Behind the veil

India’s Nuclear Aggression
Pradip Datta

The quality of the Russian equipment and machinery used in Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) in Tamilnadu is very dubious and of great concern. Russian company Zio-Podolsk, owned by the Rosatom, is the sole supplier of steam generators and some other key components for Russian nuclear reactors worldwide. It is suspected that Zio-Podolsk used very low quality of steel, cheaper than the one originally required, to produce steam generators for nuclear plants in Russia and abroad since 2007. This company is said to have supplied several equipments and parts to the KKNPP. The matter is under investigation in Russia for shoddy equipment it produced for several nuclear plants that were supplied by the said company. In February 2012, Russia's Federal Security Service arrested Sergei Shutov, a high official of Zio-Podolsk on charges of using cheap Ukranian steel blanks in nuclear reactors. So Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) should categorically say whether the steam generators and leaky valves were supplied by Zio-Podolsk.

PTI revealed in July 2011, quoting Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) sources, that the Koodankulam plant was expected to be commissioned in March 2009, but was delayed because of late shipment of equipment from Russia. Several kilometers of power and control cables in the reactor were found missing after the completion of building double containment of the reactor. The problem was rectified by breaking open the concrete walls in the containment domes and was sealed again bringing the cables from the switch yard to inside. Breaking open and resealing the containment dome is unprecedented in nuclear power industry. In a recent report, the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India has passed strictures on the 'toothless'atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for not even ensuring nuclear and radiation safety in any of the atomic installations in the country.

The approved cost of the KKNPP 1 & 2 project is Rs 13,171 crore. But the DAE and the NPCIL claim that they have spent an additional amount of Rs 4,000 crore on the non-performing project. Nobody knows the exact amount of cost of the KKNPP or the break-ups. In spite of this huge expenditure, the KKNPP is infested with serious problems. The Union Minister of State at the PMO, V Narayanasami and top DAE officials have publicly acknowledged these technical problems of the KKNPP.

There are also serious concerns about the quality of civil constructions in the KKNPP and huge corruption in the allotment of various contracts and subcontracts. Given the culture of secrecy, opacity and impertinence in the Indian nuciear industry, there is a clear need for a thorough and comprehensive financial audit of the KKNPP. People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PNAME) urged for a financial audit of the KKNPP by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India for revealing the true picture.

The loading of uranium fuel rods at the first unit of the KKNPP was completed on 2 October 2012, but not yet produced electricity. Russian engineers at the Koodankulam plant site have not been able to plug the leaks. The NPCIL has flown in technicians from Croatia and Germany to carry out repairs in the Russian designed and built plant.

An official statement issued by NPCIL on 25 January said the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has given permission to "repeat the full systems test at the first" unit make it seem as if the 'permission' is a hard-won victory. RK Sinha, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), had said that "there are some system parameters like flow, pressure, temperature that need to be maintained within particular values." During the first hydro test conducted last December. certain valves did not behave the way the manufacturer claimed they would. Those brand new valves were repaired, and some components replaced.

In its financial statement for 2011 the Russian nuclear company "Atomstroyexport" claimed that losses in 2011 were twice bigger than the losses of 2010 and that the company is on the brink of bankruptcy. This has seriously affected the Russian nuclear projects at Koodankulam in India and Busher in Iran.Interestingly all the Russian products and projects that the Indian government is collaborating with (like the upgrading of MiG fighter jets, purchase of aircraft carrier etc.) are inordinately delayed or fraught with problems with a huge cost escalation to the Indian taxpayers.

The Koodankulam nuclear power plant is being built with Russian technology and loan. The authority of the project never conducted any public hearing to seek consent of the local people. They have not shared the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, Site Evaluation Report (SER) and Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP) with them. In the USA, the UK and Canada these reports are available to the public on internet. After prolonged and intense struggle of more than 2 decades mainly by fish workers now PNAME have obtained only a copy of the EIA which is outdated, inaccurate and incomplete. So people's struggle is continuing there.

Meanwhile a 26-year-old young man from Odisha, Mr Alok Suman Roy died of electric shock at the KKNPP Unit-1 on March 9, 2013, morning. He died in the tunnel route of electrical lines at Unit-1. Acknowledging the death, the KKNPP administration claims that he died in Unit-2. But workers there confirm that he died in Unit-1. If the KKNPP officials admit the truth that the death occurred in Unit-1, they may have to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions about the safety and the viability of the failed project. It is worthwhile to note that two more persons died inside the plant earlier, one from Koodankulam in January 2013, another young man, Mr Kalyanasundaram from Tirunelveli, died on December 6, 2012 of electric shock. What is wrong with the Russian plants? Why do so many people die of electric shock there? The authority will have to answer these questions. Nevertheless the government has informed recently that the No. 1 plant will start operation by April and No.2 by September 2013.

Not only in Koodankulam but struggle has started everywhere. NPCIL wants to establish nuclear power plants. In Jaitapur of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra, where the construction of a 9,900-megawatt French nuclear power park has been proposed, the agitating project-affected farmers have now been offered a huge compensation of Rs 22.5 lakh per hectare of land. The government resolution on the offer was issued on February 5. The original offer was between Rs 1.15 lakh and Rs 4 lakh per hectare. Farmers are still unwilling to accept the offer and want the centre to scrap the project as they are concerned on its repercussions on health and environment. The state has acquired only 938 hectares from 2,331 farmers of five villages in Rajapur taluka near Jaitapur, most of the farmers have not accepted the compensation.

Similarly land holders of Haryana's Fatepura have been offered a price of 26 lakh per hectare by NPCIL. They have planned to build a 9000 MW nuclear park there. So most of the landholders have eagerly sold their piece of land to NPCIL. And agitation against the planned project has largely been muted.

But the people of Mithi Virdi, Jaspara, Mandva, Khadarpar and other neighbouring villages of Gujarat are vehemently opposing the American nuclear power park that is going to be set up at Mithi Virdi. The American reactor vendor Westinghouse signed a memorandum of understanding with NPCIL in 2012 to construct six AP1000 units (6000 MW in total) at the site. In the past they held public meetings against the planned nuclear power park but people forced the survey engineers to leave the proposed project site. However, NPCIL is said to have planned a public hearing at Ghogha taluka's Navagam in Bhavnagar district.

On 7th Feb, a delegation of about 80 villagers including sarpanch from Mithi Virdi, Jasapara, Khadarpar, Mandva, Paniyali submitted a memorandum asking the Government to stop all the process to push forward the Mithi Virdi 6000 MW nuclerar power project. The memorandum also brought to the attention of the collector that the opposition to the project has been going on since long and several submissions were already made to the PM, CM(Gujarat) and other central ministries but the government did not care to respond so far. Recently they have announced for the Environment Public Hearing.

No specifics in the EIA report on crucial points of detailed risk assessment and disaster management plan as well as the procedure for off-site emergency in the EIA report of the Mithi Virdi Nuclear Power Plant have been addressed. Meantime the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti which was spearheading protests against the setting up of a nuclear power plant at Gorakhpur village in Fatehabad district of Haryana withdrew its two-year old agitation. According to them farmers had received their compensation cheques in lieu of the acquired land, which clearly reflect that farmers had shown their solidarity with the decision of the government. On the other hand government claimed that the state compensated almost all the farmers, whose lands were acquired to set up a nuclear power plant. So far Rs 419.82 crore has been given as compensation to 854 farmers. 704 farmers of Gorakhpur village were given a compensation of Rs 380.41 crore, 123 farmers of Baropal village were given compensation of over Rs 38.11 crore and Rs 1.3 crore had been given to 27 farmers of Kajalheri village. Even then, citing the safety aspect, Haryana's main opposition party INLD has cleared its stand that it would not allow the nuclear power plant to be set up.

Frontier
Vol. 45, No. 39, Apr 7-13, 2013

Your Comment if any