Put Indian lives above foreign profits

World's largest nuclear park is planned in Jaitapur, in Ratnagiri district on the coast of southern Maharashtra. The park would comprise up to six large nuclear reactors bought from the French nuclear giant- Areva.

In addition to the inherent hazards of nuclear power, the project threatens the livelihoods of about 10 000 farmers and fishermen and their families. Today, more than a thousand local people have taken action against the project, voluntarily risking lengthy arrest and further legal consequences. The message is clear – they want their land and their fisheries, not paltry compensation offered by the nuclear company. 600 people have already been loaded into police buses and hauled into jails. About 700 more still continue the peaceful protest, risking arrest. Several prominent figures, including a former Supreme Court judge, Justice P B Sawant, former Magsaysay award winner Admiral Ramdas were intending to join the protests, but are reported to have been arrested on the highway, about 20km from the site.

The Jaitapur project is characterized by shocking neglect – from the choice of an earthquake-prone and ecologically valuable site, to a timetable that leaves insufficient time to review the risks of the nuclear reactor design, not yet in operation anywhere in the world. Because of these and many other flaws the reactors would entail unacceptable hazards.

The local people are against forced acquisition of their land by the government. They consider their land to be of much more value than a job at NPCIL and some money in lieu of the land. The local people have unanimously rejected the compensation package offered by the government.

A joint report by Greenpeace and European solar panel manufacturers showed earlier this week that solar power can deliver electricity at a competitive cost by 2015. This is 3 years before the first planned reactor could be in operation in Jaitapur. Wind power and biomass can do that already now. There is no need to import dangerous and destructive nuclear reactors.

So unfair! 600 people were arrested in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra for expressing their right to be safe. They were opposing the export of untested nuclear reactors and its consequences in the area.

[1] The reactors for this plant are coming from the French nuclear company Areva, known for contaminating sites it operated in, like the La Hague reprocessing facility
[2] These very reactors have not been accepted by US and European nuclear regulators because they do not meet basic nuclear safety standards
[3]Yet again our government is favouring foreign corporations over its own people.

In view of these, we have to value public safety and try to stop the import of dangerous nuclear reactors.