National Alliance of Peoples' Movements
Koodankulam Can Be A Nuclear Trap for the People of Kanyakumari District

S.P Udakumar

The Central Government's relentless pursuit of the Koodankulam nuclear power project betrays its plain antipathy towards the popular concerns on safety and security. The obvious and daunting geographic and weather constraints of the Southern tip of India call for the immediate abrogation of the project.

During the late-1980's several grassroots organizations (including the one my friends and I founded, 'Group for a Peaceful Indian Ocean') sought to educate the public opinion of the dangers of nuclear power plants and radioactive contamination. The thoughtless persistence of the Central Government, the remarkable indifference of the local lawmakers and public figures, and the high degree of nuclear illiteracy of the local people defeated these popular resistance movements and initiatives.

The authorities kept insisting that the project would bring increased job opportunities, enhanced growth of the region, and improved power generation. The local people have realized now that the job and development claims are quite inordinate and misleading. However, there has been very little discussion on nuclear power generation.

Even in the United States, there has been a remarkable retreat from nuclear power with a steady closure of plant after plant, and conspicuous absence of new constructions. Commonwealth Edison, the largest private operator of nuclear plants in the US, has just announced the closure of two of its plants in Zion, Illinois, because of economic reasons. The company's Quad Cities plant near Molline, Illinois, was shut down late last year because of safety concerns. Only four of the companies twelve plants are currently generating electricity. Northwest Utilities, another nuclear power generator that owns three nuclear plants at Waterford, Connecticut, has also recently suspended the efforts to reopen its oldest unit. If cost considerations and safety concerns oblige the wealthy and highly advanced American Nuclear industry, one can imagine the predicaments India could face on both these fronts.

Besides the industry problems such as storing the spent fuel and final decommissioning of the plant, there are two other major sources of safety threats; nature-made and human-made. Koodankulam area is not completely devious of any threats of natural calamities. It may be remembered that there was a mild tremor a few years ago in Kanyakumari district with its epicenter in the Indian Ocean. Cyclone red alerts have also been declared in the past. Huge monsoon thunderstorms, unrelenting sea erosion, and increasing global warming could also prove potential dangers. It should be remembered that Koodankulam sits on sea level and is hardly 4 km away from the Bay of Bengal coast.

The more credible and immediate dangers, however, are inadvertent, human errors and deliberate human-made disasters. The Bhopal tragedy, that is still haunting the national memory, is a cruel reminder of human negligence and unpreparedness. On the other hand, terrorism has become an unfortunate part of our daily reality with the proliferation of extremist outfits and violent communal groups around the country and particularly in the state of Tamil Nadu. With the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict raging on in full swing, the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu are especially prone to terrorist activities and possible attacks. After all, nuclear protesters in the US and the UK have demonstrated that all the high-security preparations are ineffective by gaining access to the very interior of some sensitive nuclear installations.

What would happen in the case of an accident or attack on the Koodankulam nuclear reactors and the inevitable nuclear radiation? Of course people would panic and try to flee the catastrophe. People who live west and north of Koodankulam could flee northwards and try to run away from the danger. Just think of the people who are directly south of Koodankulam who would be literally trapped inside a big nuclear contamination cage. Caught between the rough and deep sea and the source of deadly contamination, they would be convoluting inside the death cell.

Fleeing westwards into Kerala would not help much because there is no natural barrier that could guarantee against the spread of nuclear contamination. In fact, the Western Ghats mountain range receded considerably towards its Southern End with few lofty summits or groups of high hills. Geographers and meteorologists agree that the west coast of the peninsula has the dampest and most uniform climate of any part of this region. It is open to the westerly winds from the ocean, and is shielded from the desiccating winds of the Deccan plateau by the Western Ghats.

Almost 2 to 3 million people cornered in the southern tip of the peninsula, which is sealed by the seas and shielded from the drier winds of the Northern Deccan plateau by the Western Ghats, would be fleeing westward from nuclear contamination. Depending on the climate at the time of the accident/attack, the fleeing people would be pursued by either mild or strong westerly winds which would be humid and damp, and hold the contamination in large measure. If the Chernobyl radiation in Ukraine could kill thousands of Reindeers in far away Northern Sweden, a Koodankulam accident would definitely endanger the people of Southern Kerala too.

This nightmarish picture makes me, a citizen from Kanyakumari district wonder if the authorities chose this inapt site after a careful and thorough scrutiny. Common sense dictates that if there is no remedy for a dangerous malady, prevention is the best thing to do. Koodankulam power project has to be scrapped.

The National Alliance of Peoples' Movements is opposed to this project and urges you to write letters to the following people expressing your concern towards this project and your support for the people of Kanyakumari.
 

Thank you for your support
Ali Sauer

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