Anti-nuke protestors raise the pitch against Kalpakkam nuclear plants as cracks emerge in their flanks

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

The silence of nuclear establishment and its failure to allay fears of people in the Koodankulam nuke row after the post-Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster has resulted in anti-nuclear groups now targeting Kalpakkam nuclear plant.



At a protest here, People’s Coalition Against Nuclear Power Plants have expressed solidarity to Koodankulam nuclear plant besides demanding a systematic phasing out or closure of Kalpakkam Atomic Power Plant.



“Recently, we have witnessed a relatively successful anti-nuclear protest in Southern part of Tamil Nadu near Koodankulam. Now to express solidarity to anti-nuclear protest in Koodankulam and to kindle the debate on safety at Kalpakkam Atomic Power station is taken up by People’s Coalition against Nuclear Plants,” said Devaneyan, a spokesman of the outfit.



Interestingly, cracks are also slowly surfacing in anti-nuclear movement as civil rights group allege that the all-party delegation to meet the Prime Minister over the Koodankulam is not adequately represented. “They have not taken up many people who were part of the protest instead they took members from BJP and Samuthuva Makkal Katchi, whose participation in the anti-nuclear movement in Koodankum is under question,” said Arul Doss, a coordinator of National Alliance of People’s Movement.



“They have ignored Manitha Inaytha Makkal Katchi, which was instrumental in passing the resolution and MDMK which spearheaded the protest in 1988. This is not an all party delegation,” said Devaneyan.



Dr V Pugazhendi, an activist belonging to Doctors for Safer Environment (DOSE), alleged that the Madras Atomic Power Station reactors lack passive cooling system and does not belong to the generation 3 reactors and then quickly added that most of the reactors in Kalpakkam are in high-risk seismic zones.



Surprisingly, his comments and the protest by anti-nuke groups come in the wake of India, becoming one of the few states to conduct out-of-pile tests for the first time to ensure foolproof security of its nuclear reactors during high intensity quakes. The models are tested at CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC) Taramani in Chennai to ensure the safety of the reactor before going in for in-pile tests at the nuclear site in Kalpakkam.



Interestingly, in Chennai, the expected gravity at acceleration is .0273. But scientists are testing it by assuming that the quake is six times higher which is roughly .16 gravity at acceleration, according to sources in nuclear industry.

Surprisingly, there were also murmurs and allegations that the protest in Koodankulam may be backed by the United States as the reactors are of Russian origin