Atomic power agency begins to lobby the public

After the strong protests that have forced a stop to work on the 2,000-Mw Kudankulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu, the authorities are trying hard to reach out to public opinion.

The state-run Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) says it is putting in place a diverse plan to allay peoples’ concerns and fears. It plans to put up environment impact assessment (EIA) reports in the public domain, organise site visits and release reader-friendly documents/publications to help make its case.

NPC has released on its website the EIAs of the proposed 9,900-Mw Jaitapur project in Maharashtra and the 1,400-Mw Kakrapar project in Gujarat. It plans to soon load the EIAs of the 1,400-Mw project at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan; the 2,000-Mw one at at Mithi Virdi (Gujarat), one for 2,000 Mw at Kowada (Andhra), 1,400 Mw at Gorakhpur (Haryana) and 1,400 Mw at Chutka (Madhya Pradesh).

NPC chairman and managing director S K Jain told Business Standard:“The EIAs of Mithi Virdi, Kowada, Gorakhpur and Chutka are being prepared by leading agencies. After they are ready, NPC will share it with members of the public by uploading on our website. Our objective is to reach out to the people and share necessary information to allay their fears and address their concerns about nuclear power.”

As for Kudankulam, Jain said the NPC has already put up a comprehensive EIA for four units on the website. He said the EIA was debated during a public hearing and NPC addressed all the issues raised by villagers.

“Still, we are open to hold a dialogue and explain the additional safety measures incorporated to tackle a Fukushima-like event,” he added. However, he said, it wasn’t possible for NPC to address ideological issues taken by opponents of the Kudankulam project and of nuclear power projects in general.

Teams would be deputed to organise site visits of locals, students and experts. Further, a series of publications on nuclear power would also be released and distributed.

G Balachandran, consulting fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies & Analysis, said: “NPC must share information on all other sites — both where the projects have come up and where the projects are proposed — for public consumption.”