It's raining trouble for TN nuke plant {india}

[xchrom]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Its-raining-trouble-for-TN-nuke-plant/articleshow/10536800.cms

New Delhi: Recent rains have added to problems at the Kudankulam nuclear plant, where a skeleton staff of 40-60 personnel is finding it increasingly difficult to keep systems functioning to ensure correct levels of ventilation, humidity and coolant circulation.

With efforts to break the impasse over local protests and a blockade of the plant eluding resolution, there is a possibility of equipment being damaged unless more staff can access the complex soon as shutting down operations is a lengthy process and a setback to the nuclear programme. "We are not thinking of suspending operations. But it is difficult to keep the plant functioning at minimum levels. The rains have created fresh problems for the staff at the plant," Srikumar Banerjee, secretary at the department of atomic energy (DAE), told ToI on Saturday.

Banerjee said he was prepared to make more efforts to assuage concerns raised by local protestors and the safety aspects have been explained in detail.

"We are prepared to do more. Many of our staffers are Tamil speakers and we will meet the villagers in the area," he said.

[ensho]

1. kick

nt

[kristopher]

2. TPTB in India are getting worried...

The opposition to this plant is turning into a nationwide movement against nuclear power plants and it is poised to derail the focus the Indian govt has placed on nuclear.

Top Indian scientists to launch nation-wide protest for ban on nuclear plants
The agitation against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) is a prelude to an-all India uprising for a total moratorium on nuclear energy, said a former Atomic Energy Commission scientist.

“We will soon launch an all-India agitation demanding a total ban on nuclear power plants,” Dr MP Parameswaran, who holds India’s first PhD in nuclear engineering told DNA. Many top scientists in the country have expressed their desire to join this nation-wide agitation.

Dr Parameswaran,a former scientist/nuclear engineer with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay quit DAE in 1975 after he learnt that nuclear energy was not a viable option. “Nuclear power plants are dangerous and should be shut down. There is a total veil of secrecy over their functioning. Our agitation is to force the government to enact a legislation banning nuclear plants,” he said....

Nuclear energy: No longer a sacred cow
...The Indian nuclear establishment has been full of Brahmins, especially Tamil Brahmin hawks. Displaced in their own state, they have become custodians of the atom state. They have been the most eloquent defenders of the relation between atomic energy and the state. No bunch of Jesuits was more loyal to the cause than the Indian nuclear technocracy. The Brahmin hawks of the nuclear establishment were either dismissive or ferociously arrogant about dissent. When questioned, they bristled, often acting as if their science, their patriotism or even their integrity was being questioned.

Dissenters, even outstanding scientists like CV Sheshadri or Amulya Reddy were brushed aside as if they were unnecessary viruses. The latter two offered a whole dream of alternative energy linking it to the socialist and democratic imaginations. The only other exception was Satish Dhawan, Director of the Indian Institute of Science and one of the brains behind space research. He encouraged the debate on the Kaiga nuclear project in Karnataka. But scientists like Raja Ramanna, who was Head of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), behaved like Fascist bullies when confronted with questions. Ramanna would dub journalists critical of atomic energy as anti-national.

This problem was compounded by ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=314271&mesg_id=314450

India has abundant natural energy resources and in a fair comparison taking into account the risk premium for state subsidized nuclear insurance, solar is now almost certainly less expensive option than nuclear.

How Much Does It Cost To Insure a Nuclear Power Plant?
...it is estimated that the cost per kilowatt-hour would increase by between 0.14 and 67.3 euros, making nuclear energy totally uncompetitive with renewable sources....
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x315298

[xchrom]

3. +1

[kristopher]

4. Re: Top Indian scientists to launch nation-wide protest for ban on nuclear plants

I forgot to include the link to that article:
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_top-indian-scientists-to-launch-nation-wide-protest-for-ban-on-nuclear-plants_1600845