Govt has no plans of giving up nuclear power

New Delhi, Sep 21 (PTI) The Indian government has no
plans of giving up nuclear power production in the wake of
protests against the Koodankulam nuclear project in south
Indian state Tamil Nadu and in the backdrop of the Fukushima
accident in Japan.
"To suddenly declare the funeral (of nuclear power) is an
extreme stand," sources in the security establishment said
today when asked about a possible re-think on the government
on going ahead with the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement.
They see the current protests against the setting up of
two nuclear reactors with Russian collaboration in Tamil Nadu
as an exercise in democratic process.
The government acknowledges concerns regarding safety of
nuclear power projects especially after the Japanese disaster
earlier this year. "That is why we said we will do a safety
review of all projects," the sources said.
With regard to protests in Koodankulam, the government
feels there were two factors that fuelled these -- one the
concerns among the local fishermen who are well-organised and
the other the political parties.
"We don't see this primarily a question of safety or no
safety but about communicating and communicating effectively,"
the sources said, adding that this was the reason why Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh deputed Minister of State V
Narayanasamy to talk to the protesters and officials in the
state.
The government also does not find anything wrong in Chief
Minister J Jayalalithaa asking for redressal of concerns, with
the sources saying she was legitimate in doing so.
The government, the sources pointed out, has initiated
steps enacting a law for nuclear safety and for putting in
public domain the periodic review of safety measures at atomic
power plants.
Justifying the development of nuclear energy, the sources
said it was one of the cheap alternatives and that cannot be
questioned.
Asked whether protests in India on nuclear power projects
would spell the end of the Indo-US nuclear deal, the sources
said: "That is an extreme stand. To suddenly declare a funeral
(of nuclear power) is an extreme stand."
They said two nuclear reactors in Koodankulam are ready
to commence production and ruled out creating an exclusion
zone around the project for evacuating people from the area
and providing them with alternative employment.
"Mixing people and creating exclusive zone is not being
thought of," the sources said.
Already there are some areas that have been kept out of
bounds for local people and there are several people living in
the area who are employed in the project, they said.
Noting that a democratic process was at work in
Kudankulam, the sources said at the same time, it needed to be
seen that the project was safe and sustainable.