http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Nuclear-regulatory-body-as-vital-as-Lokpal--choose-people-with-care--citizens-urge-govt/784407/
Nuclear regulatory body as vital as Lokpal, choose people with care, citizens urge govt *Express news service* Posted online: Mon May 02 2011, 03:14 hrs *New Delhi : *Asking the government to select people with the “highest integrity, impartiality and commitment to public interest” to a new independent and statutory nuclear regulatory authority, a group of citizens opposed to nuclear power projects said that the proposed Nuclear Regulatory Authority of India was as important as the office of the Lokpal for which a legislation was currently being drafted. The government had last week announced its intention to delink the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) from the atomic energy establishment by creating a Nuclear Regulatory Authority of India. It said it would bring a Bill for this in the monsoon session of Parliament. “We welcome the government’s intention to separate the AERB from the DAE (Department of Atomic Energy). But the (revamped) AERB’s responsibilities and powers must be defined in advance and its members selected with exemplary prudence so that only persons with the highest integrity, impartiality and commitment to public interest are chosen by a broad-based collegium... The life and death of millions will depend on the AERB. India’s experience with regulatory authorities in telecom, insurance and hydrocarbons is unhappy. We simply cannot afford ‘regulatory capture’ in nuclear matters,” said a statement by this group. The statement has been signed by 60 citizens from all walks of life, including former chiefs of Naval Staff Admirals L Ramdas and Vishnu Bhagwat, former vice-chancellors Mushirul Hasan and Deepak Nayyer, historians Romila Thapar and Ramchandra Guha, writer Arundhati Roy, scientists P M Bhargava and M V Ramana, social activist Aruna Roy, columnist Praful Bidwai and several others. The group strongly protested against the government’s decision to go ahead with the nuclear power project in Jaitapur in Maharashtra despite the continuing public protests. “We are shocked at the government’s sheer insensitivity in announcing on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe that it is going ahead with the Jaitapur nuclear power project. This means disregarding the overwhelming opposition to the project by 40,000 local people and the larger public, the caution counselled by numerous experts, and the grave safety concerns raised by the still-unfolding Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan,” the statement added. The statement said the safety review of the nuclear power plants carried out by the atomic energy department was a “superficial” exercise. “This is unconvincing. What is urgently needed is an independent, thorough and transparent review of our nuclear policy and installations by a broadly representative body, which includes non-DAE personnel and civil society representatives. Pending this, projects like Jaitapur must be put on hold and their clearances revoked,” the statement said. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
