Kaiga in the eye of the calm

Will news of an accident at the Kaiga atomic power plant reach local citizens in time for them to react? Will they be swiftly evacuated l...

Will news of an accident at the Kaiga atomic power plant reach local citizens in time for them to react? Will they be swiftly evacuated like the people of Tokaimura? No, insist the opponents of the project, who have been at it ever since the power plant was planned in 1987. But officialdom is smug in its conviction that the Japanese scenario will not be repeated in India. And the defence establishment, which controls the nuclear power plants in the country, has managed to keep a tight lid on information about the condition of the nuclear plants in the country, adding to the uncertainty.

Unfortunately for the people living in and around Kaiga, the decade-old movement against the atomic power project was long-dead when the plant went critical in September. The environmentalists who took on the might of the Indian nuclear establishment had moved on to greener pastures. The local community had already made its peace with the project as its youth lined up before the Nuclear Power Corporation for jobs. Last week,when a handful of opponents did finally manage to come together, demonstrations were held at Sirsi, 30 km from the project site.

quot;There is still opposition to the project, but it is quite passive now,quot; says Nagesh Hegde of the Environment Protection Committee and one of the earliest opponents of Kaiga, from Bangalore. Activists in the vicinity of the plant are still meeting with experts to extract as much information as possible on the safety issue. quot;What sort of evacuation system have they put in place in case of a mishap?quot; demands Hegde. The district authorities who have been entrusted with evacuating the locals are not easily accessible by telephone, he charges.

The activists are also demanding that the Nuclear Power Corporation, which owns the plant, must monitor the health of the people more vigorously. quot;Can the locals afford the minimum nutrition needed to withstand even small doses of radiation?quot; asks Hegde.

But officials of the Kaiga project are quick to dispel the fears of the opponents of thenuclear plant. quot;This area is sparsely populated, just eight persons per square kilometre,quot; says M.V. Rao, Additional Chief Engineer Planning, Kaiga Project. According to him, the construction plan of the plant has several safety features built in. The fuel pellet retains the fission products within its matrix, which is the first barrier to the spread of radioactivity. It is surrounded by cladding, which is the next barrier.

Should this fail, a primary heat transport system acts as the third barrier. Outside this are the primary and secondary containment systems. Moreover, a 5 km radius around the plant has been declared a sterilised zone, in which no industries will be permitted.

The safety mechanisms at Kaiga can shut down a nuclear reaction within two seconds, says Rao. The plant is stocked with coolant systems which will hold out for a period of seven days in the event of an emergency. quot;This is sufficient to evacuate nearby areas,quot; he said. The project8217;s engineers have been charting even windmovements in the area for years, and the evacuation of the nearby population nearby can be planned adequately, says Rao.

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Besides, the power plant is set in a sort of basin surrounded byhills, which should contain the spread of radioactivity.

Though theroadshows and exhibitions conducted by the Nuclear Power Corporation have helped win over the local population, a committed section of the environmentalists8217; lobby refuses to be coopted. Claude Alvares of the Goa Foundation, who has been highlighting the risk to Goa, located just 155 km from Kaiga, is skeptical about the scientists8217; claims. quot;Only when a nuclear power plant is finally shut down can we say that it is safe,quot; he says. According to Rao, limited plant emergencies8217;, in which radiation spreads within a localised area around the plant, are the first indication of danger. In such a situation the affected area of the plant is shut down and sanitised. After necessary repairs, operations are resumed. However, the Indian nuclear establishment isreluctant to part with data on risk perception. quot;It is purely an internal matter8230; the scientists who are employed in nuclear plants take calculated risks,quot; says Rao.

This reluctance owes partly to the fact that India8217;s nuclear power programme is inextricably linked with the defence sector. quot;The generation of power is only incidental,quot; charges Alvares. Contrary to the popular perception, power produced by the Kaiga plant is not cheap. Rao says that one unit of electricity from the plant costs around Rs 3, mainly because of the cost of infrastructure. The first two phases of the Kaiga plant, built at a cost of nearly Rs 2,000 crore, are expected to generate 440 MW of power. The project was originally conceived to generate 2,000 MW of power. Though the campaign against Kaiga has lost momentum over the years, the worm of suspicion is still in place. And it is feeding off the reluctance of the nuclear establishment to part with information which would help people make up their minds.