PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Nuclear power project

BRIEF ABOUT THE PROJECT

Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project is a proposed 9900 MW power project ofNuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) at Madban village ofRatnagiri district in Maharashtra.

If built, it would be the largest nuclear power generating station in theworld by net electrical power rating.

On December 6, 2010 an agreement was signed for the supply of nuclearfuel for 25 years in the presence of French President Nicolas Sarkozy andIndian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

French nuclear engineering firm Areva S.A. and Indian state-ownednuclear operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India signed this multibillion valued agreement of about $9.3 billion.

It is proposed to construct 6 European Pressurized Reactors designedand developed by Areva of France, each of 1650 megawatts, thus totaling9900 megawatts.

BRIEF ABOUT THE PROJECT

These are the third generation pressurized water reactors (PWR).

Estimated cost of this project is around 100,000 crore (US$18.2 billion).

This type of reactor is not currently operational anywhere in the world.

Though the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission had expressed concernsabout the safety of the computer system in this reactor, but Finland has ordered onesuch reactor nonetheless.

The cost of building the plant is about Rs 20 crore/MWe capacity compared with Rs5 crore/MWe for a coal power station.

The cost of electricity from this power plant will be below Rs.4 (US$0.07) perKilowatt hour.

About the project

Approximately all the six units of 1650 MWe each will be

constructed in a twin-unit mode in phased manner and

implemented in a period of 15-18 years.

Life Span of Each Plant-The guaranteed life of the proposed

plant is 60 years.

Type of Fuel-This plant will be “PWR-type”, based on enriched

uranium fuel.

Technical and Economic Reasons for Selection of Jaitapur Site

The Site Selection Committee recommended setting up a nuclear power plant at Jaitapur, based on the suitability of meeting criteria like which include availability of land vs. population density, available source of cooling water , seismicity, safe-grade elevation at site (flood analysis etc), environment aspects and proper access for transportation of heavy/over-dimensional equipment to plant site.

The site selection for is carried out by the Site Selection Committee, notified by the Government of India which selects site for setting up a nuclear power plant.

The Jaitapur site is not considered earthquake-prone. As per seismic zoning map of Government of India, Jaitapur site falls within zone III. The longitude and latitude of the land covered for Jaitapur nuclear power project are given below:

Latitude of JNPP site: 16° 34’ 38” N to 16° 36’ 29” N Longitude of JNPP site: 73° 19’ 02” E to 73° 20’ 48” E

NUCLEAR PROJECT

Location

The proposed Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project is located at the westcoast with an average elevation of 90 feet (27 m).

This project will spread over 968 hectares of land.

Jaitapur is on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri district in thesouthwestern part of Maharashtra, India.

The district is a part of Konkan in Western Ghats. It is also known asone of the best ports from the Neolithic era.

In 2006, India applied to the UNESCO MAB for the Western Ghats tobe listed as a protected World Heritage Site. The Sahyadri Mountainrange forms the eastern boundary of the Konkan, and the Arabian Seamarks the western boundary. Jaitapur was one of the important portsin ancient and early medieval times.

JAITAPUR AS A LOCATION

Benefits

The project will augment electricity generation in the country, in a benign and environment-friendly way, which is the need of the hour.

Development of areas around project site.

Direct and indirect employment opportunities.

Contribution of National Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) in social and community development of surrounding areas, especially nearby villages, in the field of education, health and infrastructure facilities.

Nuclear liability

India

US

NUCLEAR PROJECT

Issues

Environmental effects of nuclear power and geological issues

The reactors are European Pressurised Reactors(EPR) which are notoperational yet anywhere in the world, and the safety and reliability ofthe technology is highly questionable. The EPR is based on the sameprinciple as older reactors and, being more powerful, presents evenmore potential for catastrophe

This Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill 2010 which allows only theoperator (NPCIL) to sue the manufacturers and suppliers. Victims willnot be able to sue anyone.

ISSUES RELATED TO THE PROJECT

• Though Government of Maharashtra state completed landacquisition in January 2010, only 33 out of the 2,335 villagershave accepted compensation cheques as of November 2010.Therehas been fierce opposition to the project from the people ofJaitapur and the surrounding areas. Land has been forciblyacquired in most cases

• Jaitapur being seismically sensitive area, the danger of anearthquake has been foremost on the minds of people.

• The presence of two major creeks on the proposed site has beenignored while clearing the site.

• The probability of a tsunami, and the damage thereof, has notbeen taken into account while clearing the site on the backdrop ofrecent earthquake and followed by Tsunami in Japan that causedserious damage to its atomic power plant at Fukushima addedmany arguable questions to this issue are raised.

• It is not clear where the nuclear waste emanating from the site will be dumped. The plant is estimated to generate 300 tonnes of waste each year

• Since the plant will use the sea water for cooling and then release warm water in the Arabian Sea, which will destroy marine life

• According to the report by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) the Government of India is not fully transparent with its own citizens and hiding facts about huge negative impact on the social and environmental development of the Konkan region

• Jaitapur is in the Konkan region is considered to be one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots and is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, many of which are threatened. This project will put this entire ecosystem at considerable risk.

• According to calculations based on available information show that the investment cost for the Jaitapur plant would be in excess of Rs. 20 croreper MW, which would result in an electricity tariff of not less than Rs. 9 per unit at current prices.

Legal issues

Social impact

Environment

Human rights

Other issues:

Earthquake zone

Nuclear safety

Indias weak regulatory environment

Lack of transperancy

Threat to the unique ecosystem

The Jaitapur is located in a seismically sensitive region.

It comes under Zone IV as per the earthquake hazard zoning of India.

This zone is called the High Damage Risk Zone.

According to Greenpeace, “Over the past 20 years alone, there have been three earthquakes in Jaitapurexceeding 5 points on the Richter scale.

The Konkan region’s rich natural resources are already under severe threat on account of several “development” projects along the Western Ghats.

Continued..

Water discharged from the plant will be 5 °C hotter than the ambient sea temperature. But “even a 0.5 °C of continual thermal stress will lead to mortality of marine species.”

The BNHS has also mapped 407 hectares of mangrove vegetation around a 10 km-radius of the nuclear plant.

The report also holds that the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) conducted in the region by the government are flawed “almost without exception.”

Continued..

Gadgil also laments the utter disrespect shown by the state agencies for civil rights in pushing for these “development” projects.

The EIA report wholly ignores the serious environmental problems posed by nuclear power, including potentially catastrophic accidents and routine radioactivity exposure through effluents and emissions.

Debate

Debate on nuclear power project at Jaitapur is ongoing on various levels. Environmental effects of nuclear power and geological issues have been raised by anti nuclear activists of India against this power project.

A public hearing on the environmental impact assessment (EIA) Report, prepared by NEERI was conducted by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, on behalf of Ministry of Environment and Forests on 16 April 2010, at the plant site. The public hearing became controversial as the EIA report was not delivered for study to 3 of the 4 Gram panchayat (local village bodies) a month in advance.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has also been filed against the government's civil nuclear program at the apex Supreme Court. The PIL specifically asks for the "staying of all proposed nuclear power plants till satisfactory safety measures and cost-benefit analyses are completed by independent agencies.

Proponents

Proponents are advocating the Jaitapur Project as safe, environmentally benign and economically viable source of electrical energy to meet the increasing electricity needs of India.

They believe that nuclear power is a sustainable energy source that reduces carbon emissions and increases energy security by decreasing India's dependence on foreign oil.

According to former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar, the Jaitapur site is the best as it fulfilled the technical and scientific norms needed for a nuclear power plant. It is proposed that the waste generated at the this nuclear power plant be recycled.

PROTEST AGAINST

THE PROJECT

Many protests have been carried out by local people against the proposed nuclearpower plant. On 29 December 2009, 12 January 2010, and 22 January 2010.

When the government authorities visited Madban for distribution of cheques inlieu of compulsory land acquisition, the villagers refused to accept the cheques.

Government officials were shown black flags, denied any co-operation in carryingout their activities. 72 people were arrested on 22 January 2010 when peopleprotested against the compulsory land acquisition.

On December 4, 2010, protests became violent when over 1500 people weredetained from among thousands of protesters, who included environmentalistsand local villagers.

Members and leaders of the Konkan Bachao Samiti (KBS) and the Janahit SevaSamiti were also detained.

On April 18, 2011, one man was shot and killed by police and eight were injuredafter protests turned violent

PROTEST

The District Collector had imposed Sec 37(1)(3) of the Bombay Police Act, 1951 prohibiting gatherings of more than five people

CURRENT

Situation

Meeting between prime minister Manmohan Singh and chief ministerPrithviraj Chavan in the presence of Union environment minister JairamRamesh over the controversial nuclear power project, the highest-evercompensation is on the cards for Jaitapur’s farmers.

It has been proposed to acquire 938 hectares for the 10,000 mw nuclearpower project in Jaitapur.

According to Land Acquisition Act, the farmers are eligible for Rs.50,000/- to Rs.2.5 lakh per hectare. But, in view of the massiveagitation launched by local farmers, it was proposed to enhance theamount to ` 8-10 lakh.

Now, it has been proposed to offer ` 20-22 lakh.

In addition, NPCIL will provide each family member a job or anadditional compensation of ` 5 lakh.

COMPENSATION TO FARMERS

• Earlier, this project was hit by agitation on land acquisition, whichwas sort out by Maharashtra government by taking severaladministrative steps including framing a new rehabilitationpackage to calm down frayed nerves.

• Later, Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan nudged the villagersback in the area protesting to save environment and fishes in thecoastal area of Maharashtra.

• In this regard, India asked French Nuclear Safety Authority to havea re-look at the EPR design and suggest modifications if needed.Department of Atomic Energy received the review report inJanuary 2012, it was scrutinised by DAE and Atomic EnergyRegulatory Board.

• The wait now is to formal signing of the agreement and Cabinetapproval.

JAITAPUR PLANT AT PRESENT

WHY INDIA SHOULD NOT EMBARK ON NUCLEAR EXPANSION

Conclusion

• Most decision makers and investors talk about sustainability andcorporate social responsibility, yet the entire nuclear cycle blatantlycontradicts this. Radioactive contamination routinely occursthroughout the fuel chain, from uranium mining to processing,reactor operation to the management of nuclear waste.

• A severe accident of a typical pressurized water nuclear reactor, dueto technical or human failure, could affect many millions of people,causing tens of thousands of victims and forcing the evacuation ofareas as large as Belgium.

• The nuclear industry has spent the past decade trying to convincethe public and decision makers that, despite its downsides, nuclearpower is needed to tackle the climate crisis. The industry promisedto have learned from past disasters, and that it would offer a clean,safe, cheap and reliable source of energy. None of these claims istrue.

• The 2010 International Energy Agency (IEA) energy scenarioclearly shows that, even if the world were to build 1,300 newreactors and quadruple nuclear power generation by 2050,greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by less than 4%. Giventhe long planning and construction schedules required, this wouldcome far too late to meet the imperative to significantly declinegreenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and thus prevent climate chaos.

• In addition, implementing the IEA scenario would require $10trillion US dollars for reactor construction, massively increase theamount of nuclear waste that we and future generations will have todeal with, and create enormous proliferation hazards. A singlereactor typically produces several hundred kilograms of plutoniumevery year – an amount sufficient for dozens of nuclear of nuclearweapons.

BY –khushboo jain

Thank YOU!