Study Fukushima, Chernobyl before deciding on Jaitapur: Uddhav

Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray, whose party is fiercely opposed to Jaitapur nuclear power project, today suggested Maharashtra Government to send its ministers abroad to study ill-effects of atomic disasters in places like Fukushima and Chernobyl.
Before going ahead with the Jaitapur project, he said the BJP-led Government in Maharashtra, where Sena is sharing power, should undertake a study tour of places such as Fukushima and Chernobyl to understand the devastating consequences of nuclear accidents.
Reiterating his party's opposition to the 9,900 MW plant in the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra, Uddhav said "Jaitapur is not a political issue for Shiv Sena."

"Countries like Japan and Germany are closing nuclear projects in a phased manner because of the threats they pose," he said.
The Sena chief was speaking at a function organised to honour senior journalist Dnyanesh Maharao with the R G Jadhav Award at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh.
He asked his party MLA from Konkan Deepak Kesarkar, Minister of State for Finance who was present at the event, to put a proposal before the State Cabinet about the study tour.

Earlier this week, a delegation of Shiv Sena MPs met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to express opposition to the Jaitapur nuclear plant, but were reportedly asked not to block the project.

Sena claims the project will have devastating impact on the people and environment of the Konkan region.
The nuclear disaster at Fukushima plant in Japan was triggered by a tsunami caused by a massive earthquake on March 11, 2011. Following the tsunami, the plant was crippled and substantial amounts of harmful radioactive material began to be released into atmosphere.
In 1986, an explosion and fire at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (then part of Soviet Union) released large quantities of radioactive particles into atmosphere.