The Times of India January 24, 2005 HOW SAFE ARE THE INDIAN NUCLEAR REACTORS? IANS CHENNAI: The tsunami that wrought havoc along the Tamil Nadu coast has raised questions about the safety of India's nuclear reactors at the Kalpakkam complex that was inundated by the deluge, forcing their temporary shutdown.
Though the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) have repeatedly assured people that the reactors are perfectly safe and there is no cause for worry, there is a sense of insecurity among workers at the complex and local residents. According to the South Asian Community Centre for Education and Research (SACCER), as many as 60 to 80 people were killed and more than 1,000 houses damaged at Kalpakkam, 76 km south of Chennai, when the tsunami struck Dec 26, leaving a trail of debris across the campus. It said the heavy protection walls on the seashore simply disappeared without a trace and the Sadras East area of the complex was in a shambles. No accurate numbers of the dead in the campus are available but according to the Kalpakkam Nuclear Power Station Casual Contract Labourers' Federation, about 300 contract labourers were missing from the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) site, whose foundation pit was flooded by the tsunami. There are two Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) reactors and one test reactor for the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) in operation at Kalpakkam. Besides 3,000 regular employees, DAE employs over 1,000 people as contract labour at its Kalpakkam complex. What will happen to the PFBR stations, which will have liquid sodium as coolant, if there is another inundation by a tsunami, is the question being debated in scientific circles. Similarly, the reprocessing plant holding glass-matted enriched waste is said to be just about 150 meters from the sea. Will it be safe if another tsunami strikes? The DAE facility at Kalpakkam lost all contact with the rest of the world after the telephone exchange was flooded on Deecember 26. "On December 26, the Madras Atomic Power Station looked like a desolate place with no power, no phones, no water, no security arrangement and no hindrance whatsoever for outsiders to enter any part of the plant," said S.P. Udaykumar of SACCER. But NPCIL project director S.K. Agarwal, while delivering a lecture on "Nuclear Science, Peace and Development" at the Gandhi Museum in Madurai Saturday, said India's nuclear power plants are the safest in the world. Addressing a disaster management meeting in Chennai, S. Govindrajan of the IGCAR said as many as 1,000 people in the Kalpakkam campus are trained in dealing with emergency situations. Some outsiders too were imparted the same training every two years, he said. But even the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) that is in charge of complex security is said to have reported loss of personnel and sought "tsunami victims" status for them. According to the DAE, as many as 29 homes in the CISF barracks were destroyed. Reports said there is a sense of insecurity among people, and parents were reluctant to send children to the four central schools at the DAE campus. The Kalpakkam Atomic Energy Employees' Association and other workers' unions plan to file a suit in the Madras High Court charging that there is "a serious lack of qualified technical personnel at critical positions of the MAPS reactors" and that this compromises the safety of the plant and the public. o o o o TSUNAMI MAKES INDIA'S NUKE WORKERS JITTERY By Harbaksh Singh Nanda UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL [January 24, 2005 ] New Delhi, India, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Although India claims that its nuclear reactors in Tamil Nadu state withstood the tsunami lashes, workers and local residents around the Kalpakkam nuclear facility are feeling insecure and unsafe after the facility was deluged. The nuclear reactor plant was temporarily shut down after the coastal waves inundated the unit following Dec. 26 tsunami disaster. Despite the repeated assurances by the Department of Atomic Energy and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India that the Kalpakkam unit was safe and there is no cause for worry, a sense of insecurity remains among workers and local residents. According to the South Asian Community Center for Education and Research, at least 60 to 80 people were killed and more than 1,000 houses damaged at Kalpakkam, 50 miles south of Madras. The watery fury left behind a trail of debris across the campus. The heavy protection walls on the seashore simply disappeared without a trace, Indo Asian News Service reported. The Kalpakkam Nuclear Power Station Casual Contract Laborers' Federation said that some 300 workers were missing from the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor site, whose foundation pit was flooded by the tsunami. There are two Madras Atomic Power Station reactors and one test reactor for the Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research in operation at Kalpakkam. Besides 3,000 regular employees, at least 1,000 people are employed as contract laborers. Scientists have some very tough question for the administration. What will happen to the prototype fast breeder reactor stations, which have liquid sodium as coolant, if there is another inundation by a tsunami? The reprocessing plant holding glass-matted enriched waste is said to be just about 150 meters from the sea. Will it be safe if another tsunami strikes? The Kalpakkam facility lost all contact after its telephone exchange was flooded Dec 26, the IANS reported. "On Dec 26, the Madras Atomic Power Station looked like a desolate place with no power, no phones, no water, no security arrangement and no hindrance whatsoever for outsiders to enter any part of the plant," said S.P. Udaykumar of SACCER. However, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India official S.K. Aggarwal said India's nuclear power plants are the safest in the world. New Delhi had earlier said that tsunami water had made its way into the nuclear facility. "Information reaching us suggests that facilities at Kalpakkam nuclear station may have been affected by the tidal waves," said a spokesman from the prime minister's office. Not many workers are willing to return to the nuclear reactor plant, fearing it may be unsafe to work there. The Kalpakkam Atomic Energy Employees' Association and other workers' unions plan to file a court case charging that there is "a serious lack of qualified technical personnel at critical positions of the MAPS reactors" and that this compromises the safety of the plant and the public, the IANS reported. The Reactor Pressure Vessel for the Kudankulam Atomic Power Project, which is considered to be the heart of the nuclear power plant, has meanwhile safely arrived at the Tuticorin Port. Aggarwal said that when the tsunami waves hit the Indian coastline, the shipment that was flagged off by the first week of last month from St Petersburg port in Russia was mid-sea. Immediately after hearing of the tsunami havoc, the Kudankulam project officials who made efforts to trace the exact location of the ship carrying the crucial equipment, found out that it was very near to the Tuticorin Port and was unaffected by the waves. The impact of huge ocean waves, any possible threat due to collision of aircraft into the buildings where the nuclear core is located, effects of earthquakes and cyclones have been taken into account in the design features of the power plant, a government statement said. [...]. _________________________________ SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN): An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned about Nuclearisation in South Asia South Asians Against Nukes Mailing List: archives are available @ two locations May 1998 - March 2002: <groups.yahoo.com/group/sap/messages/1> Feb. 2001 - to date: <groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/messages/1> To subscribe send a blank message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> South Asians Against Nukes Website: www.s-asians-against-nukes.org ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/1TwplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN): An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned about the dangers of Nuclearisation in South Asia SAAN Website: http://www.s-asians-against-nukes.org SAAN Mailing List: To subscribe send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SAAN Mailing List Archive : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/ ________________________________ DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in materials carried in the posts do not necessarily reflect the views of SAAN compilers. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
