anybody except the best of the best of the best, scientists. I assume the guys in the studio just saw the prefix Dr, deduced Dr = Knowledgeable man = Rightful leader of the protest, and made him an all India phenomenon.
It is not a difficult ask you know, to verify Udayakumar’s merit on this subject. It is not as if they are looking for India’s nuclear launch codes.
Dr SP Udayakumar, is a Masters in Literature from Kerala University, and a P.Hd in Political Science from the University of Hawaii.
A DOCTORATE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE.
India’s biggest nuclear power plant is today being held hostage by a literary arts dude.
Mein appki feelings samajh sakti hoon, aap log please Baith Jaiye.
How in this Universe, is a political science guy, qualified to lead a protest against a Nuclear power plant? Mind you as a leader, this guy does not stop himself with presenting his outrageous theories about the plant to the innocent villagers. He is also actively blocking, genuine attempts made by the government, to present an accurate picture to the Kudankulam people.
According to him, a PH.D in Political Science, knows more about the nittie-gritties of a Nuclear power plant, than someone who is a P.HD in, well, actual science.
Checklist Item 1, FAIL.
I am not saying, that protests led by people, who do not have the requisite qualifications, are flawed. All I am saying, is that the protest, should have the necessary justification. If Dr Udayakumar feels he is not qualified to do an in-depth scentific study himself, all he had to do was commission some actual scientists. They could undersand the plant, analyze its effects on the local population and submit a full fledged paper.
Which brings us to Item no 2 on the checklist
Where is a report/paper/study for Kudankulam, on the basis of which, Dr Udaya Kumar is fighting? A report that provides the scientific justification for the protest.
I tried hard to find one that resembled what I mentioned above. After arduous googling, this is what I found, a post written by Dr Udaya Kumar himself, on the perils of Kudankulam.
This was, by far, the worst document I have seen in my life, and this includes my own writing. And, that is saying something.
First and foremost, the document has absolutely no sources, no citations. Nothing, zilch. I mean, I run a supposedly humorous website, named after a comedy character in a Tamil movie and I cite sources. So how can someone get away without citing any, especially when you consider that fact that he is trying to relocate a nuclear power plant?
As for the points in the post, they are so awfully bad, that even a conspiracy theorist will reject them as outrageous.
For Example
Point no 1: Even when the KKNPP projects function normally without any incidents and accidents, they would be emitting Iodine 131, 132, 133, Cesium 134, 136, 137 isotopes, strontium, tritium, tellurium and other such radioactive particles into our air, land, crops, cattle, sea, seafood and ground water. Already the southern coastal belt is sinking with very high incidence of cancer, mental retardation, down syndrome, defective births due to private and government sea-sand mining for rare minerals including thorium. The KKNPP will add many more woes to our already suffering people.
If you didn’t bother to read it, here is the gist. The dude says, because of the radioactive materials leaving the plant and mixing with the water and food, something like this is going to happen in Kudankulam, really really soon
Now, this is the city of Mumbai.
As you can see, there is a nuclear reactor, right in the middle of the city. A city of 30 Million people.
And last known, they have not transformed into some version of The Incredible Hulk meets the Godzilla. Which means, people of Kudankulam and the nearby villages are safe from the ‘monster’ that is the Kudankulam power plant.
And if you think in case of a disaster, the whole area will be wiped out and thousands will die, then well you are wrong.
The total number of fatalities, directly or indirectly, due to a Nuclear power plant meltdown, from 1960-2011, across the globe, is FIFTY.
YES, 50 IN ALL. AND THIS INCLUDES CHERNOBYL AND FUKUSHIMA.
Hell, the probability of Kudankulam people, getting killed after being run over by a bicycle, is higher.
Another one
Point no 3: More than 1 million people live within the 30 km radius of the KKNPP which far exceeds the AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) stipulations. It is quite impossible to evacuate this many people quickly and efficiently in case of a nuclear disaster at Koodankulam.
This is the map in and around the Koodankulam power plant, with a radius of 40 kms in all directions. 10 Kms more than what Dr Udayakumar has considered.
Now, the Kudankulam power plant, is flanked by three major sub-districts.
To the North is Radhapuram sub-district ,which includes the Koodankulam power plant itself. Total Population: 2, 64, 595
To the West is Agastheeswaram sub-district, Total Population: 4, 93, 852. Now the two major population centres in this sub-district, cities of Kaniyakumari and Nagerkoil, are more than 50 Kms away from the plant.
Take them out, the figure falls down to, 1,29, 371.
To the east is Sathankulam sub-district. Total population: 96, 820.
Total population, of the area as specified by Dr Udaya kumar + 10 Kms: 4, 90, 786
Only 5,00,000 short of the Million people as claimed by Udayakumar.
This dude, to get his point across, has straight up doubled the population of the nearby areas. And in some interviews, he is even quoting the population as 1.5 million.
This guy, simply put, exaggerating the local population numbers to Bibilical proportions.
Finally, the population of the village of Koodankulam: 11, 029. In his quest for some grandiose statistic, he forgot this one.
Finally
Point 6: The quality of construction and the pipe work and the overall integrity of the KKNPP structures have been called into question by the very workers and contractors who work there in Koodankulam. There have been international concerns about the design, structure and workings of the untested Russian-made VVER-1000 reactors.
The Chinese have been building a power plant with Russian help, equipped with the same VVER-1000 Nuclear reactor.
A short while ago, this very reactor was declared as the safest nuclear reactor in the world. That too not by some literary arts dude like Dr Udaya kumar, but by the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA). You know the global agency responsible for the safety of Nuclear power plants.
THE GUY’S WHOSE JOB IS TO SUPERVISE NUCLEAR REACTORS ACROSS THE WORLD, CALL THE VVER-1000, THE SAFEST REACTOR IN THE WHOLE WORLD.
NEED I SAY MORE?
For me, the whole post reads as if the Kudankulam Power plant is the harbinger of apocalypse for the state of Tamil Nadu and India in general. That too in the ‘I Say So, So it must be true’ mode of argument.
I really wanted to fisk the whole thing, but these three points prove what I set ou to prove
Whatever this guy is saying is total tosh.
Which means there is absolutely no scientific basis for this protest.
Checklist Item no 2: BIG FAIL
Before somebody says, let me admit that I am not a nuclear physicist or a scientist. There is this comprehensive government report which counters every argument of this dude.
BTW, DR Udaya Kumar, if by any chance you happen to read this, please tell me why do you keep asking the government for white papers, black papers, etc etc to prove Kudankulam is safe. Isn’t is bloody time you give a document like the one above to prove why Kudankulam is unsfe?
So to sum it up, the reasons for the protests are dodgy, the timing is skeptical and there is not even a tiny thread of rationality behind it. So why protest at all?
Unless of course
CLICK HERE FOR PART II, THE RELIGIOUS AND THEFOREIGN ANGLE
Note: Previously, this post had mistakenly stated, that the total number of deaths due to power plant meltdowns was Forty-Seven. In reality, the figure is Fifty. This post was updated on 23-March-2012, to reflect the same.
The Kaipullai's Vetti Thoughts : The outer playground of my inner devil 
But there are few questions
1. How do we dispose a nuclear waste?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-level_radioactive_waste_management
2. Why Spain and Germany stopped building reactors?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_phase-out
With these high risks do we need to have nuclear power ? why cant we look in to alternative sources of energy like thorium?
Yeah… Everything is accepted… But alternative energy is not cheap and cannot be build over night… But this reactor which was build for 24 years can solve your problems… so nothing is wrong in commissioning it and pursuing for alternative energy…
it will provide only incremental 1000MW to Tamilnadu, State already produces 20000MW by other means. Rosy picture in this article is just propaganda. I wish things are this simple
Nuclear waste disposal is a problem but it can be contained extremely well using underground bunkers and lead sealed cooled containers. All other forms of energy are extremely polluting and containing that pollution is next to impossible. So STFU.
DUDE THORIUM IS RADIOACTIVE. SO A THORIUM REACTOR WOULD ALSO BE NUCLEAR. WTF!
Thorium nuclear reactor works on a different principle, as long as u r not using the reactor for enriching nuclear fissile material, its safe. In case of a dry run, the reaction in the reactor shutsdown automatically.
underground where ? All other forms of energy extremely polluting ? Don’t know there there are energy sources called wind and solar ?
those forms of energy are not that powerfull, and need lot’s of surface to stretch it self thru.
Do you know how polluting it is to manufacture the requisite materials for solar and wind energy purposes?….It also causes pollution in the stage of manufacturing
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/environmental-impacts-solar-power.html#bf-toc-2
Point 1: agreed
Point 2: reason is political the Green Party wants to shut down all nuclear, result: Germany will buy power from France which produces 40% of power from nuclear. No energy is clean. Has any country industrialized with windmills and solar power?
and even if they are now generating environment friendly energy they have economy rich enough to support it.we indians are poor and still developing we need HUGE amount of cheap energy for at least 15-20 years,then we can switch to green energy.
Windmills are also having a disastrous effect on the ecosystem
http://www.wind-power-problems.org/wind-power-environmental-problems.html
Hey Mr. Sad ass… y dodnt u oick ur sorry as down here and live with us ???? and u picking up the example 150 ppl in previous protests… were u there buddy ??? i know it wasn’t 150 but..in the order of thousands.. 3 districts and its fishermen tried blocking the cargo to the plant and ended up being lathi charged.. so shut up and stop being a smart ass u bad ass… y the hell dnt u cme down here in thirunelveli district and live here with us ppl…
Do u think these ppl ignore the fact that they ace power cuts.. immaterial of the hardship they face in the other end they give up their livelihood as well to lend their voice to saddistic government which cannot even forecast the coming of a season o NO ELECTRICITY POWER… and y shud v trust em on how to dispose off a nuclear waste. so stop shitting ur bull shit and live here….
i live in thirunelveli only,…..grow up,….
if mumbai isnt feeling insecured why shud we,…..
if ur so scared leave the palce
thorium do you even know wtf is thorium????
its radioactie dude
How is Thorium alternative to nuclear power ?
FYI – France has majority of its power generated from nuclear fuel.
Awesome Post Mr./Ms.Kaipullai.. Kudos to the extensive research u have done to enlighten ppl.. Keep doing the same.. I hope more Indians think more after reading ur blog!! This s the 1st post I m reading in ur blog and I m gonna follow it.. Again.. ur work is awesome!!
poi pee thinnu
ROFL!!!! who r u dude??
ee poi thinnu… bloody bastard…. no power any where and u r doing research with pee…..
And KS.. Are u in anyway preparing for civil services Examination??
Dude! You gotta make all these rationale thoughts resonate farther with this blog!
Anyway! Kudos to this good Rational Blog…
Dear Seshu,
I am avid admirer of your blog.But I think you have taken the wrong stance on Kudankulam. There is something fundamentally wrong in the way we setup big industries like Nuclear Power Plants. The consent of the locals is presumed. Abdul Kalam is not an authority on Nuclear Science. His expertise is in Aeronautical engineering. So how can he validate the safety parameters of the KNPP. The problem with the Indian Nuclear establishment is the opacity in which they operate. Did any independent regulatory authority validate the safety of KNPP or for that matter any of the 22 nuclear reactors in India. All the inspections are conducted by Atomic Energy Commision of India , which also sets up the reactors. It is like the thieves policing themselves. KNPP is not the panacea for all the power ills faced by Tamil Nadu. There are only 2 units of 1000 MW each to be setup. Not 10000 MW as you have claimed. Of this only the first unit is expected to come online anytime soon,
Please read the following by Gnani
உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா…? 1.ஜப்பானின் மின் தேவையில் 31 சதவிகிதம் கொடுத்து வந்த அணு உலைகள் இப்போது தருவது வெறும் 2 சதவிகிதம்தான். காரணம் 52 உலைகளை அரசு மூடிவிட்டது. மீதி இரு உலைகளும் மே மாதத்தில் மூடப்படலாம். இதெல்லாம் ஏன் என்பது உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா? 2.கல்பாக்கம் அணு உலைகளில் இதுவரை சுமார் 200 விபத்துகள் நடந்துள்ளன என்பதும் ஒரு விபத்து நூலிழையில் மாபெரும் விபத்தாகாமல் தப்பித்தது என்பதும் உங்களுக்குத்தெரியுமா? 3. செர்னோபில் உலை விபத்தில் இரண்டாயிரம் பேர் இறந்ததாக சோவியத் அதிபர் கோர்பசேவ் சொன்னார். ஆனால் 57 பேர்தான இறந்ததாக அப்துல் கலாம் மட்டும் சொல்வது ஏன், எப்படி என்று உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா? 4. புற்று நோய்க்கான காரணங்களில் ஒன்று கதிரியக்கம் என்று அடையாறு புற்று நோய் நிலையம் அறிவித்திருக்கும்போது அதன் தலைவர் டாக்டர் சாந்தா மட்டும் கதிரியக்கத்தால் புற்று நோய் வராது என்று அணுசக்தித் துறை விளம்பரத்தில் சொல்வது ஏன், எப்படி என்று உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா ? 5. கூடங்குளம் அணு உலைக்கு இடம் தேர்வு செய்தபோது அங்கே மக்களே கிடையாதுஅது ஒரு பாலைவனம் போலுள்ளது என்று அணு விஞ்ஞானி எம்.ஆர்.சீனிவாசன் சொன்னது உண்மையானால்,இப்போது அங்கே ஆயிரக் கணக்கான மக்கள் வாழ்ந்துவருவது ஒரு மாயத்தோற்றம் என்பதுதான் உண்மையா என்பது உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா ? 6.பத்தாண்டுக்கொரு முறை அடுத்த பத்தாண்டில் இத்தனை மெகாவாட் அணு மின்சாரம் தயாரிப்போம் என்று இந்திய அணுசக்தித் துறை சொன்னது எதையும் 40 வருடங்களில் இதுவரை ஒருமுறை கூட நிறைவேற்றவில்லை என்பதும் சொன்னதில் ஐந்து சதவிகித மின்சாரம் கூட தயாரிக்கவில்லை என்பது உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா? 7. இந்தியாவில் ஒரு அணு உலை கூட அதன் நிறுவப்பட்ட உற்பத்தித் திறனில் 50 சதவிகிதத்துக்கு மேல் உற்பத்தி செய்வதில்லை என்பதும் முப்பது வருடத்து கல்பாக்கம் 50 சதத்தை எட்டியதே சில வருடங்களாகத்தான் என்பதும் உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா ? 8. கூடங்குளம் உலையை உடனே இயக்கினாலும் ஆகஸ்ட்டில்தான் அது மின்சாரம் தரும் என்பதும், அதுவும் உற்பத்தி திறனாகிய 1000 மெகாவாட்டில் 40 சதவிகிதமான 400 மெகாவாட்தான் உற்பத்தி செய்யும் என்பதும் அதிலும் 48 மெகாவாட்டை அதுவே செலவழித்துவிடும் என்பதும், மீதி 352 மெகாவாட்டில் டிரான்ஸ்மிஷனில் 70 மெகாவாட் போய்விடும் என்பதும், எஞ்சிய 280 மெகாவாட்டில் நாராயணசாமியின் கருணையில் தமிழ்நாட்டுக்கு 50 சதவிகிதம் கொடுத்தாலும் கிடைக்கப்போவது வெறும் 140 மெகாவாட்தான் என்பதும் உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா? 9. கல்பாக்கம் அணு உலை வளாகம் சுனாமியால் மட்டுமல்ல, இப்போதைய தானே புயலில் கூட பாதிக்கப்பட்டதும், கல்பாக்கத்துக்கருகே கடலில் எரிமலை இருப்பதும் அதைப்பற்றி அணுசக்தித் துறைக்கு எதுவும் தெரியாது என்பதும் உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா ? 10. கூடங்குளத்திலும் கல்பாக்கத்திலும் சுனாமி வராது என்று அணுசக்தித் துறை முதலில் சொன்னதும் சுனாமி வந்தபின் இனிமேல் 9 மீட்டருக்குமேல் வராது என்று சொல்லிக் கொண்டிருப்பதும் உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா? 11. கூடங்குளம் அணு உலையைக் கட்டியிருக்கும் ரஷ்ய ரோசாட்டம் கம்பெனி அந்த நாட்டில் ஊழல் குற்றச்சாட்டுக்கும் தரக்குறைவான் பணிகளுக்காவும் விசாரிக்கப்படுவது உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா ? 12. கல்பாக்கத்தில் பெரும் விபத்து ஏற்பட்டால் போயஸ் கார்டன், கோபலபுரம் முதல் பாண்டிச்சேரி வரை அழியும் ஆபத்து உள்ளது என்பதும் கூடங்குளத்தில் விபத்து ஏற்பட்டால் தென் மாவ்ட்டங்களும் கேரளத்தின் ஒரு பகுதியும் அழியும் என்பதும் உங்களுக்குத்தெரியுமா 13.உலகத்தில் எங்கேயும் எந்த இன்சூரன்ஸ் கம்பெனியும் தனி நபர்களுக்கு விமான விபத்து முதல் ஆயுள் காப்பு வரை இன்சூரன்ஸ் கொடுத்தாலும், அணு உலை விபத்து பாதிப்பு இன்சூரன்ஸ் மட்டும் தருவது கிடையாது என்பது உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா ? 14. இந்திய அணுசக்திக் கட்டுப்பாட்டு வாரியத்தால் அணுசக்தி துறையை கண்காணிக்க முடியவில்லை என்றும் வாரியத்தை விட துறைக்கு செல்வாக்கு அதிகம் இருப்பதால் உண்மைகளை தெரிந்துகொள்ள முடிவதில்லை என்றும் வாரியத்தின் முன்னாள் தலைவர் அணு விஞ்ஞானி கோபாலகிருஷ்ணன் சொல்லியிருப்பது உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா ? 15. தமிழ்நாடு முழுவதும் சுமார் ஒரு கோடி குண்டு பல்புகளை சி.எஃப் எல் குழல் பல்புகளாக மாற்றினால், உடனே 500 மெகாவாட் மின்சாரம் மிச்சமாகும் என்று உங்கள் அரசின் சார்பில் சட்டமன்றத்தில் வைக்கப்பட்ட கொள்கைக்குறிப்பில் சொன்னதை ஏன் அதிகாரிகள் இன்னும் நிறைவேற்றாமல் இருக்கிறார்கள் என்பது உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா ? 16. மத்திய அரசு அமைத்த குழு விஞ்ஞானிகளும் சரி நீங்கள் அமைத்த குழு விஞ்ஞானிகளும் சரி, ஏன் அணு உலைகளை எதிர்க்கும் விஞ்ஞானிகள் குழுவை சந்திக்க மறுத்துக் கொண்டே இருக்கிறார்கள் என்பது உங்களுக்குத் தெரியுமா ? ஞானி
Dei, Please translate that into English. At least give a gist of what that means.
Here’s the translation:
Do you know?
——————
1. From what was 31% earlier, now nuclear plants meet only 2% of Japan’s energy needs. The reason is that 52 plants have been closed by the govt. The functioning 2 plants are also likely to be closed by this May. Do you know why?
2. Do you know that there have been 200 minor accidents in Kalpakkam, one of which escaped from becoming a major catastrophe by a whisker?
3. President Gorbachev has admitted that 2000 died in Chernobyl disaster. But do you know why and how President Abdul Kalam claims that there have been only 57 deaths?
4. While the Adyar Cancer Research Institute has announced that radiation is one of the causes of cancer, do you know why and how its chief Dr.Shanta claims that radiation does not cause cancer, in the advertisements of Dept. of Atomic Energy?
5. If it is true that Koodankulam Nuclear Plant site was an uninhabited desert as claimed by atomic scientist M R Srinivasan, do you know if the thousands of people that appear to be living there now is an optical illusion?
6. Do you know that the Dept of Atomic Energy announces once in 10 years its power generation goal for the next 10 years, and it has not achieved over 5% of its projections even once in the last 40 years?
7. Do you know that none of the Indian nuclear plants have generated more than 50% of their capacity and that Kalpakkam has barely managed 50% generation only in the last few years of its 30 years tenure?
8. Do you know that even if Koodankulam becomes operational immediately, it can start giving power only from August and that too only 40% of its rated 1000MW? Also, do you know that it would consume 48MW, and of the balance 352MW, 70MW would be lost in transmission, and if Narayanaswamy is merciful and offers 50% to Tamil Nadu, we may get only about 140MW?
9. Do you know that Kalpakkam nuclear plant was affected not only during Tsunami, but also during the recent Thane cyclone? Do you know that there’s an undersea volcano near Kalpakkam about which the Dept of Atomic Energy has no clue?
……..will continue. It’s pretty long 🙂
1. From what was 31% earlier, now nuclear plants meet only 2% of Japan’s energy needs. The reason is that 52 plants have been closed by the govt. The functioning 2 plants are also likely to be closed by this May. Do you know why?
Yes, knee jerk reaction, which is opposed by the majority of Japanese people.
2. Do you know that there have been 200 minor accidents in Kalpakkam, one of which escaped from becoming a major catastrophe by a whisker?
Oh, really. Do you know Mettur power plant killed almost the entire population of Salem by a whisker? Prove me wrong. Where was your protest then?
3. President Gorbachev has admitted that 2000 died in Chernobyl disaster. But do you know why and how President Abdul Kalam claims that there have been only 57 deaths?
What?
4. While the Adyar Cancer Research Institute has announced that radiation is one of the causes of cancer, do you know why and how its chief Dr.Shanta claims that radiation does not cause cancer, in the advertisements of Dept. of Atomic Energy?
Huh! Radiation causes radion poisoning, depending on the exposure most probably it would be cancer, if you weren’t immediately dead by exposure.
5. If it is true that Koodankulam Nuclear Plant site was an uninhabited desert as claimed by atomic scientist M R Srinivasan, do you know if the thousands of people that appear to be living there now is an optical illusion?
No it is not an illusion. I wonder what happened to the people displaced by the Mettur dam which is providing you power to your computer to write this comment.
6. Do you know that the Dept of Atomic Energy announces once in 10 years its power generation goal for the next 10 years, and it has not achieved over 5% of its projections even once in the last 40 years?
Fair enough. So your answer is to sit on your ass and do nothing?
7. Do you know that none of the Indian nuclear plants have generated more than 50% of their capacity and that Kalpakkam has barely managed 50% generation only in the last few years of its 30 years tenure?
So if it takes 30 years what are you doing now for tomorrows generation? Do you think electricity is generated out of magic?
8. Do you know that even if Koodankulam becomes operational immediately, it can start giving power only from August and that too only 40% of its rated 1000MW? Also, do you know that it would consume 48MW, and of the balance 352MW, 70MW would be lost in transmission, and if Narayanaswamy is merciful and offers 50% to Tamil Nadu, we may get only about 140MW?
Yes, so lets sit on our ass and do nothing. Magic will happen, and electricity will be generated by itself and sent to your computer.
{continuation of translation of Gnani’s post)
10. Do you know that Dept of Atomic Energy originally claimed that Kalpakkam and Koodankulam are not prone to tsunami, and after tsunami struck, it revised its claim that they are not prone to tsunamis of over 9 metres?
11. Do you know that the Russian company that built the Koodankulam plant is being investigated in its native country for corruption and sub-standard work?
12. Do you know that if disaster strikes in Kalpakkam, Chennai and Pondicherry are likely to be wiped out? Similarly, one in Koodankulam could wipe out South TN and parts of Kerala?
13. Do you know that nowhere in the world, insurance companies cover losses due to nuclear disasters?
14. Do you know that former atomic scientist Gopalakrishnan has opined that Atomic Energy Regulatory Board is powerless before the Dept. of Atomic Energy because the latter enjoys greater influence, and as a consequence, it becomes difficult to know the real facts?
15. Do you know why the officials of TN do not implement their own suggestion of saving 500MW by replacing the incandescent bulbs all over TN (numbering about 1 crore) with CFL lamps?
16. Do you know why the pro-nuclear experts groups, whether constituted by the Center or by the State, consistently refuse to meet anti-nuclear experts groups?
– Gnani
12. Do you know that if disaster strikes in Kalpakkam, Chennai and Pondicherry are likely to be wiped out? Similarly, one in Koodankulam could wipe out South TN and parts of Kerala?
A nuclear power plant is not the same as a bomb. I don’t know why people confuse this. And no, its not going to wipe out South TN or Chennai. Yes if safety system fails, many will die, agreed. But not anymore than they would with a hydroelectric plant or thermal power plant.
Probability of failure is the basis of any design & are presumed to be mitigated by improving the design.
Also, Risk is the product of probability and loss (People, Environment & asset); loss is estimated in terms of money. For any projects normal practice is to estimate the cost to built , operate & maintain (mitigation measures – safety barriers); however, recent times practice of estimation of risk is emerging (positive effect of social, political efforts & Insurance agencies could not overlook !)
How practical is estimating losses, assigning costs to the life & irreparable loss to environment?. Whether the neighboring communities were informed of this risk? Whether any human will accept? Here comes the Nuclear liability! Evacuating 5 km around involves how much risk hidden in it? This Govt. & Nuke industry is not revealing & addressing and improve upon; at any case nuke science to be allowed to find measures to reduce the risk for application into massive scale (not to treat neighboring communities equivalent to guinea pigs for the development of technology.)
Hence, Nuke technology itself is underdeveloped for the utility of Human at present. Nuke Plant is still a Nuke Bomb contained within 2 meter thick concrete walls & operated with extreme care along with mitigation measures! Risking the people involved in operation (convinced with their remuneration -which is also a social pressure [including the Govt.] ) & neighboring communities.
If the loss expected could be correctly evaluated by valuing the human & environment , Nuclear power with current technology can not help humanity to sustain!
dude! no plant whatsoever,be it solar,thermal,,wind,tidal,atomic,hydro produces 100% of its theoritical value neither have full efficiency,kudankulam is but one source of electricity,we need more,nuclear plants are risky but have benefits as well and with proper safety measures they are going to be what hydro/hydel is like for us, today.
Dear Mr. Prasanna,
I think your are trying to talk rationally here, but there are misconceptions as well.
1.”Abdul Kalam is not an authority on Nuclear Science. His expertise is in Aeronautical engineering”
Lets think that Dr.Kalam got zero knowledge in Nuclear science, do u think he wont consult another highly knowledgeable person before assuring the people that the plant is safe?? do u think he is stupid or he was bought by the “Atomic Energy Commission of India “( the thief you are talking about)??
We dont need nuclear science here, just common sense is sufficient. Where does your allegiance lie?? in Dr. Kalam or Uday Kumar??
This is not a question of allegiance.
And ‘we don’t need nuclear science only common sense?!?!’ in a debate about setting up nuclear power plants? really?
good questions. give me your FB or twitter id to follow you
I think I disagree with your perspective, at least to a limited extent, on this post / series.
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First, the small one.
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“The total number of fatalities, directly or indirectly, due to a Nuclear power plant meltdown, from 1960-2011, across the globe, is FORTY SEVEN.”
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Your picture reads 3 deaths for the 1961 SL1 incident & 47 for Chernobyl. Unless you somehow discount the SL1 incident – the number is 50.
Also, the *fact* that something did not happen as a result of an incident *does not guarantee* a conclusion that something will *never* happen as a result of a similar incident.
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“A short while ago, this very reactor was declared as the safest nuclear reactor in the world. That too not by some literary arts dude like Dr Udaya kumar, but by the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA). You know the global agency responsible for the safety of Nuclear power plants.
THE GUY’S WHOSE JOB IS TO SUPERVISE NUCLEAR REACTORS ACROSS THE WORLD, CALL THE VVER-1000, THE SAFEST REACTOR IN THE WHOLE WORLD.
NEED I SAY MORE?”
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Interesting you reason like that. Let’s look at the following 2 events,
1. 2008 – Depression: Goldman Sachs was purchasing CDS-s, selling out CDO-s – and advising it’s clients to purchase CDO-s – at the same time. And in its defense it says this was a perfectly ethical means to make money. Please note that Tim Geithner was the Treasury Secretary around the same time.
2. 2003 – 10 : Iraq Invasion: George “dubya” Bush & his administration claimed intel on Iraqi WMD; NATO forces invaded the nation, killed it’s brutal-tyrant-leader – and created more confusion & blood-shed. Now, neither the Kurds, nor the Ba’athi-s nor the Sunnis or the Shias are happy.
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The *fact* that IAEA are the “guys whose job is to … ” & say something based on the “supposed” opinions, understanding, assumptions of knowledgeable individuals does not mean what the IAEA states is the truth, and nothing but the truth. How difficult will it be for a powerful elite group of people to coerce or threaten the “inspectors” to write a report in a *certain* manner? It’s money & politics – nothing more, nothing less. May be there is truth; but then, may be there is none.
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Having said that, I’m still so much closer to your line of reasoning than with that of the likes of Udaya Kumar. I have no doubt that money & influence is playing a strong role in the events – and I don’t find Udaya Kumar worthy of any cred-s. He knows how to peddle influence, power – and his Political Science Ph.D. is a handy tool to effect such maneuvers. We can not rule out the role of US Proxies, Chinese Proxies, AIADMK, DMK, Congress/UPA & BJP/NDA in these events.
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End of the day: It’s always us lazy-ass tax-paying *aam admi-s* who pay the bill for any & every costly stupidity that is effected by any & every nincompoop power-peddling morons – irrespective of whether the morons are bankers or bureaucrats or diplomats or politicians.
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Thanks!
MN
hey,
I don’t agree with your article.
He might have never gone to school..that’s irrelevant.
http://www.transcend.org/tms/2011/08/thirteen-reasons-why-we-do-not-want-the-koodankulam-nuclear-power-project/
Can you answer these question no 4 and 8 ? what are they going to do with nuclear waste ?
If it’s totally secure, why you don’t set up in north Chennai ? People who say it’s safe are those who are not in kudankulam. It might be the safest nuclear plant in the world, but no one can guarantee nothing will happen.
Japan can built a nuclear plant in less than 5 years. So why it took 24 years for India ?
I don’t support anyone. Yes, i hate power cuts 😦 its very horrible. But you have respect the feelings of those people…
There is a nuclear plant in South Chennai. Its called Kalpakkam. Its been operating for many years.
Every nuclear plant is unsafe. But so is every thermal power plant, hydro electric plant (what if the dam breaks), gas plant (what if the gas leaks and poisonous gas is released), gasoline plant (heard of Sulphur ? ) etc etc . Hell what if there are gale force winds and the Wind turbines breaks and so on.
Hell every time there is rain, Some people die of power shock due to transmission and distribution of power !
If you feel strongly that we should not generate power. Please do not consume any electricity, Because there is no “safe” way to generate electricity that we know of . …
Bill Gates once said that thermal power plants also kill people but they are not sensationalised by the media.
And why did the plant take so much time to build. Well Indian bureaucracy, courts and activism combine to make everything slow. Hell why did we not build eden gardens in time for the world cup or finish the Common Wealth Games stadiums. That is why some audits were required and they were completed.
And before anybody brings up Fukushima, remember that 20000 people (and some theremal power plants) and one nuclear power plant died because of the Tsunami . One nuclear power plant also died and to date no one has died because of the nuclear power plant dying.
Sensible questions…
Can you alter your TN power deficit calculation as
Power Generation in T.N – Power Requiement in T.N = – 3000 MW
so that ‘-‘ 3000 MW sounds logical?
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/What-We-Do/Nuclear-Unsafe/Nuclear-Power-in-India/Jaitapur-nuclear-power-plant/Environmental-Impacts/
http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/What-We-Do/Nuclear-Unsafe/Nuclear-Power-in-India/Jaitapur-nuclear-power-plant/
I think you need to do a little more research on land disputes…land has been forcibly acquired by the government for most cases. This is a different issue in itself!
The nuclear reactors will be operated by a company owned by the goverment of india. What makes you think the docs in the blog doesnt have manipulated info. Don’t call us common junta because your definition of common junta does not include poor people who are currently the victims of this power plant project. And FYI, I belong to one of the families from the village jaitapur.
What a post !
F’in Brilliant !
What people do not realise is that our Nuclear scientists are a few of the people in the government who are actually good and competent.
Let common sense prevail and realise that everything in India is unsafe including you know walking on the road ! You need pragmatism. India needs power.
While your post tries to be funny it doesn’t help a serious situation.
Responses to the reasons
5. Yes, not just TN but all of India needs more power. However Nuclear is a terrible solution for the following reasons
i. Expensive – no one takes into account the hidden costs of nuclear – mining, transport of fuel, storage of waste. Even without these costs nuclear still fares badly compared to wind and solar
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=nuclear-power-could-cost-trillions-2009-06-19
http://www.triplepundit.com/2010/07/which-is-cheaper-nuclear-vs-solar/
4. Exactly why nuclear sucks – it took over 20 years to be ready to be operationalized. In 40 years of nuclear development since the days of Homi Bhaba nuclear has contributed around 3% (4.8 GW) of total energy to the grid. Meanwhile in 20 years of renewable development – solar and wind are already contributing 12% (22.4 GW) to the energy grid. If you were a business man where would you put your money? Faster growth or slower?
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_India#Generation
3. Nuclear is dangerous. You don’t need science to tell that – 34 major reported accidents since the 50s. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AonYZs4MzlZbdFc0cVRMVDR5c1ZmeC1lR2hac0xjMXc&hl=en#gid=1
This does not even tell the full story of how much radiation was released and how many people died due to indirect effects. A tsunami at a wind plant or solar plant will not cause a major disaster.
But we all know the Indian levels of safety.
The data on deaths due to nukes is incorrect – these are direct deaths at the plant. They have not taken into account deaths from radiation leakage and long term effects on the health of children. Unfortunately this is not easy to calculate and there will be arguments long term on how to ascertain whether cancers in the area were caused by nuclear or not.
2. so ngos receiving funds from out of india are considered dangerous to india – but foreign direct investments, MNCs are fine? Crores spent on russian and french reactors, and missiles from across the world are fine?
1. This point is irrelevant
Centralized vs decentralized
– centralized power like nukes and coal lose close to 80% of the power generated in transmission losses. This will not happen with decentralized renewables. i.e. you could have solar on your house, but not a nuclear plant.
Germany and Italy have already stopped their nuclear expansion. Germany gets 20% of it’s energy from renewable sources thanks to amazing investor friendly policies. Germany is targeting 95% renewables by 2050. Why can’t India?
Other things to read
Checks of Russian nuclear reactors fail safety hopes – and worse, leaked report reveals, Bellona.org, June 6, 2011
http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2011/rosatom_report
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/17/us-japan-quake-europe-nuclear-idUSTRE72G6X420110317
Renewable energy can power the world, Guardian, May 9, 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/09/ipcc-renewable-energy-power-world
Are Indian nuclear reactors safe enough?, NDTV Profit, March 14, 2011
http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/are-indian-nuclear-reactors-safe-enough-144642
If you want a fair and balanced view into nuclear look at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/nuclear-aftershocks/
yes it covers Germany which may be heading into a power crisis because of Nuclear ban. The difference here is that we are already in a power crisis. My favorite moment in the entire documentary was when they asked a Japanese doctor what the increase in chances of a cancer was due to Fukushima which was like ) 0.1% – And note this was AFTER a nuclear accident.
Also note (posted many times here) that the Japanese Tsunami caused close to 20,000 deaths but Fukushima has caused close to 0 of that 20,000 deaths.
Renewables are awesome and are the future but please note
1) They are not grid ready yet – basically if its a cloudy day – bye bye solar
2) If there is no wind – bye bye wind
3) The power generation capacity is currently limited. It cannot supply the 10,000 MW that we need
4) There are techniques like molten salt which may get renewables to be grid ready, but they are not ready yet
5) The cost of renewables is not grid ready – without massive subsidies – far far more than what nuclear costs . ( Gujarat managed to use the oversupply of solar panels to cheaply produce power but that again was a temporary market bubble)
As for Nuclear waste – The Economist had great articles on it – http://www.economist.com/node/21549102 .. You can safely store it … But it takes a long time to die. Also put into perspective that a plant does not generate massive Nuclear waste.
Nuclear is the only carbon friendly bridge to the renewable future . Other than Nuclear you can displace tribals , mine their coal and then use that in a thermal power plant … Or you can displace villagers – build a dam and generate hydro which also is very susceptible to the same earthquake you are so worried about – so choose your poison. And if you dont want to drink poison – surrender your EB connection and try to survive a Chennai summer without electricity. Also stay unemployed because your work requires power. Bonus point – Chennai is right next to a nuclear power plant called Kalpakkam so you can answer your Karma questions like “Try living next to a nuclear power plant”
Hi Dude,
U r missing some important points
The safety certificate given by Dr. APJ is as good as claims made by Udaya Kumar. APJ no nuclear expert, he is a space scientist. To my limited knowledge, he visited the plant for a day and gave a certificate. One day check for a power plant being constructed for 24 yrs that too by a man who is NO expert in this field. I totally lost respect for Dr APJ (although it doesn’t matter to him). He should have said a NO to give out such comments. Poor guy, not sure who influenced him to do so.
And for something which nobody else seems to be talking about, what if a Tsunami or earthquake hits the site? I know that there are safety precautions, and there are reports given by some bloody agency that the site is not in earthquake prone area… But u never know, natural disasters are something which NOBODY can predict… This has been proven time and again. Even though there is a very very remote chance of earthquake happening there, what if it does? That ‘Black Swan’ event can wipe out the entire state and generations will get affected. I guess u know what’s happening in Bhopal.
For all those parliamentarians sitting in Delhi and shouting, can you guys come down here and stay near the plant for one month every year? Or can we build a small nuclear plant sufficient to provide electricity for parliament and your bungalows in Central Delhi? With the same technology and of course certified by Dr APJ.
Pls don’t quote the reports of government agencies to substantiate your points. They are not true 99% of the time. They are always influenced somehow. One case in point is the poverty line report thrown out by Planning commission. They just cooked up numbers to show poverty rate is decreased, do u need any other example?
very well said. there are lot of politics behind this.
read this.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/economy/article2978513.ece
this was because the state govt was silent at that time. so central govt decided to tighten the power supplied to tamilnadu..
If a tsunami or earthquake hits, will u be safe in ur home?? Come on man!! if something bad has to happen , it can happen everywhere. Accidents are happening everywhere. For tat shall we ban the entire transport? if we don’t trust science, we have to live a stone age life. R u ready for tat?? In future, if the scientists feels tat something is wrong, they won’t risk with human lives and will shut down the reactors for sure (although it didn’t happen in the past, we have to trust). They know better than us. Moreover you can’t simply blame a work which worth’s 13,000 crore and this is not the right time to do that. Don’t forgot that all the basic things (electricity,transport) that we are using in our day to day life are risky and can cause death. But we trust these coz we can’t live without these. Nuclear energy can be the source for all these. The most important thing is that we don’t have any other choice to go with.
If a tsunami hits my home, only I will b dead. But if that happens in a nuclear site there is a chance of entire state being badly hit with effects passed on to future generations as well. Same goes with ur comedy example of abondaning the transport system. I guess u shud understand this basic difference.
And about the 13,000 crore, I understand it is a huge huge sum.. but if India can digest the 1 lakh crore swindled by A Raja & UPA, ~$3bn received as kickbacks by praful patel and the money made by the poor Sharad pawar then y not writeoff this as well??
The yield in nuclear power plant is different from an atomic bomb. The entire state will not get affected, please don’t be ignorant in this day and age. Please stop working on your computer as well, since it needs power which is generated form dangerous dams and coal which kills more people than a nuclear power generation plant.
Can do quote me some legitimate research which concludes dams & coal power plants kill more ppl than nuclear?
hey, how will a tsunami come and hit you alone .. I thought tsunami is unbiased. only way you alone can die is by electrocution. maybe you can say no to KKNPP stating risk of electrocution as reason
Dude… tsunami won’t find ur address and come to ur home alone… What will u do if the fan in the roof falls on ur head while sleeping?? U are trusting a 10 rupees nut and bolt and believing tat it won’t happen because u can’t sleep without a fan. What i am trying to tell is, keep the same trust on a 13,000 crore project. Moreover, dis is not a discussion about corruptions and politicians. So instead of sitting in your home and passing some stupid comments, better u do some research and find some alternative source for dis massive power requirement. If u can’t then jus **** off.
Hey ignorant dude, i think u need to go back to school. This is what i meant. If tsunami hits, only that particular area is affected, what will happen if there’s a damage to the nuclear power plant.. go and study the effects. the repercussions are huge with future generations also getting affected. Do u by any chance know a place in India called Bhopal which is still facing the consequences??
And another comedy from u.. comparing 13k crore plant with 10rs nut & bolt… just caz it is a costly doesn’t mean it is safe… which school did u study man?
I am not comparing corruption with this. If India can digest so much of corruption, y not digest this as well for the of india…
Y isn’t the government ready to hold an open discussion, live on TV and give explanation to all the concerns raised by the ppl who are protesting. if they can do that, 90% of the ppl will fall into one sdee. Indian’s r not so dumb to sit back and protest for everything.
Dude,how come u r so dump?? I didn’t mean or i don’t know whether it is 100% safe. What i meant is, we can’t simply drop this project just for the reason that “Something ‘MAY’ happen” in the future. I don’t know to which state u belong to. But we are still facing 10 to 12 hrs of power cut (tat too in summer). I think, this project will be the only hope for the government to overcome this power deficiency considering tough times with neighboring states. U can’t be one among those illiterate protesters considering your comments in this article. I think u may be an illiterate from some foreign country (considering ur english 😛 ). If u want to lead a life without any risk better go to forest and lead a stone age life. Goyyale… current ah kuduka vida maatranunga… Ithuku nee reply pannum pothu current um illama, un laptop la charge um illama pogatum:)
Man these two sentences bring out the REAL English in you… Did u go for schooling in Britain?
“Dude,how come u r so dump??”
“I don’t know to which state u belong to” … Gr8 going..
Considering that I didn’t understand ur poor english and some crap u have written @ the end… Just think for urself on whether u will have the same opinion if ur mom & dad are living in that village, doing farming / fishing.. If u will still vouch for this project for the betterment of Tamilnadu then I salute you (Seriously). Unfortunately, 99% of the ppl in India always put family before nation / state (including me ofcourse).
hey… i may not be good in english. But i have common sense unlike you. You don’t even have any idea of how bad we are suffering without power. How are u so sure that something is going to happen to those people living in that village. R u a god or wat?? Please cork up and sit safely in ur state. I think ur mom and dad only doing farming/fishing in that village (may be among those protesting illiterates). Thats y u are fuming. I realized my mistake of wasting lot of time by replying to ur stupid posts.Nothing gonna change coz of our discussions. Power generation is on its way and u ppl can’t pluck anything.
Hi.. In my last comment, I accepted defeat if u think u will support the project even if ur loved ones are staying near the plant. Unfortunately, I am not like you and that is y I have an opposite view.
I am NOT so sure that something wrong will happen, but if that happens (although with very small probabilty), the effects are so huge.. If u have time, read a book called “Black swan” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. He clearly explains how ppl neglect unexpected, large magnitude events when they make decisions..
Dr. APJ headed the Pokhran Tests II. Was it some rocket test? Last I heard it was nuclear test. So do you mean to say that APJ knew nothing about nuclear science and headed the operations team?
For those asking for spent fuel to be processed close to Chennai. It is already being done in Kalpakkam.
I have worked in many power plants including nuclear and lived near them for many years.
The villagers near Udumalpet say that rainfall has decreased after windmills were established in the area and their agriculture is affected. I have not done any scientific fact checking. If true, should we then ban windmills too?
hey,
try to answer this. 🙂
http://www.dianuke.org/6-questions-to-jayalalitha-posed-by-tamil-writer-gnani-sankaran/
Why is it that all the documents, reports and stories, that are against Kudankulam and Nuclear power in general, come without any citations or sources?? Is there some unwritten rule that these authors are following?
Nice read… small errata, in the graphic titled deaths due to nuclear power plants you’ve mentioned 47 death overall, it should be 50.
47 in chernobyl and 3 operators in SL-1, totals 50…
The mistake has been rectified.Thank you:)
This one cites. http://aamjanata.com/debunking-the-myth-of-the-necessity-of-nuclear-energy/
Has mentioned some figures wrong from the source.
Meanwhile Bangladesh is kicking our ass http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2011/06/solar-panels-power-one-million-bangladesh-homes/1#.T2xDzxHxpKY
GR8 post. Its the US and Church behind all the silly protests.
http://www.firstpost.com/india/why-the-kudankulam-protesters-have-it-all-wrong-253669.html#disqus_thread
No issues there.. I officially write for them
This is a really well written & is one of the very few articles that I actually enjoyed reading – so much that I completed it in one sitting! Although I won’t argue in favor of, or against, your views, but I do appreciate your efforts in composing this excellent article!
A Good post indeed but this is completely partial, first of all it wont generate 10000MW ..jus 1000 MW from first reactor and it ll take another year to get the other 1000.Same as per your medicine, this wont solve TN’s Power crisis for the next two year and your deficit count is bound to increase every year so even after implementation of KKNP it wont solve the crisis. Next, the main issue of udaykumar’s qualification, though he leads the protest there is an expert team which submitted their review to CM. This team had enough expertise to prove their claim. The reason why the protest gained momentum is post 2001 when the treaty signed in 1987 was modified to have the nuclear waste in kudankulam only and that russia is not responsible for any compensation in case of any disaster and that india has to bear those expense and we all know what we are capable of from our Bhopal gas tragedy.The next major question apart from the safety aspect is with the nuclear waste. No one knows what will be done to the waste which has to be maintained properly for 50000 yrs. Also the EA (environment assessment is not clear on the effects of sealife as the effluents will be disparged into the sea. With all these complaints i dont know why they shudnt protest when their livehood is under stake. On top of this TN will not get the full power generated from this plant so end of the day you are still under deficit.
just because you put up a few tables and give it a filmy angle doesn’t mean the issue is that subtle or simple…
TN has a power crisis..sure..
why?
enter…the shifting of power between DMK and ADMK.. they did not have the foresight.. plus they thought they could contract private companies and get their cut of the profits.. that didn’t work out so well..
Why this project means a lot to congress?.. it was started by Rajiv Gandhi..
wanting to improve Indo-Russo relations…. TN was supposed to become the nuclear testing ground…
why were the powercuts in TN frequented recently?.. to gather support against the anti-koodankulam protesters..
get your facts right..
http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/montague-massachusetts-citizens-stop-nuclear-power-plant-construction-united-states-1974
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In 1973, the Northeast Utilities (NU) company began developing plans to build a nuclear power plant in the small town of Montague, Massachussets. The company’s investment in the plant totaled $1.52 billion, roughly thirty times the assessed value of the whole town. The project’s only vocal adversaries were a group of organic farmers who called themselves the Nuclear Objectors for a Pure Environment (NOPE). One of the group’s most active participants was Samuel Lovejoy, an organic farmer and longtime resident of Montague.
On February 22, 1974, George Washington’s birthday, Sam Lovejoy snuck onto the NU property and sabotaged a 500-foot weather tower, which the plant had built to test wind direction. Using a wrench and a few other farm tools, Lovejoy loosened one of the guide wires that supported the base of the tower, causing the foundation to collapse. Lovejoy then went directly to the police station and turned himself in, along with a four-page statement in which he justified his action. The goal of his action, as he emphasized in his statement, was not to provoke fear, but rather to spark a public debate on the effects of nuclear reactors. He also claimed that it was unfair of the nuclear energy industry to target a rural area and construct a reactor that would ultimately serve the electrical needs of more densely populated cities.
The following morning, the police released him from jail on personal recognizance. His trial was scheduled to take place in six months. Lovejoy, who decided to represent himself rather than use an attorney, faced one count of malicious destruction of personal property. He announced that he would plead “not guilty” to the charge.
Lovejoy’s act focused the local community’s attention on the construction of the power plant and its implications. In the spring of 1974, a few months after Lovejoy felled the tower, town meetings in the neighboring towns of Shutesbury, Leverett, and Wendell passed resolutions in favor of a nuclear moratorium. In Montague, however, the town meeting rejected the call for a moratorium by a vote of 67 to 12. In the town elections that followed, local officials submitted a referendum proposition asking residents whether they supported the construction of two nuclear plants.
As part of their campaign against nuclear power, NOPE formed the NO party and submitted five of their own candidates for positions such on the board of health, as moderator, and as town meeting representative. The NO party’s campaign received attention from local newspapers, and although none of their candidates won positions, Sam Lovejoy garnered over 100 votes for town representative. The referendum passed, but by a slimmer margin than the pro-nuclear authorities expected- out of 3,000 voters, 770 voted “no” on the nuclear plant proposal.
Besides the NO party, the Alternative Energy Coalition (AEC) emerged as another opposition voice. Founded by Harvey Wasserman, an anti-nuclear activist, the organization threw its support behind the NO party candidates as part of a public awareness campaign. After the local elections, the AEC started a campaign to include a dual referendum on the State Senate district ballot. The first part of the referendum asked the state senator to oppose the Montague nuclear project, and the second asked that the senator “sponsor and support a resolution aimed at closing and dismantling” two active nuclear power plants in Rowe, Massachusetts, and Vernon, Vermont. By the end of summer, 1974, the AEC had collected enough signatures to get the referendum included on the ballot.
In September, 1974, Lovejoy went on trial at the Franklin County Superior Court in Greenfield, Mass. After a lengthy trial (which included Lovejoy’s six-hour uninterrupted testimonial in front of a jury), the case was ultimately dismissed by Judge Kent Smith. Smith justified the acquittal on the basis of a legal technicality: Lovejoy could not be punished for destroying “personal property” because the tower was actually “real property.”
One day after the acquittal, NU announced their decision to put off construction of the nuclear plants for another year. The company’s financial problems, combined with high interest rates and material cost increases caused officials to reconsider the $1.5 billion investment. The following month, another referendum against the Montague plant failed by a much smaller margin than the first. In the district-wide referendum, 23,000 voters opposed construction of the plant. The fact that 47.5 percent of the population now stood against the project revealed the success of Lovejoy’s campaign.
On February 22, 1975, NU pushed the construction date back another four years, citing money problems. In 1980, the company officially canceled the project. The remnants of the plant were sold to an alternative energy company that used the recycled materials to build windmills.
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As a democratic country..
> Why should nt we respect or convince the people of KK instead of forcing them..
> Few thousand crores can be re paid by the same taluk of people in a smaller EMI’s and defintely that is achieveable
> That reactors can be used for alternative sources.
> After all we are losing lakhs and lakhs of crores in 2G and mining..
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கூடங்குளம் அணுமின் நிலையத்தின் அதிகபட்ச உற்பத்தி திறன் 950 மெகா வாட். முதல் கட்டமாக ஒரு ஆண்டுக்கு 150 மெகா வாட்டில் தொடங்கி, சிறிது சிறிதாக உயர்த்தி 3 ஆண்டுகளில் 950 மெகா வாட் உற்பத்தி நிச்சயம் நடைபெறும். இதற்காக செலவிட வெளியிலிருந்து பெறப்படும் மின்சாரம் 85 மெகா வாட். மொத்த மின் உற்பத்தியில் 60 சதவீதம் அணு உலை அமைந்து உள்ள மாநிலத்துக்கு வழங்கப்படும். ஆக முதல் ஆண்டு மின் உற்பத்தியில் 60 சதவீதமாக தமிழகத்துக்கு கிடைக்க உள்ள மின்சாரம் 90 மெகா வாட். இதற்காக தமிழக அரசு செலவிடும் மின்சாரம் ( 85 ) கழிக்கப்பட்டால் மீதமுள்ளது 5 மெ.வாட். ஒருவேளை 3 ஆண்டுகள் கழித்து ( அதற்குள் எந்த அரசியல், புவியியல் விபத்துகளால் குழப்பம் ஏற்படாமல் இருந்து ) ஆண்டுக்கு 950 மெ வாட் மின்சாரம் உற்பத்தி செய்யப்பட்டால் அதில் மத்திய தொகுப்புக்கு போக தமிழகத்துக்கு கிடக்கக் கூடிய மின்சாரம் 625 மெ. வாட். அதற்காக தமிழக அரசு செலவிடும் 85 மெ வாட் போக மீதம் உள்ளது 540 மெ. வாட். எவ்விதத்திலாவது அணு உலையால் மக்கள் பாதிக்கப்பட்டால ் 10 ஆண்டுகளுக்குள் ( சொந்தக்காரர்கள் உயிரோடு இருந்தால் ) காப்பீடாக ஒரு மனித உயிரிழப்புக்கு ( மத்த ஜீவராசிகளுக்கு காப்பீடு, தொழில் நுட்பம் பற்றி தெரியாததால் வழங்க வாய்ப்பில்லை ) தலா ரூபாய் 34 ஆயிரம் பெறலாம். இந்த நிதியில் 60 சதவீதம் மாநில அரசும், 40 சதவீதம் மத்திய அரசும் வழங்கும். அணு உலை அமைத்து, அதன் செயல்பாட்டை கட்டுப்படுத்தும ் வெளி நாட்டிடம் யாரும் பணம் கேட்கக் கூடாது. அணு உலை பாதிப்பு குறைந்த பட்சம் 250 ஆண்டுகள் நீடிக்கும் என்றாலும் 10 ஆண்டு கடந்த பிறகு யாரும் காப்பீடு கோர முடியாது.
இதற்காக பணயம் வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள உயிர்களின் எண்ணிக்கை பல லட்சங்கள், பணமோ பல ஆயிரம் கோடிகள்… இயற்கையும் மனித இனத்தையும் அழிக்கப்போகும் அணு உலைகள் தேவைதானா?
Please tanslate into English, for the benefit of readers who do not know Tamil, and for people who have not installed a Tamil Font
So your option is to sit on your ass and do nothing to solve problems?
Aruna roy, Arundhati roy, Romila thapar, V.R.Krishna Iyer, Harsh Mander, Prapul Pithvai, A.Gopalakrishnan, Anil choudhary, Prashant bhushan are the people who supported the cause.
http://www.rediff.com/news/report/activists-plan-kudankulam-chalo-on-march-15/20120305.htm
Do a cross verification of their bio data dude.. 🙂
How about the bullet proof jackets of our army men given by our government who died by the shots of mumbai attackers. You still feel the safety standards are good? why are you asking him to present a paper, the government as a democratic one should be answerable to the questions of the people. Why the government is signing all the agreements in a hidden manner? Let the government present a paper by an independent authority on this.
NIceLee ADVaCated.!
To all people who say koodankulam shd not be opened.
Please switch of all the gadgets which consume electricity 🙂 and reduce the power deficit in TN 😀 ..
And the main advantage in switching off the gadgets is that U R SAFE FROM ELECTRIC SHOCK . It may be shock proof , but as many people feel that anythin can happen . It is good that u r in a safer side 🙂
All the Best 🙂 😛
The media and protesters are blowing things out of proportion. Just like the way railway accidents cause more death than airplane accidents and still the latter gets highlighted more, other modes of power generation kills more people than nuclear power generation. The latter gets more hype. Its our bias that is to be blame
To add some fact to ur analysis u have made whether its correct or wrong, All the power generated by tamil nadu will not be used by tn itself. The power will be transmitted to other states too and that what happened for the last couple of years. To buy this argument if power is generated it should be transmitted to tamil nadu also so how come tamil nadu alone nt getting power while other states which dont even have power generation plants getting power. Is tamil people fools?
there are no sources cited by the main article. nor by those opposing udaykumar or the protests.
since the protests arent being covered at all, save in the form of soundbytes that mainly seek to dismiss them, there’s little this article can do to be unbiased. and it doesnt even do that!
To all those who are supporting nuclear energy
What is the need for the government to enact a law called ‘The Nuclear Liability ‘ bill just to safeguard those private firms involved in building nuclear plants?
Why should government take the burden on its head and pay taxpayers money for relief measures in case of nuclear accidents in those so called ‘supersafe’ plants?
My Dear Friend,
I believe all your hard work in collecting, writing and putting together these statistics and jazmattaz is missing a bigger picture.
Today Energy is a ‘big’ business manipulated by big corporate such as Shell / BP. These companies are doing irreparable harm to our environment. Fossil Fuels as well as Nuclear Energy are baring the Mother earth, responsible for cutting forests, polluting water, killing marine life by spilling oil in our increasingly lifeless seas and biggest of all air pollution. This consumerist culture has to stop somewhere. We cannot wait to take action until the last bird and last animal dies.
Free Energy technologies are therefore stopped because of BIG MONEY and BIG ENERGY BUSINESS. Just imagine all your plastics to paint to toothbrush.. all need oil. OIL and dependent technologies are everywhere.
Nuclear disasters like Furukshima (Japan) are played down and public is not give any true picture by bitchy bastard media which is in bed with all corporate and government. Infact owned and manipulated by them.
Just Google… Nikola Tesla, Free Energy, PESN
Try going through these links:
http://occupywallst.org/article/today-324-disrupting-dirty-power-eviction-fossil-f/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Energy-The-Worlds-Call-to-Release-Nikola-Teslas-Scientific-Research/183702428382679
or
My Blog:
and my Facebook notes:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/occupy-india/the-world-of-free-energy/149776781805149?ref=notif¬if_t=like
I am unsure as you about the politics behind Kudankulum, but of one thing.. It is a race to tap energy market of India by big corporate be of Russia or US.
Loved your earlier blogs on Kingfisher and Indian History. Please keep giving us your critical insights.
So the question is how is an ultramodern nuclear power plant unsafe while a 116 years old dam made of Surki safe?
Kaipulla (infant in Tamil) going by your name I should have expected babbling. Oh boy what a lengthy babble! Man if Kalam is a nuclear scientist you too are. You can call him a scientist but according to me that man should have some level of credentials / recognitions to call himself a scientist. How many research papers has he published? How many scientists have referred his works? Why does India still depend on foreign countries? Why can’t the country built a reactor indigenously? Why did India lease a nuclear submarine from Russia before building Arihant? How can you call somebody a subject matter expert if he himself depends on somebody?
OK am I a scientist? But the difference between you and me is that I don’t go chest thumping and fall for an engineer from MIT who is now a politician and a spinmeister. The late John William Gofman opposed nuclear energy, he was part of Manhattan Project and shared a patent on uranium fission. He received doctorate in nuclear and physical chemistry and earned a medical degree too. No vested interest there unlike most nuclear scientists / engineers. Please read http://www.ratical.org/radiation/CNR/PlowboyIntrv.html.
//I tried hard to find one that resembled what I mentioned above. After arduous Googling, this is what I found, a post written by Dr Udayakumar himself, on the perils of Kudankulam.//
See how linear and blinded you are? Why the hell did you google for Uthayakumar? Why didn’t you look for people like Gofman, Peter Duerr? Don’t you think that is parochial of you? No researches just prattle on.
//Finally, the population of the village of Kudankulam is 11, 029. In his quest for some grandiose statistics, he forgot this one.//
This shows what a bloody fascist you are. Bharathi said, “We will destroy this world even if one man goes hungry”, he must be squirming in his grave.
This guy is a rabble rouser like the TN politicians. I’m not going to waste my time reading the nonsense he writes!
EPIC!!!!!@Meera Kumari!!!!! ‘aap log beth jaiye….’ =DD
Hi Uday,
Thanks for your response. The point I am trying to make is that all the people on the so called expert board constituted by the government are in some way or other part of the nuclear establishment of the country.Going by your argument who would have Kalam consulted. Scientists belonging to the same establishment.Do you know about the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill. It restricts the compensation provided by government in the case of a Nuclear disaster to a maximum amount of 1500 crore rupees. Even if we take this blog author’s objections over the population figures mentioned onboard , over a Million people live in a 40 km radius and the per head compensation works out to a grand total of 15000 rupees. The initial agreement with Soviet Union was for 2 reactors of 1000 MW capacity each at Kudankulam. Even that was met with stiff protests from locals. Later in 2008 the government signed a MOU with Russia to add another 4 units to increase the power capacity to 10000 MW. Is the government open about Nuclear waste management. The Spent Fuel is going to be transported “through both Railways and by roadways” to a Reprocessing facility (God knows where) “in a safe manner without any public hazard.” We don’t know where this Reprocessing facility is or whether it exists or it is yet to be built. Till the spent fuel is sent for reprocessing , it will be stored at Kudankulam and that also is one of the main fears of the protestors. It is not going to be easy for the government from here on. The awareness level of people have increased.
The claim that modern reactors, such as the VVER reactors in Kudankulam, are “100% safe” is scientifically untenable; every nuclear reactor has a finite, albeit small, probability of undergoing a catastrophic failure. More specifically, the VVER reactors have previously had problems with the control rod mechanism. On March 1, 2006, for example, one of the four main circulation pumps at Bulgaria’s Kozluduy unit 5 tripped because of an electrical failure. When the system reduced the power to 67 per cent of nominal capacity, three control rod assemblies remained in an upper-end position. Follow-up tests of the remaining control rod assemblies identified that in total, 22 out of 61 could not be moved with driving mechanisms. Control rod insertion failures can seriously compromise safety in an accident.
There is a very simple indirect test by means of which even a non-expert can evaluate the question of nuclear safety. If there was really a “0% chance” of an accident, why would nuclear vendors work so hard to indemnify themselves? Atomstroyeksport, the vendor of the Kudankulam plant is protected by a special intergovernmental agreement, which would prevent victims from suing it in the event of an accident. Companies like Westinghouse are holding back on reactor sales to India, since the new liability law includes some very mild liability for suppliers. When nuclear companies are unwilling to stake their financial health on these claims of “100% safety,” how can the government ask local residents to risk their lives?
Dude, if you are making a comment, at least ensure the facts are right. This is the disputed clause taken from the bill itself. (1) The maximum amount of liability in respect of each nuclear incident shall be the rupee equivalent of three hundred Million Special Drawing Rights or such higher amount as the Central government may specify by notification
So it is clear, that your claim of the compensation being capped is false.
Also, a million people don’t live in that area. The population of the entire Tirunelveli district is 3 million. How can 33 percent of the entire district’s population live in the 30 km area around Kudankulam?
Finally, you can’t stop developmental activities with the assumption that things may go wrong. The VVER-1000 is a reactor that is certified safe. Yes there is a probability of 0.1 percent that it may go wrong. However, the probability is also the same for you getting hit by a meteorite, the next time you step out of the house. So will you stop visiting your friends?
Regarding the Bulgaria thingy you mentioned. Did any radiation leak out? Were people killed? Was it a nuclear accident? If not, then they are useless to this post. And they do not add anything to your claims that Kudankulam is unsafe.
The text in the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill regarding the liability of the operator reads as below sub section 2(6)
” 6(1)The maximum amount of liability in respect of each nuclear incident shall be the rupee equivalent of three hundred Million Special Drawing Rights
(2)The liability of the operator for each incident shall be rupees five hundred crores
Provided that the government may having regard to the extent of risk involved in a nuclear installation, by notification , either increase or decrease the amount of liability of the operator”
Now when will such notification about increasing the liability of the operator be issued by the government. Is it after a disaster has happened. It is illegal and will not stand in court of law. If the notification about increasing the liability is issued prior to operating the plant, the operator might not want to operate the plant. If the notification comes at a design stage , then the plant will never get commissioned
So the bill clearly and effectively caps the maximum amount of liability in case of each nuclear accident at INR 1,500 crore (US$299.25 million) to be paid by the operator of the nuclear plant.
The civil nuclear liability bill also says
”
5(1) The operator shall not be liable for any nuclear damage where such damage is caused by a nuclear incident directly due to
(i). a grave natural disaster of exceptional character or
(ii) an act of armed conflict, hostility,civil war, insurrection or terrorism”
Fukushima Daichi reactors were designed to withstand earthquake of 7.1 richter scale magnitude. They got 9.1 and the tsunami as well. So in case of such an event the operator effectively gets away
Regarding Kudankulam the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) signed secretly by the governments of India and Russia on liability in February 2008 effectively absolves Russia of any liability. The government has not released the text of this agreement till date.
Kudankulam is in Tirunelveli district and is actually closer to Nagercoil-Kanyakumari district. The Atomic Energy Regulation Board has said, that there should be no tourism site within a radius of 20 km from the plant when Kudankulam is only 14 kms from Kanyakumari and only 60 kms by air from Thiruvananthapuram. An accident at
Kudankulam will be unmanageable because of the high density of population.
The Bulgarian New Agency Novonite has posted details of the incident (http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=127703) . Wikileaks has details about the incident in Bulgaria (http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2006/05/06SOFIA716.html#). EU is delaying membership to Bulgaria over concerns on Kozluduy unit 5.
Why do you think this is unrelated to Kudankulam. It is the same VVER-1000 used in Kozluduy unit 5 that is being used in Kudankulam.
Regarding the probablity of me getting hit by a meteorite or getting run down by a water tanker , such a consequence will only affect my family and my near and dear. Whereas a Nuclear Catastrophe will affect generations and destroy the entire ecology and livelihood of local people. The schoolchildren of Kudankulam have written a letter to the PM of India. There is a particularly damning sentence in it
” Your generation has no moral legitimacy to pollute our natural resources and poison our future in order to get electricity for 30 to 40 years.”
At the end of the day it boils down to the question. Can you really trust the Indian politicians and bureaucracy to take decisions in an impartial manner without any malafide intentions guiding their choice.I don’t need a crystal ball to answer that question.
We have seen what happened at Bhopal before. The waste at the site is yet to be cleaned.This is the same government that has let Warren Andersen escape in a chartered aircraft
ANy disaster, bring in Warren Andersen. I mean, let us be realistic, how do you expect the CEO of a multi billion dollar company to know what is happening on the ground, in one of the million plants that his company operates across the world? He could have very well chose not come to India at all, given the feelings and the emotions at that time.
And read the link properly. There was no release of Radiation outside in Bulgaria and situation was quickly bought under control. The reactor was shut down during this leakage, so the blame lies somewhere else. To be very honest with you, I really think you and Udaya kumar are no different. Just fear-mongerers without any sort of knowledge on what you are speaking.
Also, why should the government release the agreement. It is a confidential document, which cannot be handed over just because some people ask. Tomorrow, you will ask for the blue-print of the power plant or India’s nuclear missile locations. Should we hand them as well? And, what documents, have you protestors made public? Bloody, they haven’t even released proper accounts. And it took me precisely 7 minutes and 36 seconds to prove that whatever account statement Udayakumar released, is BOGUS.
Yeah, and if it conclusively established that the fault lies in the design of the reactor, any court of law is going to side with the government and whatever compensation it deems necessary. And the fact is, there are so many safeguards and checks, nothing is going to happen.
Also for dramatic effect, take a pregnant lady, do a live ultrasound and tell even the unborn kid doesn’t want the power plant.
Finally, have you visited Tirunelveli. If not, let me tell you its topography. It is full of hills and surrounded by the sea. That itself will act as a natural containment chamber for the any radiation leakage. And u know what was the radius of the radiation spread at Fukushima? 20 kms.. And for your kind info, I live 3 Kms, by air, from a nuclear plant. So all your humbug about me living close to a power plant is not valid.
I wonder about these indicators:
1986 Chernobyl, USSR – major nuclear reactor accident, likely caused by Human errors. Note: Kalpakam measured 1000 times the avg radiation 1 week after the accident. USSR kept it *secret* until Sweden detected radioactive particles on their clothes (1100km away) and started an investigation.
1988 KKNPP agreement India (a friend in deed) signed with USSR (a friend in need)!
[Indian govt has support approx billion Hindu-stanis’ faith in re-incarnation. i.e., Let the sinners (uncivilized rural/tribal) suffer. If
have not sinned, then there will be no accidents. Or have they?]
1991: The battle to contain the contamination and avert a greater catastrophe ultimately involved over 500,000 workers and cost an estimated 18 billion rubles, crippling the Soviet economy [Wikipedia Chernobyl page]
(yes, only “50 people died” or maybe Chernobyl page has other indicators)
2011: Fukushima accident in Japan, one week after the authorities declare all reactors very safe.
Japan is known for their capacity in manageable workforce, and with years of maintaining 54 reactors.
One year later, 500,000 (upper-middle-class) people are feared to have moved out of Japan. Upto 250km considered for evacuation, and was on the verge of evacuating over 3 million in Tokyo. [http://bos.sagepub.com/content/68/2/9.full Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Fukushima review] (yes. “zero fatalities”). Spent fuel rods (waste) that needs continuous cooling also melt-down increasing the disaster many folds.
2011 (soon after the F-above): A hue and cry of a big need for Nuclear Reactor in Tamil Nadu encouraged by media and govt/nuclear bodies (instead of running for their lives!): KKNPP is safe, clean, best. TN needs it.
(Compare a biomass gasifier of 2MW that can be installed at industry locations at minuscule cost. A 100 of these are effectively equivalent to the power share from KKNPP [http://www.eai.in/ref/ae/bio/csbg/statewise_installation.html]).
[Indian govt has support approx billion Hindu-stanis’ faith in re-incarnation. i.e., Let the sinners (uncivilized rural/tribal) suffer. If
have not sinned, then there will be no accidents. Or have they?]
Last week: India voted for a US-backed resolution urging Sri Lanka to probe rights abuses in the war on the Tamil Tigers.
Tamils happy. Will some Sri Lankan criminals (potential) wants to get back and target/support a terrorist attack on KKNPP?
KKNPP is strategically located in the Indian Ocean politics. Iran is a big infrastructure developer in Sri Lanka already (for example).
[Indian govt has support approx billion Hindu-stanis’ faith in re-incarnation. i.e., Let the sinners (uncivilized rural/tribal) suffer. If
have not sinned, then there will be no accidents. Or have they?]
Can we ask instead: geez, some energy but for what ends is KKNPP. Or can we say whats the hurry, post Fukushima. Give a few years to study the F-disaster. Can we in the meantime, push these resources to develop research and development of alternative energy [see dianuke.org]. The nuclear reactor is appears like a show of machismo and not the Tamil Nadu power crisis. For reasons/rationalization provided here by other comments here.
And I wonder how we can rationalize (into an argument of yours) indicators such as these.
ps: I can give detailed cases and can even point to people who can set up gasifiers, sooner than you say “its summer already in Tamil Nadu”. And thanks for the blog that is bringing these thoughts together. Maybe one day you have the will get to look the need of a project whose accidents are not human-scale [book: Normal Accidents], from your heart?
Informative write up Kaipullai.. Dr S P Udayakumar, who holds a PHD in political science is asking for the map of the Koodankulam plant.I really don’t understand what he is going to do with the map when he is a zero in nuclear science.. Good to see people believing ‘cynics’ like Gnani and rejecting a qualified ‘vignani'(Dr.Kalam) outright..This shows the credibility of our medias..Without any knowledge if he is asking for the map,it only means that he is going to sell it to an ‘evil force’.Moreover this is the same
For more details, go through this : http://veedhiulaa.blogspot.in/2011/11/blog-post_29.html
Moreover there is a complaint against this Udayakumar that he has threatened that he will blast the power plant..I wonder which will result in a bigger disaster? Blasting the power plant or radioactive wastes?
Its time to arrest Udayakumar and those opposing the power plant…
Another ange to the ‘protests’. Why are they being funded by Christian organisations based out of the United States? Is it a surprise to anyone that proselytizing specially Christianity needs the targeted peoples to be miserable, poor and undeveloped and to stay that way so that ‘missionaries’ can come and ‘uplift’ them ?!?!?
d reason they never protested earlier but now is cuz d political parties were jus fillin their pockets n did ve enuf to buy briyani n quater for d protestors.. but now wid al d bribe n esp wid d big loot from 2G, they r probably wealthy enuf to serve 3 meals of these.. 😉
Good write up 🙂
Kaipulla,
Don’t expect that the radiation will take bus route to reach nagercoil from koodankulam. What you have mentioned about distance of nagercoil is bus route distance. The aerial distance is about 28 kilometers. Approximately the same distance for kanyakumari also. So don’t exclude population of Nagercoil and kanyakumari. Also we must also consider the sub districts like nangunery and thovalai which are also near to koodankulam. Vallioor a major town in Nangunery sub district is around 32 kilometers from koodankulam (aerial distance).If you consider Radhapuram, Sathankulam, Nangunery, agasteeswaram and Thovalai sub districts the total population is 11,70,367. So nothing wrong in the figures given by the protesters. Finally I want to tell you one thing, In democratic country, we must give more priority to peoples will not for money. It is the right of the people to protest. Government has to conduct a opinion poll surrounding the koodankulam area and if majority of the people opted for nuclear energy in their region, then only the Govt can go ahead or simply drop it however big project it is. Don’t expect people should have protested strongly at the initial stage itself. Most of the people come to know about the danger of nuclear plant after the Fukhishima disaster. Also availability of TV and other media helped them to improve their knowledge on nuclear disaster.
Why are you stopping at these three districts. While you are at it add the population of the entire state of Tamil Nadu then. Please don’t make assumptions to justify the figures quoted. Even assuming the aerial path, have you considered the hilly topography of the district. Won’t they act as a natural obstruction to the radiation. Have you considered that they have to travel over the sea? It is not as if they have a clear route to population centres right? And did you consider half life of the radioactive material? Most of the radiation that is released in case of a power plant, dissipates in less than half an hour. Please read other comments to understand this concept better.
I am not saying people cannot protest. But protest with some justification? In fact in all of this, the government is more transparent than the protestors, whose motives are suspect and whose funding is dodgy? Why should the government, which has invested thousands of crores in this prestigious project, listen to protestors armed with half baked theories and no scientific data?
However, I agree with you on one thing. It is the unnecessary sensationalism in the media, that has given some the wrong impression. Please don’t call it knowledge. Misconception will be a better word.
I wrote my first comment since you told that Protesters claim that 10 lakh people are living in 30 km radius around koodankulam is wrong. I tried to reiterate that their figure is correct. Tell me whether their figure about population is correct or wrong? Do you expect that those people has to find number of people living behind hill and number of people living away from people in each sub district and calculate their figure. Do you have any concrete proof that the people living behind hills will not be affected by radiation. If yes show to us. Don’t try to satire peoples protest. Any one with humanity and nature loving people will support this movement. Already Govt has failed to prove that they are being funded by foreign nationals. You know this. Police has registered cases against 30 children and 42 women under IPC 121which has to only booked for Waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India. Dis they kill anyone?
Have you heard this news,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/tamil/global/2012/03/120326_japannuclear.shtml
Govt of Japan is mulling to drop nuclear power only due to people’s protest. First of all give more priority to peoples voice. Then give the priority to money or even power.
U are questioning the validity of the official census figures?..Sorry, I give up.
I could not reply to your lower comment, but I would just like two add my two cents here:
1. A lot of statistics released by the governments after disasters are manipulated. (e.g. number of people affected by nuclear disasters).
2. Nuclear accidents don’t just cause deaths at immediate exposure to radiation, but also cause congenital birth defects in future generations, pollute the environment and the food chain for decades to come.
3. Nuclear reactors have not been found to be financially sustainable without high subsidies by the governments.
4. The government has not released several important documents such as nuclear liability agreement (with the company that made the reactor), disaster management action plan, radioactive waste disposal plan, etc. No safety evacuation drills have been carried out in the region. The PMANE has requested the government several times to have the site and plant reveiwed by independent experts in the field, to no avail.
5. Alternate renewable sources of energy need to be explored and invested in, and also there is a need to use electricity in a more conservative and sensitive manner.
6. The AERB is ‘run’ by the government, and it’s hard to believe their reports, especially when some of them are not even being released to the public.
7. In the world’s largest democracy, using violence and slapping charges of sedition against people protesting in a peaceful and democratic manner is shameful.
I think the best argument you posted here that is simply overrides all others are:
“Mein appki feelings samajh sakti hoon, aap log please Baith Jaiye.”
And if anyone feels thats not enough, here is the trump card, “Aap log please shanth ho jaiye”.
Uver Honar, I Rest my Case.
Seshu,
Why should we choose to ignore Bhopal and Warren Andersen. This incident happened in our own country. Has the site been cleaned after the disaster. Disastrous after effects of the gas tragedy at the erstwhile pesticide factory of Union Carbide, from where the toxic methyl isocyanate leaked 25 years ago, has been contaminating the soil and underground water in Bhopal. Do we have dedicated workforce like the Japanese who were willing to sacrifice their lives and try to repair the damage at Fukushima (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_50) . If that was the case the Bhopal site would have been cleaned long back.
You have deliberately chosen to ignore the cap in compensation.
“Yeah, and if it conclusively established that the fault lies in the design of the reactor, any court of law is going to side with the government and whatever compensation it deems necessary. ”
It is not as simple as that. Going by the Nuclear liability bill , the government should have assessed a Nuclear Installation and passed a notification to increase the liability. It cannot raise the liability after an incident has happened
For your kind info I have quoted the compensation provided in Bhopal disaster case
“One-time ex-gratia payment of Rs 1,500 to families with monthly income Rs 500 or less was decided.”
Quite a princely sum
Please watch the clip ‘Buddha weeps in Jadugoda’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAb9UjzdixQ to see the kind of Nuclear safeguards in our country.With this kind of simple negligence by Govt. How Nuke will be a clean alternative?
Regarding the incident in Bulgaria, you quite clearly have not read the Wikileaks cable. The reactor was not shut down as you claim. I am quoting from the cable
“On March 1 a short circuit caused one of the cooling
pumps at Kozloduy’s Unit 5 reactor to fail. As part of the
plant’s emergency protection system, power in the reactor was
immediately decreased to 67 percent with the aid of the
system’s control rods. Soon after the reactor was powered
down, the plant’s managers discovered that a number of the
control rods had failed to drop into the proper position to
slow or stop the nuclear reaction. Further investigation
revealed that 22 of the 61 rods were failing to engage. The
plant managers eventually decided to completely shut down the
reactor to further analyze the problem.”
“It was only after a German
newspaper article speculated that Bulgaria had had a
near-Chernobyl accident that Bulgarian officials were
compelled to explain what had occurred. The GOB’s behavior
undoubtedly reflects its anxiety over EU accession and angst
over having to shut down Kozloduy Units 1 through 4 as part
of its membership bid. It also underscores the work still to
be done on creating a culture of greater official
transparency.”
I hope you are aware that control rod failure would lead to an unmanaged nuclear fission chain reaction
Regarding release of the Inter governmental agreement why would the government ever want to release it. This cloak of secrecy suits them and the Nuclear establishment.
For your kind information I am from Kanyakumari district and I know this area like the back of my hand.You have not answered any of my questions on Nuclear Waste management. Neither has the government. Assuming that the reactor is going to be operated for years and years without any incident whatsoever, what is going to happen to the Nuclear Waste. How is the spent fuel going to be stored. How long will it be stored at Kudankulam. Where will it be reprocessed. Half life time of the spent fuel is around 50000 years.
And why do you try to equate me with Udayakumar. Targetting Udayakumar is infact akin to shooting the messenger. In fact I think the support of the church organisations is undermining this movement. I am just a free thinking individual who has lots of questions (which the govt is unwilling to answer) about this monstrosity.
How practical is estimating losses, assigning costs to the life & irreparable loss to environment?. Whether the neighboring communities were informed of this risk? Whether any human will accept? Here comes the Nuclear liability! Evacuating 5 km around involves how much risk hidden in it? This Govt. & Nuke industry is not revealing & addressing and improve upon; at any case nuke science to be allowed to find measures to reduce the risk for application into massive scale (not to treat neighboring communities equivalent to guinea pigs for the development of technology.)
Hence, Nuke technology itself is underdeveloped for the utility of Human at present. Nuke Plant is still a Nuke Bomb contained within 2 meter thick concrete walls & operated with extreme care along with mitigation measures! Risking the people involved in operation (convinced with their remuneration -which is also a social pressure [including the Govt.] ) & neighboring communities.
Lastly , Naoto Kan, who was the Japanese premier a year ago when the plants melted down and blew up, has transformed himself from a nuclear stalwart into an anti-nuclear activist. “I would like to tell the world that we should aim for a society that can function without nuclear energy,” he told the Wall Street Journal in late January, prior to giving a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
When we have lots of way to tap natural energy and convert to electricity, why go for such an expensive and risky technology.
We have a coast line of >800kms. Installing Windmills of various sizes in the sea would easily serve our requirement.
We have a proper day light starting from 6AM to 6PM through out the year, government should look at tapping solar energy, which is completely harmless.
& to the writer of this article, you wont be at ease or calm, if there’s a nuclear reactor setup in the backyards of your home, though its TERMED SAFE.
& Nice to see that you investigated the educational details of protester. One should have a good heart to organize such protests, good heart to safe guard nature, the human life and vegetation, and not right qualification.
If you are so much concerned about qualification, then take on the politician who are not educationally qualified but still head a ministry or a government.
& arent you aware that the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy have been betrayed and the company has happily won the case against them.
Do you know the details of India-US nuclear program agreement? I request you to read that thoroughly and think on the consequences in case of another nuclear disaster. Our people will be severly affected and still the people responsible will escape!!!
& its funny that are worried about people watching afternoon serials and sleeping in college hostel because of uninterrupted power supply, and you are not worried about the people who are protesting. They are not protesting for themselves, they are protesting for the future generations to come. If you are really aware of the consequences of nuclear radiations, you would have not been so funny in your article.
& to your point on the population of Kudankulam, be it a village of even 100, its their life man. And they are common people and not soldiers or fighters who are ready to sacrifice their life for the sake of the nation. Will you be writing this article if you grandfather, or ur uncle or your close relative live in that village.
Huh!!! You are being too cinematic, & I guess the power cut situation has seriously affected your thought process and that why you ended up writing such an article.
Remember that whatever technologies are being developed, you cannot play the nature!!!
Nature is unpredictable and will be very cruel.
Shesha
1. Tamilnadu was under President rule the whole year of 1988 ( president at that time was ex- congress union minister ) – so better understand why this particular place or state was chosen at that time:-) without any state govt’s consent
2. There was no fukishima accident kind all the 24 years and awareness of nuclear accident was less in 1990’s. All these things geared up only after fukushima. More specifically when there was a mock drill of Disaster recovery planning- when people where asked to run by closing their nose and mouth !!! are you saying- common man will not understnad the consequence of the actual disaster by this execise ??? are you saying we need PhD from stanford to understnad when someone ask you to run by closing your nose and mouth incase of disaster ??
3.Also there was no 24×7 news channel to hype about any issue at those years. Just because media never recorded any protest( wantedly or not)- does that mean people were silent all these years ??
4. You, a mechatronics engineer by qualification can suddenly become enterprise data integration specialist in 2 months , a political science or any layman can always gain a decent knowledge about nuclear reactor, nuclear waste, how it affeects etc etc by just listening or reading simple articles. It is his fundamental right to protest of afraid of life and consequences. You do need to google his qualification for protesting. In same way- are you a ScD in nuclear science to write about safety of nuclear reactor , VVER etc – ( you can copy paste the world’s safest reactor as quoted by someone.. why cant udaya kumar get some idea of effects of radiation from some other source ??? )
5. – if that guy is a PhD in some thing, he would have defenitely passed 10th std. I remember studying about AC generator, nuclear reactor, galvanometer, electricity, chemistry, compounds etc etc non sense in 8th std and 9th std- i guess he has some basic science knowledge to grasp little things like safety, nuclear radiation effects etc when someone atleast talks about it 🙂
6.. America or NGO funding is doing their business as usual with their self interest. These guys are feared of lffe- they have right to protest, no one need to question their basic right to protest or riducle it . if someone else triggers them or offers support, they will accept. Simple human beings.
7. Till corporation elections in nov 2011, the average power cut was only upto 3 hrs a day. How suddenly last 2-3 months after local body elections and (udayakumr protest in parallel), the average power cut became 10-12 hrs a day ?? do u wanna do some research into that ? . Beleive me – for the last 3 months- i am daily spending my day with 12 hrs power cut . Political reason is to create a perception from rest of the TN districts against protesters. Media writes the same story As if udayakumar is a villan and if KKNP is opened, it will attanin critical and all the issues will be resolved within seconds. My mom by reading tamil newspaper belives that udayakumar is the reason for not able to watch mega serials and was happy seeing the news of udaya kumar may be arrested . How people are made to perceive as desired by the rulers 🙂 Now that sankarankovil (in the tirunelveli district )by election is over by march 18 and all the wait is over to deploy armed forces to supress the non violent hunger strike 🙂
8. yesterday i read the newspaper- within 1 to 1.5months- most of the power issues will be resolved- how ? KKNp will become critical only after 4 months. I know what is the missing piece 🙂
9. Comment about TN govt power production planning is baseless, all the plants- thermal,hydro etc planned in the years of 2006,2007 will be operational by next year. even Without KKNP- TN will be power surplus by 2013.
10. TN govt allocated 500 crores for the infrastructure development , road, house etc for the koodankulam area this month- do you think without any protest these people would have got anything ?? atleast seek attention that they are concerned ??? knowing the end reesult already !!!
11. the best junk piece in your illogical reaosning is this shit ” tampered meters arrest protest is compared and riducled with koondakulam ” – sene(less) of humour ( publish my entire comment without editing with same humour )
12. you forgot one important politcal comedy- Communists parties are supporting jsut bcoz it is from Russia. If it would have been from USA- parliament adjourned one more day !
1. I don’t know why you are equating President’s rule with the establishment of the nuclear power plant. Kudankulam lies in a siesmic zone, classified as II, which means low risk. Also the proximity to the sea is important, as water for cooling is essential. And the kudankumlam and its surrounding coast isn’t known for tsunamis. So it could very well have been a scientific decision, rather than a political one as you claim it is.
2. But I am sure the scientists, before conducting those drills, would have told the people in a language that they can understand, that it is only for a one-in-a-million chance disaster. Are you saying the nearby villagers should not be briefed about emergency procedures, so that they don’t panic?
3. Mebbe not 24 hours media coverage. But it was not even in papers. I tried really hard to look for it but couldn’t find anything other than hearsay accounts. I mean of the protests were of the magnitude that the protestors are claiming, don’t you think there will be some reference?
4. Are you really serious when you equate Enterprise Data Integration with something as complex as Nuclear science? And I am not saying I am qualified to write about it. So, I am quoting sources for every claim that I have made. Sources which are reliable. Please do tell me, if you find a claim not backed up by a source, and I will provide one pronto. Now, what is Udayakumar quoting from? As you rightly said, Udayakumar could be quoting from some source. Now what is that source? Has he done an official study to prove that Kudankulam is Unsafe? Does he have a team of scientists who have done a detailed study? Has he published a paper for the same?
As far as I know, there is no such document in public domain. Why is that so? If Udayakumar is so confident of his claims, why does he not put his study out for public scrutiny? And you know what is so surprising, the government you call opaque, has actually released one such paper, the link for which I have shared. It is open to public scrutiny. And if the government is giving wrong facts, why haven’t the same protestors, contradicted it scientifically?
And please boss, are you really saying you can do a scientific study based on, what essentially, is very basic knowledge of such things. Because that is what you learn till std X? And if you do try to do it, you will get some asinine points like, Nuclear Power Plant = Nuclear Bomb, because both are fission. That may be funny if you look at it in isolation, but when you know the poor people are being fed ridiculous points like that, you need to worry.
5. Now, If you read the power supply situation document that I have shared, you will see that 5000 MW of the total power generation, comes from Wind Energy. Now, that is a very uncertain source, and over the last year, wind generation has fallen down rapidly. So, I really don’t think this power scarcity, as you claimed, is artificially enforced.
Also, Can you please share links about the new sources of power, which irresepective of kudankulam, you say will make TN a power surplus state by 2013. Will definitely add value to the blog.
6. Now, your point about Kudankulam getting 500 crores because of this protest. Now, that is a very bad and a pathetic precedent to set. Now all the other districts will do, start meaningless protests like this one. i will not be surprised, If i hear of protests in TN, every alternate day. And kudankulam would have started it.
7. And all protests without reason are the same. Whatever cause they may be for. Whether is the auto protest in Mumbai, or this kudankulam protest.
8. Also if Dr Udayakumar is using foreign money for protests, which I believe he is, then it is against the law. He has to pay the price. You cannot justify illegal things, whatever the case may be by saying they will accept it.
Also you have not answered this question, Why has Udayakumar inflated population figures by a 100 percent? And in the course of research for this post, I have even read a Gnani article where he claims there is an underwater volcano, that is not being detected by billion dollar satellites, but known personally to him.
Why are people making such ridiculous points?
just came back to see if you had replied anything 🙂
1. Dude- why that same coastal region. seismic zone etc does not apply to nearby state Kerala ? My point was- the site or project was not approved by any elected state govt at that time in 1988. Do you want me to explain further?? i am not talking about politics dude… agreement was between central govt and russian govt without concurrence of people of the region or democraticaly elected state govt.
2. One in a million theroetical chances will not be accepted by people when they have recently heard about fukushima incident . We are not concerend about of probablity of occurence. What if that one in a million chance it occured . what will be impact ? Could you do some research about impact to the bhopal tragedy and see some videos and pics and health hazards to those people . See with open min about the chernobyl- and get some neutral facts.
Again – even if its told in any local langauge that there is a probablity that this plant may burst, in that case- you have to run like this. ha ha ha !!! think humanly and see how the villagers would have felt ! i am expecting you to think sensitively . you wont get panic at all ??? ( i know a over educated person who used to sit in his desk till night 9’o clock without any work, just bcoz his manager is also sitting in his office panicking that his appraisal may be rated little low. when people have that kind of panic in every day life- why cant human beings not panic in these cases ??? ) – DONT stick to your argument for the sake of it . Your maturity comes by acceptance of few things when you have realised in between- i have told this 1000 times to you earlier. this is 1001st time- Arguments are not to be won by anyone- substance to be learned by both !
3. how you tried to look for old news data by sitting in mumbai? you visited connemara librbary in chennai and read all the tamil newspaper with help of some guys who could read tamil from 1988 till date?? what have you searched? how you searched ? i have read here and then news about minor protests when i was a kid. i am here in this state, do i know about my state or you who spent just 4 yrs in TN for education and rest of the life in mumbai ??? just bcoz you were not aware and not able to find in the internet- does it mean sun is revolving around the moon ??
4. OOOOH nuclear science is such a complex thing then how an aeronautical missle engineer can give safety certification to that so easily without any qualification ??? Man he is not talking about nuclear science .. Every tom DICK and harry knew about the health hazards of radiation ( when there is one ) – dont say that you are totally not AWARE of !!! 10th std knowledge of science is enough to understand the impact of radiation – thats it – PERIOD !!! he is only concered about impact….he has every right to contest peacefully !
everyone knew the safety problems with the nuclear science- thats why they are publsihing safety safety safety theory ! he has given more documents about unsafety of nuclear science and impact to TN govt . that too- the document was prepared by well educated sciene community. Go to koodakulam and get a detailed copy from udaya kumar.
read this link- he states 13 reasons why people dosent want it
http://www.dianuke.org/thirteen-reasons-against-the-koodankulam-nuclear-power-project/
– answer all the questions ( i just searched unsafe koodankulam and got this one. probabaly you didnt search the other way around. so you are totally biased ) … i will get you 100 links stating unsafety for every 10 links you talk about safety
5. wind mill power generation is 6000 MW, not 5k. it went down mean? how quantify? source? wind mill power will go down during dry summer , thats as per plann. The other power projects in the pipeline- (projects expected completion this year 2012) .
1. North chennai stage
2, 1200 MW , 2. Mettur stage 3- 600 MW,
3. NTPC-JV vallur- 1041 MW,
4. TNEB-NLC JV- 1000 MW,
5. Small hydro projects- 7 no.s – 90 MW
6. FBTR kalpakkam- 500 MW
7. Neyveli TS -2 – 500 MW
projects anticipated completion by 2013-14:
1. North chennai stage 3 and 4 – 2400 MW ,
2. udangudi- 1600 MW
3. Ennore annexe- 600 MW
4. Kundah Pumped storage- 500 MW
projects kicked off last year and expected 2016:
1. udangudi expansion- 800 mw
2. uppur thermal – 1600 mw
3. ETPS- 600 MW
4. Tuticorin stage 4- 800 MW
Ultra mega power projects- 4000 MW at ceyyur TN coastal power ltd
( sources taken from TN govenment website- electrciity dept, this data i took last year when preparing an essay question )
6. they didnt start the protest to get 500 crores. this money is given as a bribe by the govt to stop the protest. I am jsut seeing this as something they got. poor people – they would not have got anything. this is a wrong prcedent by govt offering 500 crores to supress a protest- people didnt demand it . you have to see it that way !
7. All protest without any reason may be same. This one has a STRONG REASON which you are not ready to see. You chose to close your eyes and i cant help it. Equating this protest with auto drivers protest is not accceptable in any sense buddy( atleast according to few of them). All the protest is not the same. everything is not about life and death. their generations.
8. i am not justfying the use of foreign money. i am seeing thru the eyes of a person who is need of support for his protest. someone is providing. he didnt start the protest for the sake of foreign money- both are different. he is proestig this for more than 10 years- ( this is a very broad topic to discuss. this is mainly intl politics. lets not deviate from the crux )
what population figures ? you have used 2001 census ( go the census site and see from where your search started)- TEN years old data. Can you pls do some research to find the current population as per 2011 census . then i will answer your question. EVEN in that case- does 0.5 million population fall under the regulatory number ?? have you checked that ? instead of finding petty faults with numbers – ( you are talking like some MBA fools with 100% number game) .. in any case- only the project risks 1 million people its worth talking, when its JUST JUST JUST 0.5 million- its okay- is that wat you are saying ??? COOL
dei – also on the alternate energy sources . TN is gonna issue a solar policy in near future in 2 months. now that cost of solar energy production came down by 40% in last 2 yrs. Even small homes can fit a solar system and electrify completly all the lights and fans with 25k investment. So far we have not tapped the solar energy. Gujarat started a 600 MW power from solar recently. Govt need to think of these kind of renewable clean energy which we will get power immedaitely in one year for twith less investment compared to 15000 crores and same 1000mw production – no need to wait for 24 years and involving so much risk . i have done some research and attended some seminar about solar power and recently- costs have come down drastically !!
ha ha.. i thought its a serious post, but after reading i cant control laughing…
Not informative.. a stupid post
u r really talented, for writing a post this big without knowing anything about what u write.. but please do some study before writing something
Okay
Here is the greatest joke of all….
http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/pm-offered-pakistan-5-000-mw-electricity-report_766813.html
Funny article without real facts…. 10,000 MW power generation is not true. Out of four only one will be ready which has a campacity of 1000 MW….
Also not all 1000 MW will be given to TN… As per media reports it is 50%, but historically only 30% has been granted to home state…. keeping this at 50%…. TN will get 500 MW… you completely missed other stats like load factor and distribution losses… Ap per nation index distribution loss is at 27%
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Fellow Countrymen,
Let us just try and consider the situation without any of the political debates presently in progress. At the heart of the situation is a problem that needs to be resolved.
The two sides of this problem are:-
SUPPORTERS: Build and commission the plant and let us make some electricity for TN and India
OPPOSERS: Stop the plant construction and never commission it, since it affects the residents in the nearby towns/villages and the ecosystem
COMMON ISSUE TO SUPPORTERS AND OPPOSERS: Severe shortage of electricity across the state near KK as well as elsewhere in the state. (Even if we consider a conspiracy theory, I feel it might only be a part contributor since probably the biggest problem the power-cuts cause is affect most types of companies and businesses. We know that most businessmen have enough influence with the parties and fund their campaigns, and hence will not sit back and let their businesses suffer. Hence the conspiracy argument is unlikely to be true.)
Let us now look at the possible solutions to this issue:-
SOLUTION 1(SUPPORTERS-WIN): The plant is commissioned and we start generating some electricity, which will address power requirements in full or in part for the state as well as our nation. The nearby villages/towns will have to live in potential fear of a possible disaster. A worse case, is that some of the people nearby might/will be affected over time. We should also consider a small possibility of a disaster like as in Fukushima or Chernobyl. However, when we talk about this probability, we should talk purely in terms of the facts and figures in existence presently. Considering the 440+ commercial nuclear power plants across the world, I know of only 2 major disasters, which puts my disaster probability calculation at 0.45% chance. (In terms of risk percentage, people chose to take medical surgeries on a daily basis across India that give chances of survival at 10%, so I feel this could very well be a risk worth taking for most, statistically speaking!). The people who are unwilling to take this risk will have to move away from KK and their lives will be affected quite significantly, financially as well as emotionally.
So in practice, what this solution REALLY means to the individuals immediately affected by this, is in terms of 2 aspects – (1) What is the affected individual’s risk-taking appetite on their life? (This is similar to asking someone if they are willing to cross the road with little or no traffic, risking their life) and (2) How much financial and emotional strain can they and their family handle, (IF AND ONLY IF) you are not willing to take the risk mentioned in aspect 1 above.
SOLUTION 2(OPPOSERS-WIN): The plant is shut down, the local residents will be happy that they are not asked to take any risk and will not have to consider any emotional or financial strains. As a result of this, the state and nation will continue to have electricity shortage, with no immediate solution in hand, and a part of the 13,615 crores (approximately 9500,00,00,000) of rupees from the tax-payers money will become a dead investments. Which indirectly if we think is money government claimed from us and in effect, money we will lose (approximately Rs.1,500 from every person in TN – if we assume everyone was paying taxes – which is not the case). if we add the lost revenue for the state and hence for the people of TN as a result of the companies not being able to function as a result of power-cuts, the bill is going to go up drastically. Developing other energy sources will take a lot more time and money, and will come with some ecological problem on some level or the other. In the interim, all of us SUPPORTERS and OPPOSERS will continue to suffer.
As with all problem in life, choosing either of these solutions means someone has to suffer. Problems such as these will be answered by how many will be benefited by this VS the number of people being affected by it choices (Let us not forget that people affected by it, will also benefit by the increased electricity availability).
So, in the end, if one really considers the real bone or skeleton of this situation with pragmatism and honesty, we will all probably reach the same conclusion – We can argue or debate as much as we like, but necessity almost always will drive us to the necessary evils in life. Hence, I believe SOLUTION 1 will prevail, after all the political dramas die down. I see this as a matter of economic progress for India. And progress we must have. Jai Hind!
It is high time this country sheds populism in retreat of pragmatism. On top of it Dr. Ramdass claims that Kalpakkam should be shut down. And all his grandchildren go to elitist schools in Delhi. Yes The power situation is pathetic in the state and we talk about industrialisation and employment. Such decisions should be outside the purview of petty politicians. Going by the same logic we should not have train services in considering the number of deaths in train accidents.
People who need kudankulam nuclear power plant, plz shift ur home to kudankulam and leave ur home to the hands of ppl who r living there right now (protestants)…. I think u r all much confident that, even if any disaster occurs, there wont be a big effect…. Have a safe life there in kudankulam 🙂 All the best 🙂
Again, I live 3 kms from a nuclear reactor. So all this humbug about living close to a nuclear plant, doesn’t apply to me, or to anyone who has ever lived in Mumbai.
Gandhi Quote: There’s enough for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20908
I have not read deeply about this, but the writers seem to have respectable credentials.
Seems to be a lot of argument over ‘official’ death toll and death due to aftereffects.
Also, it comes across as a lot of argument here is being put forth personally to the effect of “go live next to KK” or “stop using your computer”. I believe that we can better engage with this issue.
Also, instead of downplaying the chernobyl after effects or making point-blank statements about it which may close the readers’ mindset,
it should be opened up for more reading : http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/47357
Yes, some might say it’s LEFT and hence questionable etc. But this article has provided lots of references.
All i’m saying is let us not be ‘i rest my case’ about anything. For youth seeking info about the debate, I believe this blog is a valuable source of information. Let us not fall prey to argumentum ad populum.
For the benefit of people who would not prefer to read from the other sites, I copy paste:
“To briefly note some of the most important studies:
Reports by the UN Chernobyl Forum and the World Health Organisation in 2005-06 estimated up to 4000 eventual deaths among the higher-exposed Chernobyl populations and an additional 5000 deaths among populations exposed to lower doses in Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
A study by Cardis et al. reported in the International Journal of Cancer estimates 16,000 deaths.
British radiation scientists Dr Ian Fairlie and Dr David Sumner estimate 30,000 to 60,000 deaths.
A 2006 report, commissioned by Greenpeace and involving 52 scientists, estimates a death toll of about 93,000”
There is definitely significant discrepancy about the death toll from the Chernobyl disaster, which may expose your claim of ‘only 50 official death’ to more debate.
Those opposing this reactor on the basis of Chernobyl are like those who say we should all stop driving cars because of road accidents every year.
And the rest of you illiterates who equate nuclear plants with nuclear bombs…enda deivame!!
The argument was – even Chernobyl didn’t kill that many,,
These figures were only to point out that let us not be too sure of that.
“People need not worry and can have confidence that the problem of nuclear waste will be solved technologically.” http://npcil.nic.in/pdf/news_10may2012_01.pdf Why this was not solved before implementing? This is the level of safety consciousness.
(I am compelled to compare this to the lack of sewage system, water supply system leakages, maintenance issues with Chennai & other Metros. The approach now people recommend for a city planning is first design the sewage system & go for water supply system and residential area; also with a clear strategy to allow for natural growth.)
Machi Kaipulle, I not has PhD in Nuclear feeldu. Butt, I had a great laugh from your sayings. Justu 1 doubttu. Suppose power plant or factory is in a city, does it mean that it must be safe, and acceptable to be installed there ? Take the pamous Bhopal fertilizer factory performed by pamousu Union Carbide company. It lies here —> Middle of Bhopal <—-. So if I asked you question in year 1983, whether the factory of Union Carbide combany is safe, you might say: yes it is Safu because look they have put it inside city. But if I asked you in year 1985, after the pamous Bhopal gas explosion fireworks you will have said no safu ! (justu 200 people died, but is still pamous, I not know why). Just like thatu at Tarapur. Moreover, just like that at Fukushima. In year 2009 you will sayu it is OK to install reactor in Earthquake coast of Japan becausu look there are many reactors installed by Japanese he he. Buttu in year 2012 you will say reactors in earthquake coast of Jappan is not saffu. Just like that yaar.
After going thru the article and the feedback – i can see kaipullai mouthing “havvvvvvvvvvv” like Vadivelu.
Few points to be considered:
1. What is cost per MW after deducting transmission losses (like BHP)? i.e. Investment vs returns?
(Environmental, human) Risk vs returns?
2. What is the cost of generating power through alternate sources of renewable energy? Now that, the cost of producing renewable energy has come down significantly compared to 1988.
Having invested, time, money and efforts, we should allow Kudankulam to continue and put a full stop to building any new Nuclear power projects.
Bad!!!
how does knowledge of atomic physics help us to overcome load shedding?
Please can someone answer my question to solve my problems…Have been given for Summer Task!!!
If you help, then and only then, a lot of THANX!!!
lol he studied in kerala?? haha no wonder he like strikes so much 😛 hardly a surprise…keralite strike for even for uneven RAIN
தமிழகத்தின் மின் பற்றாக்குறையைப் போக்க அணு மின்சாரம் அவசியம் தானே?
கண்டிப்பாக இல்லை. முதலில் தமிழகம் மின் பற்றாக்குறை உள்ள மாநிலமே இல்லை. தமிழ்நாட்டில் தயாரிக்கப்படும் மின்சாரம் தமிழ்நாட்டின் தேவைகளுக்கு போதுமானது மட்டுமின்றி மிகுதியானதாகும். (தமிழ்நாட்டின் மின் தேவை 12,500 மெகாவாட்)
பொதுவாக இந்தியாவின் ஒவ்வொரு மாநிலமும் தமது மின் தேவையில் 65 விழுக்காட்டை தாங்களே உற்பத்தி செய்துகொள்ளும். அத்துடன் மிகச் சிறு அளவை தனியாரிடமிருந்து விலைக்கு வாங்கிக்கொள்ளும். மீதி 35 விழுக்காட்டை மத்திய அரசு தனது மத்திய மின் தொகுப்பிலிருந்து வழங்க வேண்டும்.
மாநிலங்கள் தாங்கள் சொந்தமாக நடத்தும் மின் உற்பத்தி திட்டங்களின் மூலம் கிடைக்கும் மின்சாரம் தேவைக்கு மேல் மிகுதியாக உள்ள போது அவற்றை வெளியே விற்று லாபம் ஈட்டிக் கொள்ளலாம். இவ்வாறு 1992 வரை தமிழ்நாட்டின் மிகுதி மின்சாரத்தில் வருடத்திற்கு 3,500 கோடி ரூபாய் லாபம் கிடைத்துவந்தது.
ஆனால் 1992-ல் இந்திய நடுவண் அரசு (மன்மோகன் சிங் நிதியமைச்சராகவும், மாண்டேக் சிங் அலுவாலியா நிதித் துறைச் செயலாளராகவும் இருந்த போது) மாநில அரசின் மின் திட்டத்திற்கான அனுமதிகளை முடக்கியது. ஆனால் தனியார் மின் ஆலைகளுக்கு அனுமதி வழங்கியது. அந்த தனியார் உற்பத்தி செய்யும் மின்சாரத்தை மாநில அரசுகள் கூடுதல் விலை கொடுத்து வாங்கும்படி நிர்ப்பந்தித்தது. மேலும் மத்திய மின் தொகுப்பிலிருந்து கொடுக்கும் மின்சாரத்தின் அளவையும் குறைத்தது.
எடுத்துக்காட்டாக 1050 மெகாவாட் மின் உற்பத்தி செய்யும் எண்ணூர் மின் உற்பத்தித் திட்டம் தமிழ்நாடு மின்சார வாரியத்திடமிருந்து பிடுங்கப்பட்டு வீடியோகானுக்குத் தாரைவார்க்கப்பட்டது. நெய்வேலியில் ST-CMS என்ற அமெரிக்க தனியார் தயாரிக்கும் மின்சாரத்தை யூனிட் ரூ.3.70-க்கு வாங்க வேண்டிய நிர்ப்பந்தம். ஆனால் அருகிலுள்ள என்.எல்.சி-யில் மின்சாரம் யூனிட் விலை 1.72 காசு. இதன் மூலம் பெரும் நட்டத்தில் தடுமாறிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது தமிழ்நாடு மின்சார வாரியம்.
மேலும் தன் பங்குக்கு தமிழ்நாடு அரசும் பொது மக்களுக்கு வழங்கி வந்த மின்சாரத்தை போர்டு, குண்டாய், கணிணி (ஐடி) நிறுவனங்கள் ஆகிய பன்னாட்டு நிறுவனங்களுக்கும், தனியார் முதலாளிகளுக்கும் திருப்பிவிட்டன. பொது மக்களுக்கு தட்டுப்பாட்டை உருவாக்கி தனியார் முதலாளிகளுக்கு தடையற்ற மலிவான மின்சாரம் தருகின்றனா.
வீடுகளுக்கு எட்டு மணி நேரம் மின் வெட்டு ஏற்படுத்தும் அரசு தனியார் (ஐடி) நிறுவனங்களுக்கு 2 நிமிடத்திற்கு மேல் மின்சாரம் நிறுத்தப்பட்டால் அதற்கு இழப்பீட்டுத் தொகை கொடுக்கிறது. மேலும் வீட்டிற்கு யூனிட் ரூ.3.50-க்கு விற்பனை செய்யும் மின் வாரியம் ஐ.டி நிறுவனங்களுக்கு ரூ.2.50-க்குத் தான் கொடுக்கிறது. தமிழ்நாட்டின் 40% மின்சாரத்தை இந்த நிறுவனங்கள் தான் உபயோகிக்கின்றன.
நெய்வேலியிலிருந்து ஆந்திரா, கர்நாடகா, கேரளா ஆகியவற்றிற்குத் தரும் மின்சாரத்திலிருந்து தலா ஆயிரம் மெகாவாட்டை நமக்குத் தந்தாலே போதும். தமிழகத்தின் பற்றாக்குறை வெறும் 2,600 மெகாவாட்டுகள் மட்டுமே. மின் உற்பத்தியின் படி உபரி மாநிலமாக இருக்கும் தமிழகத்தின் மின்சாரம் இப்படி வெளிமாநிலங்களுக்கு அனுப்பப்படுவதால் நாம் மின்வெட்டுப் பிரச்சினையில் மாட்டித் தவிக்கிறோம். நமக்கு அணு மின்சாரம் தேவையே இல்லை.
6. இந்திய அரசின் தவறான பொருளாதாரக் கொள்கையே எல்லாப் பிரச்சினைகளுக்கும் காரணம் என்கிறீர்கள். ஆனால் எட்டு மணி நேர மின் வெட்டால் அவதிப்படுவது மக்கள் தானே. இப்போது கூடங்குளத்திலிருந்து வரும் மின்சாரம் நமக்குக் கிடைத்தால் இந்த மின் தடைப் பிரச்சினை குறையுமே?
கூடங்குளம் அணு உலையின் மொத்த உற்பத்தித் திறனே 1,000 மெகாவாட் தான். இரண்டாவது அணு உலை செயல்படத் துவங்கிய பின்னரே இன்னொரு ஆயிரம் மெகாவாட் கிடைக்கும். இதுவரை இந்தியாவின் அணு உலைகள் 100 விழுக்காடு உற்பத்தித் திறனை எட்டியதில்லை. அணு உலைகளின் உற்பத்தித் திறன் 50 விழுக்காட்டுக்குக் கீழ்தான். ஒரு வேளை 1,000 மெகாவாட் உற்பத்தி ஆவதாக எடுத்துக்கொண்டாலும், அதில் தமிழகத்தின் பங்கு வெறும் 280 மெகாவாட் மட்டுமே. இதில் மின் கடத்தல் பகிர்மானத்தில் இழப்பு (transmission) 30 விழுக்காடு போக 190 மெகாவாட்கள் மட்டுமே கிடைக்கும். அதிலும் தொழிற்சாலைகளுக்குப் போக வீட்டுக்கு வந்து சேருவது சொற்பமே. வெறும் 190 மெகாவாட்டிற்காக அணு உலை என்னும் பேராபத்தை வரவேற்பது கொள்ளிக்கட்டையால் தலையைச் சொறிவதற்குச் சமம். இன்னும் சொல்லப்போனால் இந்தியாவின் மொத்த மின்சார உற்பத்தியில் அணு மின்சாரத்தின் பங்கு வெறும் 3% மட்டுமே. கூடங்குளம் அணு உலை திறக்கப்பட்டால் பாலாறும், தேனாறும் பெருக்கெடுத்து ஓடும் என்பது காங்கிரசின் வழக்கமான மாய்மாலம்.
7. நீங்களோ அணு உலைகள் பேராபத்து என்கிறீர்கள். ஆனால் விஞ்ஞானிகளோ பாதுகாப்பானது என்கிறார்களே இவற்றில் எது உண்மை?
அணு உலை பாதுகாப்பாக இருக்குமானால் ஒரு வேளை விபத்தை வேண்டுமானால் தடுக்கலாம். ஆனால் அதிலிருந்து தினசரி வரும் கதிரியக்கத்தால் கண்டிப்பாக பாதிப்பு வரும் என விபரமறிந்த மருத்துவர்கள் கூறுகிறார்கள். அதனால் தான் அணு உலைகள் மக்கள் நடமாட்டம் இல்லாத பகுதிகளில் அமைக்கப்படுகின்றன. ஆனால் கூடங்குளம் அதைப் போன்று இல்லை. அங்கு சுமார் 7 கிலோ மீட்டருக்குள் 20,000-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட மக்கள் வசிக்கிறார்கள். மேலும் 20 கிலோ மீட்டருக்குள் சுமார் 2 லட்சத்திற்கும் மேற்பட்ட மக்கள் வசிக்கிறார்கள். கண்டிப்பாக கதிரியக்கத்தால் இவர்களுக்கு பாதிப்புகள் ஏற்படும்.
மேலும் விபத்து ஏற்படாது, இந்த அணு உலை பாதுகாப்பானது என்பதை வாய்மொழியாகச் சொல்கிறார்களே தவிர, அவை அறிவியல் பூர்வமாக இது வரை உறுதி செய்யப்படவில்லை என்பது தான் உண்மை.
8. உண்மையில் உறுதி செய்யப்படவில்லையா? ஆனால் மத்திய அரசின் வல்லுநர் குழு பாதுகாப்பை உறுதி செய்ததே?
பாதுகாப்பு அறிவியல் பூர்வமாக உறுதி செய்யப்படவில்லை என்பது தான் ஆணித்தரமான உண்மை. மத்திய அரசின் வல்லுநர் குழு தமக்குக் கொடுக்கப்பட்ட கூடங்குளம் அணு உலை நிர்வாகத்தின் அறிக்கையின்படி, அது பாதுகாப்பானது என்ற முடிவை எடுத்ததேயொழிய, எந்தவித ஆய்வும் மேற்கொள்ளவில்லை என்பது தான் உண்மை. அவர்கள் மத்திய அரசுக்கும், கூடங்குளம் அணு உலை நிர்வாகத்திற்கும் ஒருபக்கச் சார்பாகவே நடந்து கொண்டார்கள்.
9. அப்படியானால் எந்த முறைகளில் அணு உலையின் பாதுகாப்பு உறுதி செய்யப்பட வேண்டும்?
முதலில் அணு உலை அமைந்துள்ள இடம் புவியியல் ரீதியாக பாதுகாப்பானதா என்பது உறுதி செய்யப்பட்டிருக்க வேண்டும்.
இரண்டாவதாக இந்த அணு உலைத் தொழில்நுட்பம் வெற்றிகரமானதா என்பதை முன் அனுபவங்கள் மூலம் உறுதி செய்யப்பட்டிருக்க வேண்டும்.
மூன்றாவதாக இவை எல்லாவற்றையும் தாண்டி ஒரு வேளை விபத்து ஏற்பட்டால் அதை எதிர்கொள்ளும் வழிமுறைகள் உறுதி செய்யப்பட்டிருக்க வேண்டும்.
10. இந்த மூன்றுமே கூடங்குளம் அணு உலையில் பின்பற்றப்படவில்லை என்கிறீர்களா?
ஆமாம். நிச்சயமாக.
முதலில் அடிப்படையாகச் செய்ய வேண்டிய புவியியல் ஆய்வுகளே அணு உலை நிர்வாகத்தால் செய்யப்படவில்லை. அப்படிச் செய்திருந்தால் இந்த இடம் அணு உலைக்கு ஒரு சதவீதம் கூட ஏற்ற இடமல்ல என்ற உண்மை அவர்களுக்கு தெரிந்திருக்கும். மாறாக எரிமலைப் பாறைகள் மீது இந்த அணு உலையை அமைத்துவிட்டு இப்போது பாதுகாப்பை எப்படி உறுதி செய்ய முடியும்!
11. என்ன இது? இவ்வளவு பெரிய குற்றச்சாட்டை சாதாரணமாகக் கூறுகிறீர்கள்!
ஆமாம். அதிர்ச்சியடைய வேண்டாம். பொதுவாக அணு உலை அமைந்திருக்கும் தரை கெட்டியான பாறைகளால் உருவானதாக இருக்க வேண்டும். ஆனால் கூடங்குளத்தில் தரை அப்படி இல்லை. அங்கு இருப்பவை ஒழுங்கற்ற எரிமலைப் பிதுக்கப்பாறைகள்.
12. எரிமலைப் பாறைகளா?
ஆமாம்! கூடங்குளம் அணு உலைக்கு அடித்தளம் தோண்டும் போதுதான் அந்த உண்மை அவர்களுக்குத் தெரிந்தது. எனவே காங்கிரீட்டைக் கொட்டி அதன் மேல் அடித்தளத்தை அமைத்தனர்.
மேலும் பூ மியின் மேலோடு கிட்டத்தட்ட 40 கிலோ மீட்டர் தடிமனாக உள்ள இடங்களில்தான் அணு உலை அமைக்கப்பட வேண்டும். ஆனால் கூடங்குளம் அருகிலுள்ள பகுதிகளில் வெறும் 110 மீட்டர்கள் தான் புவியோடு தடிமன் உள்ளது என ஆய்வுகள் தெரிவிக்கின்றன.
13. இதனால் என்ன விளைவுகள் ஏற்படும்?
பூ மியின் அடியிலுள்ள மிகச் சூடான மாக்மா என்ற பாறைக் குழம்பு பூமியின் மேலோடு மெலிதாக உள்ள இடங்களில் வெடிப்பை ஏற்படுத்தி எரிமலையாக வெளிக்கிளம்பும். அது மேற்பரப்பையும், அதன் மீதுள்ள கட்டுமானங்களையும் குறிப்பாக அணு உலையையும் நிச்சயம் பாதிக்க வாய்ப்புள்ளது.
14. இது தவிர வேறென்ன குறைபாடுகள் உள்ளன?
இரண்டாவதாக இயற்கைப் பேரிடர்களான சுனாமி, பூகம்பம் போன்றவை உருவாகும் வாய்ப்பு குறித்த ஆய்வும் நடத்தப்படவில்லை. அப்படி நடத்தியிருந்தால் கூடங்குளத்திலிருந்து வெறும் 90 கி.மி. தொலைவில் மன்னார் வளைகுடாவில் கடல் தரையில் எரிமலை முகவாய் (volcanic vent) இருப்பதை முன்னரே கண்டுபிடித்திருக்கலாம்.
மேலும் மன்னார் வளைகுடாவின் கடல் தரையில் வண்டல் குவியல்கள் இரண்டு பெரிய அளவில் உள்ளன. இவற்றின் பெயர் கிழக்குக் குமரி மற்றும் கொழும்பு வண்டல் குவியல்கள். இதோடு இந்திராணி நிலப்பிளவு என்னும் நீளமான நிலப்பிளவும் கடலுக்கடியில் காணப்படுகிறது. இதன் மூலம் கடலுக்கடியில் பூகம்பமும், அதனால் பெரும் சுனாமி அலைகளும் உருவாகும் வாய்ப்பு உள்ளது என்பதை ஆராய்ச்சியாளாகள் நிறுவியிருக்கிறார்கள்.
இதுபோக அவ்வப்போது கடல் அரிப்பு, கடல் உள்வாங்கல் ஆகிய நிகழ்வுகளும் கன்னியாகுமரிக் கடலோரத்தில் நடந்துள்ளது. இவையும் அணு உலையைப் பாதிக்கும் மிக முதன்மையான காரணிகளாகும்.
ஒரு சிறு திருத்தம். திரு. அப்துல்கலாம் அணு விஞ்ஞானி அல்ல. அவர் வானூர்திக்கான (auronautical) விஞ்ஞானி. அவருக்கு நிலவியல் (geology), கடலியல் (marine) தொடர்பான ஆராய்ச்சிகளோடு தொடர்பு கிடையாது. மேலும் அவர் அணுகுண்டுத் தொழிற்நுட்பத்திற்கு ஆதரவான கருத்துடையவா. பூகம்பம் வரும் என்றோ, சுனாமி வரும் என்றோ இதுவரை எந்த விஞ்ஞானிகள் முன்னறிவிப்புத் தந்திருக்கிறார்கள். வந்த பின்னர் தான் வந்தது என்பதை ஒப்புக்கொண்டிருக்கிறார்கள். இயற்கைப் பேரிடர்களை முன்கூட்டி அறிந்து சொல்வதில் நம் அறிவியல் துறை பெரும் தோல்வியையே கண்டுள்ளது.
16. அப்படியானால் அப்துல்கலாம் சமூக அக்கறையுடன் செயல்படவில்லை என்கிறீர்களா?
நிச்சயமாக. அணுகுண்டு வெடித்து அதைப் பார்த்து பரவசப்படும் ஒரு மனிதர், எவ்வளவு பெரிய அறிவாளியாக, விஞ்ஞானியாக இருந்தாலும் அவர் மக்கள் விரோதியே.
இந்தியா நல்லரசாக இருப்பதைவிட அதை வல்லரசாக ஆக்குவதற்காக கனவு கண்டவர் அப்துல்கலாம். அணு உலையைத் திறப்பதற்காக உடனடியாக ஓடோடி வந்து பார்வையிட்டு, அது பாதுகாப்பானது என்று கருத்துச் சொன்ன அவர், சொந்த ஊரான இராமேசுவரம் மீனவர்கள் காக்கை குருவியைப் போல சிங்களப் படையினரால் சுட்டுக் கொல்லப்படுவதைக் கண்டித்து ஒரு வார்த்தையாவது சொல்லியிருக்கிறாரா?
சிங்கள அரசின் கலை நிகழ்வுக்கு நடிகை அசின், பாடகர் மனோ முதலானவர்கள் சென்றதற்கே உலகெங்கும் வாழும் தமிழ் உணர்வாளர்கள் கண்டித்தனர். இலங்கை அரசை பொருளாதார ரீதியாகவும், அரசியல் ரீதியாகவும் புறக்கணியுங்கள் என்று தமிழக முதல்வர் தீர்மானமே நிறைவேற்றியுள்ளார். ஆனால் கொழும்பில் நடைபெற்ற சிங்கள அரசு விழாவில் அப்துல்கலாம் பங்கேற்று சிறப்பித்துள்ளார். நடிகை அசின் செய்தால் தவறு. அப்துல்கலாம் செய்தால் சரியா?
இலங்கையில் ஒன்றரை லட்சத்துக்கும் மேற்பட்ட தமிழர்கள் கொல்லப்பட்ட போது மறந்தும் ஒரு வார்த்தை கண்டிக்காத அப்துல்கலாம், கொழும்பு அரசு விழாவில் பங்கேற்றுச் சிறப்பித்தது என்ன நியாயம்? இதுதான் அவரது இன உணர்வு, மனித நேயம். அவர் உண்மை பேசுவார் என்று இனிமேலும் எப்படி நம்புவது?
17. சரி! புவியியல் ரீதியாக கூடங்குளம் இடம் தவறான தேர்வு என்கிறீர்கள். ஆனாலும் இந்த இடம் தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டதன் பின்னணி என்ன?
முதலில் இந்த அணு உலை ஆந்திராவில் நாகார்சுனசாகரில் தான் அமைவதாக இருந்தது. ஆந்திர அரசு ஒப்புக்கொள்ளவில்லை. பின்னர் கர்நாடகாவில் கைக்கா என்ற இடத்தை முடிவு செய்தனர் . இதற்கு கர்நாடக அரசும் ஒப்புக்கொள்ளவில்லை. பின் கேரளாவில் பூதகான்கெட்டு என்ற இடம் தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டது. அங்கு மக்களின் கடுமையான எதிர்ப்பு காரணமாக கடைசியில் தமிழ்நாட்டுக்குத் தள்ளிவிடப்பட்டது.
18. ஆக ஆந்திரா, கர்நாடகா, கேரளா ஆகிய மாநிலங்கள் ஒப்புக்கொள்ள மறுத்த ஒரு திட்டத்தை தமிழ்நாட்டு மக்களின் தலையில் கட்டியிருக்கிறார்கள் என்கிறீர்களா?
ஆமாம். தமிழர்கள்தானே எந்த பாதிப்பு வந்தாலும் பொறுமையாக இருக்கும் இளித்தவாயர்கள்.
ஆனால் கூடங்குளத்திலிருந்து கிடைக்கும் மின்சாரத்தில் சமபங்கு ஆந்திரா, கர்நாடகா, கேரள மாநிலங்களுக்குக் கொடுக்கப்படும். தமிழகத்திற்கு பாலாறை, காவிரியை, முல்லைபெரியாறு நீரைக் கொடுக்க மறுக்கும் அந்த மாநிலங்களுக்கும் இங்கிருந்து மின்சாரம் கொடுப்பதாக ஒப்புக் கொண்டிருக்கிறார்கள்.
இதைவிடப் பெரிய கொடுமை. இலங்கையின் கொழும்பு நகரத்திற்கு மின்சாரம் கொடுப்பதற்காக கடலுக்கடியில் மின் கேபிள்கள் போடப்பட்டு தயாராக உள்ளன. சிங்கள சகோதரர்களுக்கு எத்தனை மெகாவாட் கொடுக்கப் போகிறார்கள் என்பது தெரியவில்லை.
I am one of your admirers. I admire your way of writing. You have really got this gift of ‘creative writing’. But I many times have found your propositions or analysis kinda immature or even childish, like in this case.
I am neither a supporter nor a nay-sayer for this KKNPP. I am just among the millions out there who are perplexed to take a stand in this issue. but i find many of your propositions so superficially analysed . let me point out them.
I think a guy with a Ph.D in Pol Sci knows a lot more about protests, mobilization, politics etc than your ‘nuke dudes’. your satirical tone actually makes fun of those ‘art dudes’. You have actually looked down upon ‘art dudes’ without even knowing what political science ( or for that matter, any social science) is all about.You should seriously consider correcting them in the future. ( I hold a degree in Aeronautical Engg from a reputed institution in India. so just because I support ‘art dudes’ I am not one among them, just to clear the air.)
You have quoted ‘reports’ of IAEA to support the fact that KKNPP is perfectly
safe. I think you have overlooked the fact that these international organisations, (like the Brettonwoods institutions, The UN etc) are theatre of politics. handmaid of superpowers. Hope you know how much the IMF has helped in ‘stabilizing monetary system in the world’ and how much UN has helped in ‘ensuring peace’ in the world. and the list can extends up to infinity. ( And dude you sounded even more pathetic when you roped in government’s report to support your arguement. coz fyi the government is the opposite party and their report doesnt help much here)
and just because there is no empirical evidence for sth, you cannot say that it is false. that MAY be true. or may be not. I have been reading since some five or six years ago, about the health hazards that the Kalpakkam Plant is creating in the community of people living around the plant. But news like that dont usually get space in the mainstream media for obvious reasons. so they remain just some “unverified ‘fact”. Google about Dr.Pugazhendi of Kalpakkam to know more.
and FIFTY IS STILL A NUMBER. whether 50 in 1000 or million or billion. it is still a number. it involvs loss of lives. these facts actually make your argument sound so ‘weak’.
And 3 things about your population figures. 1) i too think udaykumar’s figure is little bit of an exaggeration. 2) I have reservations about how you have arrived at those population figures. I wonder if you have followed any methodology except ‘googling’. coz i guess the distribution pattern needs to be considered and it needs lots of field work if I am correct. 3) 500000 is still a whopping figure, considering the evacuation attempts that need be undertaken in case of any mishap.
And Finally,
Ridiculing the fear of people is morally wrong. so may be you should stop handling sensitive issues like this with your satire.
P.S. Again I neither support nor oppose the protest. I am one among those people of TN who are ‘sabichufied’ to live in half a day of powercut. I too badly need this ‘load-shedding’ thing to end. But their concerns need to be genuinely addressed. because they think their lives are going to be put at stake with this new nuclear power plant. A civilised government shouldnt let any community to live in fear in this modern world. ‘Fear’ deprives them of human existence. ( In a community where wolves are minority sheeps may vote for vegetarianism but doesnt that sound immoral??? ).
[I am sure like everyone else that no scrapping down of plants is going to take place. But eagerly waiting to see how this is gonna get solved.]
i agree with all the facts you presented and the need of the power plant. the way they are protesting might be wrong. Though it has been bulit in 24 years, point is how safe is it, we all remember what happened in Russia. and we also know what happened in Bhopal gas incident and how safe we are.
Not just electricity but lets think of lifes too
This is really an amazing piece of work from your side. I have read your some of other blogs they are also good but this one is really outstanding.
Dude come up with some more interesting articles
The points covered in this article is valid and genuine.Why shouldn’t they protest in the earlier days ? Why they wait for so many years and after investing a huge amount in construction? India need power and Koodankulam plant should be commissioned as early as possible.
who is this computer educated fool? i wont be wishing HIS mother father brothers sisters wife daughter and son, a painful and grave cancer and a slow death due to radiation from any of these nuclear plants and waste in our country! man, watchout the invisible is following you! the ghost is called “nuclear radiation”, and has only little respect to nuclear scientists as well. educate yourself!
So why don’t you tell us about all the millions of people who have died in the city of Bombay thanks to the Tarapur atomic plant that has been operating right there for, oh I don’t know, the last 44 fucking years? Because as we all know, all these reactors run in the open without any sort of shielding and they let the radiation leak out the way thermal plants spew toxic smoke and carcinogenic fly ash into the air.
It’s utterly fucking disgusting to see the Luddites in full force here, more than a year after Kaipullai wrote this, expressing their total ignorance and refusal to learn even the basics of how nuclear plants work, which a high school physics textbook would be sufficient to point out.
You can certainly see your skills in the work you write.
The world hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who are
not afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.
Have a look at this report on Kudankulam and Energy Geopolitics in India
http://greatgameindia.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/india-on-the-grand-geopolitical-energy-chessboard-part-i/
This post offers clear idea for the new people of blogging,
that really how to do running a blog.
This site was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found something that helped me. Appreciate it!
You rock buddy
I am sure this post has touched all the internet visitors,
its really really pleasant paragraph on building up new weblog.
The real reason for this pol sci dude to take up cause is because he is being funded by smugglers to protect their thriving business. Kudankulam, being quite close to Sri Lanka, is a very important place to foster the smuggling business with Sri Lanka. If a nuclear plant is built, it’s going to increase so much security in the area that smuggling industry will be thwarted.
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great
i love your blog a lot.
Hilarious post. I’m tamil and enjoyed this. Makes me wonder why you’re not posting anymore.
Good post. It throws light on the evasive manner in which Udayakumar was giving made up figures
you need know TN is the second developed state in India, to your information until 2003 TN is power surplus state…………………..i born and brought up in tn and do not comment your stay in TN as because your state can’t accomodate you in most basic thing than electricity “education”…….
Could your intellectually superior self with perhaps educational degrees other than literature help me understand why none of the scientists including our own (thankfully) ex-president who muses himself making bombs have not tried to take on the challenge of the people of that little hamlet called Koodankulam to come and stay near the reactor if it was so true that the radiations were so very harmless?
Trampling on the voices and tears of people (nevertheless the number), to build something in the pretext of development, is against the very concept of democracy that we stand.
Last yet not the least, “power shortage”… suddenly! well, how did that need rise so sudden when a nuclear reactor had to come in place to save the day?!
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If we are to proceed with electrification of railways , electric vehicles we will need to massively upgrade our electricity supply by reducing T&D losses and increasing power generation. And for the size of our population our only choice is nuclear power. These fringe political parties led by rabble rousers have choked all possible development due to vested interests. Democracy is not that great after all.
Hi,
This looks weird that i am writing a comment on a post which was written in 2012.
I don’t know whether this will reach the blog writer. This is only an attempt.
I don’t know why you are not writing posts. You write on serious subjects in a very humorous way. The points are well presented with logical flow.
I have read two post i.e. the above one and the Hemu Vikramaditya.
If this comments reaches you i am blessed and if you communicate with me nothing sort of a miracle.
I maintain a blog:
http://lakshmanansivaramakrishnan.blogspot.com/