Atomic Energy – At What Cost?

Atomic Energy – At What Cost?

“Atomic energy? Yes! But at what cost!! This question is being posed to powers that be by a number of poor and middle class families who reside on the picturesque Konkan region of India’s western seaboard. For their livelihood – farming & fishing & raising fruit orchards – their health & future are being threatened by the up and coming atomic power plants being located in the coastal area.

The people are stoutly resisting the government acquisition of their lands for installing power plants. They have even refused to accept cheques proffered by the government as compensation to acquire their lands. The government, pressurized as it is by some multinationals and the powerful atomic energy lobby, seem adamant. It appears the government wants to replace local productivity and sustainable livelihood by expensive technological innovations based on imports which, moreover, benefit not the local people but outsiders, mainly urban areas danger, industries and chemical farming spread throughout India.

The government even frowns upon the security argument that coastal atomic power stations may prove easy targets for enemy missiles and if destroyed, entire populations may fall victim to atomic radiation! This danger is amply demonstrated by the recent entry and attacks on the west coast by terrorists! The coastal system presents an integrated profile. It consists of elevated lateritic plateaus with their characteristic vegetation, slope forests, farming and fruit orchards and coastline with mangroves,, mudflats, scattered rocks and sands. The local people so far have formed an integral part of this picture simply because their traditional practices involve sustainable use of resources. Here again government interventions, though well meant, ultimately resulted in over exploitation. The government provided subsidy and easy loans to fishermen to buy mechanized trawlers. Government even provided cold storages at almost no cost. The result was a boom in fishing, entry of multinationals, leading to severe depletion of fish stocks on the otherwise very productive shallow marine areas adjoining the coast. Of late lateritic plateaus are much in the news. To the common man they provide immense visual delight when at the end of monsoon, they are embellished by a variety of herbaceous flowers with attractive colours. Kaas, a plateau on the crestline of Western Ghats, overlooking Konkan, has been attracting hordes of visitors from Mumbai and Pune. Jaitapur and Madban plateaus in the Konkan are slowly gaining popularity as sites as much endowed with wild flowers, as is Kaas.

Researchers have studied their herbaceous flora and have demonstrated that some of the plants are rare and endangered and need protection. Some are highly endemic and have heritage value. In fact when a World Conservation Union team of experts visited India, they were invited to examine Kaas and researchers put up a strong case before them to include Kaas in the world heritage list. The experts agreed after their site visit and after going through the evidence gathered by the researchers. Jaitapur and Madban are in line for the inclusion. Their biodiversity value transcends all other values. But huge windmills generating power have already destroyed parts of the plateaus. To the local people they are equally valuable as the source of perennial water supply. During the rains cracks and fissures in the laterite catch rain water which seeps through to bottom layers and remain a source of water for springs and underground seepage which moisturizes farm soil and replenishes wells.

Recent research has demonstrated that these herbs tolerate extreme climatic conditions and lack of soil and survive even through the driest summers. They are therefore, called desiccation tolerant. Scientists are hoping to find among them some of agricultural and horticultural values. These can then be introduced in regions where extreme dry seasons and vagaries of monsoon make farming very dicey.

People do not want to lose all these valuable resources for atomic power plants
whose benefits may prove to be severely negative. One may then ask why the government is so insistent about atomic energy development in the face of opposition by local people and even by experts in the field?

Pioneers in this field included such renowned physicists as Dr. S.N. Bose, Dr. C.V. Raman,
Jagdishchandra Bose & Dr. Saha. They were for dissemination of atomic physics through
universities and research institutes. But the 1948 Atomic Energy Act made the development of atomic energy the exclusive responsibility of the government. Atomic Energy Commission was organized by the government under the chairmanship of Dr. Homi Bhaba.

The main argument against atomic power is its high cost. The capital cost of a thermal power plant is slightly over 30 million rupees per megawatt and for the atomic power plant it is around 110 million. The per unit cost therefore of these two types is `2.37 and `5 respectively. All atomic power plants in India are beset with the problem of uranium supply. As the supply is inadequate, the plants work up to only 50% of their installed capacity. Import of uranium and of fossil fuel to convert it into fissionable material is the only option for the government. It seems the government is bent upon adopting this high cost road to power development. In 2002-03 atomic power was given a budget allocation of over 33 billion rupees while development of non-traditional sources of power such as solar, wind etc. received only about `4 billion. In spite of this step-motherly treatment in 2005 the non-traditional sources achieved an installed
capacity of 4800 megawatts against 3310 megawatts of atomic power.

It seems experts including officials of the Atomic Energy Commission heavily discount hazards posed by atomic radiation. Already over 300 radiation incidents have been documented, most of them involving workers in atomic energy plants and residents of villages and towns in their vicinity. Physical deformities and high incidence of cancer are common among them. According to Dr. Helen Caldicott, an atomic expert of international repute, India’s atomic energy programme is the least efficient in the world and is highly pollutive exposing hundreds of workers to dangerous radiation.

But sanity, wisdom and even sound economics fail before the interplay of international politics. It looks countries like France & USA are putting pressure on the GOI for they want to sell to India technology which they can no longer use in their countries. Government of India now proposes to hand over the installation of Jaitapur atomic energy plants to a French Company called AREWA. They would install reactors called EPR ( European Pressure Cooled Reactor ) which is still in an experimental stage and has not been successfully installed and operated anywhere. In fact in Finland the installation of these reactors has not been successful. In U S A the Atomic Energy Commission has not given permission to operationalize this technology. Yet the Government of India proposes to invest over 50,000 crores of rupees in this dubious technology. Now a counter pressure from international conservation and peace keeping
organizations is necessary to fight the one put up by certain countries and multinationals.

We appeal to them to write to the GOI protesting strongly against their decision to go
ahead building atomic power plants. Is it extravagant to hope that these will come
forward in support of Indian people?

Prakash Gole