India Nuclear News and Discussion 4 July 2011

[sum]

I am not getting connections between protestors and starting of the Nuclear plant. This plant has been struggling to start its business since long time. There is more in terms of Russians agreeing on the basis of them getting their money soon or technical issues involved in starting this plant. Govt wanted to find a scape goat. I think they should start the business and ignore the protestors. Also State and central govet should get involved in dialogue and improvement of hte local people in some ways which is the most neglected part.

When a INC govt says this to a church led and organised protest, there is surely something going on:
PMO sees foreign hand

V. Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, said on Saturday that the anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNP) agitation was being funded by foreign agencies.

“We've already started investigation to unmask the foreign agencies actually funding the ongoing agitation against KKNPP even after the nuclear reactors' safety has been ensured by installing futuristic state-of-the-art safety features,” he told reporters here.

The country, which would be in need of 4.50 lakh MW power by 2020, was generating only 1.5 lakh MW. Hence, to achieve this goal, it was executing the nuclear power generation programmes, like the U.S., which was getting 20 per cent of its power from nuclear reactors.

At the same time, Mr. Narayanasamy said, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, which was constructing the reactors with Russian assistance, had incorporated sophisticated safety equipment in the reactors of KKNPP though it consumed considerable time and money.

The Minister said the protest was going on even after distinguished scientist and former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, after his personal inspection of the plant, had certified that the KKNPP reactors with its safety features were the safest in the world. “However, a group of people were misguiding the people, particularly the fishermen, with false propaganda against the KKNPP as they wanted to cripple its commissioning. Since we suspect the involvement of the foreign agencies in the ongoing protest, we've ordered for a comprehensive probe to unmask the foreign groups that fund those who organise the protest. This is not really a protest being orchestrated by the people,” he charged.

If the same had been said by a NDA govt, it would have been dismissed here by some folks as communal RSS govt showing anti-Cristian bias etc but that cant be alleged when INC says this!!

[Philip]

The GOI/Parliament should pass a resolution/declare that all N-plants in India and a suitable surrounding area should be centrally administered for security purposes.This area contiguous to the N-plant should contain the entire N-estate as at BAARC Trombay.Within this zone,the entire township,housing,schools,other non-plant facilities should be located and strictly keep out all outsiders.This is the norm in every plant that I know of.In Bangalore,we used to have a sign outside HAL on the airport road that said,"tresspassers will be shot"! I am surprised that at KKM outsiders are being allowed to protest ,prevnting maintenance and technial teams from going into the plant.The added rider that I suggest is that apart from this plant and township area,a further zone be established which will come under the N-plant's jurusdiction alone.This would be similar to a "Union Territory" approach or like any military facility.In Pak,even diplomats are not spared if they tresspass within this (Kahuta) zone and have been beaten up in the past.

This will ensure the smooth running of the plant.Apart from this any attempt to stop convoys,supplies,etc. from reaching the plant,with the intention to disrupt or sabotage the plant, will be an anti-national act and subject any such protesters to severe penal action.Let KKM be the first example and if the unwarranted protests,which are aimed at stopping our entire N-industry,through the wedge of KKM,let them face the music.

It is good that the GOI is now on the track and trail of the foreign hand steering the protests.Once identified and exposed,the countries behind the subversion shuld be penalised by blacklisting them from any military sales to India,as the same sabotage game can be played with conventional arms supplies.

[gakakkad]

L&T executes first US order for nuclear equipment

The spokesperson said the manufacture of the stainless steel canisters involves maintaining stringent tolerance levels.

Transnuclear Inc. USA, an Areva company, has placed five repeat orders for supplying such canisters to leading utilities based in the US and Switzerland, bringing the total ordered to 73.

Was not the nuclear deal about selling India's sovereignity ? How come Indian companies started making profit from the west by the power of the same deal the lefties and some people here were protesting against.. I predict that in a decades time India will be selling reactors.. Mark my words..the deal was the greatest miscalculation by the Khanland... It ll actually help India..

[JE Menon]

>>Mark my words..the deal was the greatest miscalculation by the Khanland... It ll actually help India..

gakakkad, while I do appreciate the sentiment, let's not jump the gun. As one who supported the deal from the moment the possibility hit the news (and proud to say predicted precisely how it would unfold - come on, we admins are allowed our little vanities now and then), we must never forget that this is not a F&F (***k & forget) situation ... We will have to have our eye on the ball every minute for years if not decades to ensure the outcome you predict is really what happens. The deal is finely structured and worded, and either side can get the short end of the stick if they don't keep monitoring every subtle twist. Be damned sure the Americans will. We need to. So far I'm optimistic...

[harbans]

the deal was the greatest miscalculation by the Khanland... It ll actually help India..

No it was not. In the coming years, the US and India will need each other more than ever. Bush and CR realized the broad contours of that need. The Indian demographic is at such a stage that if it doesn't get the power it needs now, it will be doomed. Missed the bus sort of. The US and India coming closer is inevitable in the next decade and beyond.

[shaunb]

Australian PM asks its party to change its policy on export of uranium to nations who haven't signed NPT.

Finally Labour realizing the true potential of the Indian market.

Wonder how the Chinese will react now?

[ramana]

So which foreign hand does the PMO see?

V. Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, said on Saturday that the anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNP) agitation was being funded by foreign agencies.

“We've already started investigation to unmask the foreign agencies actually funding the ongoing agitation against KKNPP even after the nuclear reactors' safety has been ensured by installing futuristic state-of-the-art safety features,” he told reporters here.

Might be useful to figure out by process of elimination.
Quo bono? Who benefits?

[Arjun]

L&T executes first US order for nuclear equipment

The spokesperson said the manufacture of the stainless steel canisters involves maintaining stringent tolerance levels.

Transnuclear Inc. USA, an Areva company, has placed five repeat orders for supplying such canisters to leading utilities based in the US and Switzerland, bringing the total ordered to 73.

This is interesting...has the GOI considered a formal offset policy for nuclear trade, similar to the one on the defence side? If India buys reactors from Areva for instance, Areva would need to offset a percentage of the deal value by buying from Indian firms over a period of time. L&T would probably be the prime beneficiary of any such policy.

Added later: looks like offsets are legal trade practice only for defence/aerospace. But given the huge deal values in nuclear reactor commerce, suppliers may be willing to figure out a workaround.

[SSridhar]

Its one thing to exercise democratic right to protest and another to use it to subvert national aspirations.

Somehow, the English language newspapers are not giving out complete details on what is going on. I am unable to provide a link but the following news item (translated) has appeared in today's Dinamalar Tamil daily.

The local police have filed cases against six Christian priests (including the Bishop of the Tuticorin Diocese Ivon Ambrose) and coordinators under 15 sections for conducting protests without approval from the police and the Government. Until yesterday, 76 cases have been filed. The DSP of Tirunelveli says, "The cases have been filed for damaging public property, for illegal activities, for causing material loss to state and central governments, for preventing state and central government officials, for preventing operations of central government vehicles, for stopping the DIG & the SP from discharging their normal duties, misusing the place of worship for spreading panic among people etc."

He also added that one priest, Mathews Rajan, has been charged under 10 sections for inciting people who came to the Koodankulam church by showing them graphic video pictures of skeleton and the diseased".

I am posting some more news items from the same Tamil daily (sorry, no time to translate)
10000 people to participate in a fast in support of KKNPP in Tirunelveli

The next step is to arrest them and produce them before a court of law.

Russian Consul happy that there is a change of heart about KKNPP among local people

[Philip]

"The sky is falling!The sky is falling!".The KKM protests remind one of the famous fear cry of the Gauls in Asterix's village.Unfortunately,there are no wise wizard's like Getafix in KKM ,but on the other hand the cassocked equivalent of Saruman and other necromancers! The all-seeing eye of Sauron (from the land of a famous one dollar bill that bears his "eye") bends the will of the locals from afar .The "Grey Pilgrim" Gandalf-Kalam is being belittled and abused by "Wormtongue" Udaykumar, and the orcs and Uruk-Hai now being gathered together in their tens of thousands while Sauron's Nazgul, ironically wearing robes of white prepare to do battle with the forces of Middle-India!

They now plan for a massive fast (should it not read "feast" instead,with all being served biryani and banknotes? to boot?) to further stall efforts to maintain and preserve the eqpt. at the plant.
S.Gurumurthy in the New Indian EXpress had his view of the conflict and had no doubts (no prizes for guessing) as to who was responsible for orchestrating the orcs and goblins,the "Church".The other vernacular reports that the forces of law and order are finally moving their backsides is very welcome.The beacons have been lit,the enemy is at hand,all hands to the gates and walls to protect Gondor-KKM!

[vishvak]

Forces halting our n-surge

Even the uranium reserve in Jharkhand is at risk. A huge tribal campaign, with NGOs patronised by the church backing it, is thwarting uranium mining in Jharkhand.

QED: The campaign against mining uranium in Meghalaya and against the Koodankulam nuclear plant is by the same directors and actors with global links and money. Their target is nuclear India. They are driven by a geopolitical agenda to de-nuke India. But they actually nuke India.

Funny how France did not face such protests. Aren't the French Christians?

[arun]

Australian PM asks its party to change its policy on export of uranium to nations who haven't signed NPT.

Finally Labour realizing the true potential of the Indian market.

Wonder how the Chinese will react now?

Extract from the OpEd in the Sydney Morning Herald in which the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard mooted the idea that Australia should sell Uranium to India:

One of our nearest neighbours is India. Long a close partner. The world's biggest democracy. Growing at 8 per cent a year. Yet despite the links of language, heritage and democratic values, in one important regard we treat India differently. We will not sell India uranium for peaceful purposes - though Canada is preparing to - while policy allows us to export it to countries such as China, Japan and the United States.

It is time for Labor to modernise our platform and enable us to strengthen our connection with dynamic, democratic India. As in other areas, broadening our markets will increase jobs. We must, of course, expect of India the same standards we do of all countries for uranium export - strict adherence to International Atomic Energy Agency arrangements and strong bilateral undertakings and transparency measures that will provide assurances our uranium will be used only for peaceful purposes.

From here:

An opportunity for sound and fury signifying something

[chetak]

Nuclear reactor politics

By Bharat Karnad
03 Nov 2011 10:46:00 PM IST

Nuclear reactor politics

What’s with the stir over the Koodankulam nuclear power plant? Over the years, India has constructed 20 nuclear power plants — four units in Kaiga, Karnataka, two in Kakrapar, Gujarat, two in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, two in Narora, Uttar Pradesh, six in Rawatbhatta, Rajasthan, and four in Tarapur, Maharashtra, and has additional eight under construction (one in Kalpakkam, two in Kakrapar, two in Rawatbhatta, and two in Banswara, Rajasthan). Never have the local populations at any time at any of these various sites risen up as they have done in Koodankulam. It’s a mystery worth probing.
It cannot be the case that the people protesting in Koodankulam have suddenly become knowledgeable about the dangers posed by a nuclear power station in their backyard. The bulk of the protesters seem to be the bus-ed in crowd, prepared to shout slogans and sit-in for a price as the organisers strut about mouthing stuff the audience barely comprehends about Koodankulam being a horrendous nuclear accident waiting to happen. The disaster at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power complex has provided them a handle. Unfortunately for the world, Japan has provided two intertwined benchmarks — the catastrophic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic weapons, and the Fukushima civilian nuclear plant disaster, until now when Fukushima is portrayed as a Hiroshima by other nuclear means.
It does not seem to matter that the anti-nuclear rhetoric of the Koodankulam demonstrators has only a passing connection with the Fukushima reality — a ‘low probability-high cost’ incident triggered by a combination of earthquake and tsunami that ended up tripping the safety devices and negating the automatically activated safety measures, to a point where all control systems were overwhelmed, and the nuclear core reached melt-down condition. In such instances, the trade-off is between plant safety and cost. One can engineer the most stringent safety standards in building nuclear power stations to cater for the remotest contingency, if one is also willing to foot the enormously enhanced bill. So, a via media usually involves a compromise that eliminates the risk from extreme circumstances.
What has rendered Koodankulam an emotive issue, is the supposed shortfalls in nuclear safety that have ended up conjuring popular visions of a Fukushima in waiting. It brooks no reasonable debate as the issue has transited into the realm of faith, the physics and engineering of it be damned. This seems literally the case with the recently elected Koodankulam panchayat president Sandal V Muthuraja, who revealed to the Press that his election owed much to a parish priest of nearby Idinthakarai throwing his support behind him in return for opposing the nuclear power plant. It is possible that, unusual for a cleric, he is equally well-versed in Catholic liturgy and radiation risk analysis. More likely, however, he is an average Joe and a nuclear know-nothing convinced he is doing god’s work if it also results in the filling of church coffers. The question then is the identity and motivation of the donors. The anti-nuclear lobby in India, unlike the well-off Green Movement in the West, is cash poor and so marginalised it has become irrelevant. But along with local opinion leaders, it has been co-opted by the well-funded Greens from abroad, to lead the fight against Koodankulam. This is what S K Jain, chairman, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd believes has happened, referring darkly to “Foreign nationals who are green from the US, Finland, France, Australia and Germany.... and backing locals in their agitation.”
Of the five countries Jain has mentioned, the United States (partnering Japan), France and Germany, it turns out, are centrally involved in trying to sell India unproven reactors run on imported enriched uranium fuel and related technologies and, in such matters, Australia habitually plays the dummy to Washington’s ventriloquist. The sales of the American Westinghouse-Toshiba AP 1000 reactor and the Franco-German 1600 MW power plant (with the French Company, Areva, providing the principal nuclear systems and assemblies and the German giant, Siemens, the high-voltage, low loss, transmission technology) did not go through because of insistence by these supplier countries that they be exempted from Indian law, specifically the Civilian Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010, that does not cap the liability of purveyors of nuclear reactor technology. The AP 1000 reactor, for instance, has failed to win certification from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission on safety grounds. The new Areva reactor has yet to establish its bonafides with the only 1600 MW reactor, under construction in Olkiluoto, Finland, suffering huge time and cost over-runs.
Paris made common cause Washington but only until it was assured a sale, when France decided to accept Indian government assurances and prepared to set up a 9,900 MW Areva nuclear complex at Jaitapur in Maharashtra whereas the US, trying to avoid future complications, wanted a binding Indian commitment that the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC), limiting liability payouts to $300 million that Delhi signed in October 2010, will be adhered to — a legal obligation the Manmohan Singh government finds it politically infeasible to undertake given the contrary Indian law passed by Parliament.
The US reactor deals are thus hanging fire pending, at best, papering over of the differences between the Indian liability law and CSC. Russia, having grandfathered the Koodankulam plant under a 1988 bilateral agreement, has contracted to build four more VVER 1000 reactor units at the same location, which is seen by Washington as unfair advantage accruing to Moscow. This Russian edge is perhaps sought to be blunted by funnelling monies into a popular movement against the Koodankulam plant just before its commissioning. Considering its predicament, Russia may have encouraged the Communist Party (Marxist) to form the ‘National Committee in Support of Jaitapur Struggle’ and do in this Konkan fishing village what the Western countries may be doing to it in Koodankulam — using environmental and safety concerns to rouse the ire of people to stop the Areva plants from getting off the ground. This is equalisation process at work where the dog-eat-dog and dog-in-the manger principles of international politics intrude into the domain of high value nuclear reactor sales.
Bharat Karnad is professor at Centre for Policy Research and blogs at http://www.bharatkarnad.com

[Theo_Fidel]

Lawsuit against Narayanasamy is on its way. Nuclear establishment getting more desperate in its attacks.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kood ... 60000.html

The fate of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) continues to be uncertain in the wake of the anti-nuke campaigners hardening their stance after the "foreign hand" allegation and chief minister J. Jayalalithaa deciding to look the other way. Ahead of the second round of talks between the committees constituted by the Centre and the state, veiled threats have been directed at the leaders spearheading the agitation.

The message was not lost when minister of state in the PMO V. Narayanasamy revealed that an investigation was under way to ascertain the source of funding for the threemonth-long protest. He gave enough hints that the foreign funding was aimed at not only sustaining the campaign but to taking it to other places as well. Close on the heels of former President APJ Abdul Kalam suspecting a "foreign hand" in stoking the anti-nuke flames, Atomic Energy Commission's former chairman M. R. Sreenivasan has joined the chorus and renewed the bogey. But he had a different explanation to offer. "I meant the support of anti- nuke NGOs of Europe and the US. They equate atomic power to the atom bomb. Such groups are aplenty and possibly acting in tandem with the protesters here," he said.

But the damage has been done. The latest such utterance is being seen as a concerted attempt to discredit the leadership and the mass protest. The threats have failed to deter the leaders of the Peoples' Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which is spearheading the agitation.

"We are pained at the continued attempt to discredit the movement. Our mode of protest is peaceful. Our hands are clean. We have not received even a single paisa from abroad," PMANE coordinator S. P. Udayakumar said. So far, the leadership has taken care against offending Jayalalithaa. "We need her support to continue with the agitation," another PMANE coordinator Pushparayan said.

For her part, Jayalalithaa appears to be relishing the Centre's discomfiture on the issue. Sore with the Centre for not being liberal in extending a financial package, she is not likely to step in to diffuse the crisis which threatens to postpone the commissioning of the first 1,000- MW reactor at Kudankulam.

Critics feel the AIADMK czarina has not taken into account the nuclear top brass. Though the state is reeling under acute power shortage, she appears to be in no hurry to bail out the Centre.

SC to take up PIL on N-safety after 2 weeks

A PIL seeking safety reassessment of all existing and proposed nuclear facilities in the country would be taken up by the Supreme Court in a couple of weeks after it is satisfied that representations in this regard had been made to the government and it had ignored them.

A bench, presided over by Chief Justice S. H. Kapadia ( in pic), was initially not inclined to entertain the petition and later adjourned it after advocate Prashant Bhushan sought time to bring letters sent to the PM expressing concern over the safety of the nuclear installations. Earlier, Justice Kapadia stated that the bench was not inclined to entertain the petition as such a demand should have been first made before the ministry concerned. " Show us one letter to the ministry concerned demanding a regulatory body. We cannot proceed on the basis that the ministry will turn down your request," Justice Kapadia said. The PIL, filed jointly by Common Cause, Centre for Public Interest Litigation and several individuals has, among other things, sought a thorough cost- benefit analysis of all proposed nuclear facilities and a health and safety review of the uranium mining regions in the country.

The PIL has further challenged the constitutional validity of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, which puts a cap on liability in case of an accident.

[Philip]

It is not that the N-establishment is "desperate",but after trying to convince the mob,which is not open to rational thought,has revealed the iron fist in the velvet glove.There is NO rationality behind the mob of protesters,who now want to junk the entire Indian N-power industry! They have refused to listen to sound scientific explanations from our N-scientists who have been running our N-plants for decades,have even rubbished Kalam.These self-declared Einsteins and Newtons have arrogated to themselves a different kind of "power",that of the mob.This is sheer blackmail and must be dealt with extreme measures.

Let the locals protesting suffer cessation of all public utilities like electricity,after all they might get electrocuted! Let them not use public transport,they might get killed in an accident,and under no circumstances use the railways,even if it is the only form of transport that Dear Leader Kim uses! No LPG cylinders,only gobar gas,in fact,no shops selling consumer goods at all,after all,electricity is used in the manufacture of all consumer goods and a lot of that comes from our N-plants! They shouldn't fly as aircraft crash and shouldn't eat lest they choke! Therefore,let them fast or feast unto death. Let them revert back to the horse and cart age."Bullocks" to them! These banknote and biryani fed hyenas must face the consequences and attempting to sabotage a N-plant is a criminal act,equivalent to the acts of those behind the 26/11 attacks.Action against these quislings and their shady NGO minders will send a message right back to their foreign puppeteers not to take India for granted.If the Catholic Church,or any other "Church" which receives foreign funding continues to protest,using little children like child soldiers in the war zones,then they and their cassocked crew must be expelled from the country.I'm sure the papal Nuncio would enjoy a sabattical in Rome,sipping his cappuchino enjoying the dolce vita.

[joshvajohn]

Pattali Makkal Katchi wants Kalpakkam nuclear plant to be shutdown
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 740025.cms

Philip I wrote to you saying without any evidence do not simply spead rumour about foreign support. It was entirely the support of local people the church got involved and do not bring in pope and so on.

Why there is no Nuclear Plant in Kerala? Because no govt has any gutts to bring in a plant there in Kerala. So even to supply electricity to Southern Grid Tamil Nadu has two nuclear plants. Second one is also huge. No one can dare to set up one in Kerala!
Kerala urged to move against Kudankulam n-plant
http://nvonews.com/2011/10/21/kerala-ur ... m-n-plant/

It is better to negotiate with the locals and sort out the issue quickly (even if it is through the SC) before it spreads. If not once it is spread a lot of questions and disputes arise after a lot of investment being made and also the cost of the electricity produced is going to be more than any other way of producing electricity while India also does not have wider plans for recycling the used rods.

[RamaY]

Monotheistic faiths bring the real people out of (sic) secular bodies.

[A Sharma]

‘We can allay the fears'
Interview with Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy.

When is the Pressurised Water Reactor, which uses enriched uranium as fuel, on board India's nuclear-powered submarine, Arihant, going critical?

I was actually hoping that it would be started up by the end of this year, but I am told now that it will be commissioned in January or February 2012. Some things are yet to be settled.

[vishvak]

Why there is no Nuclear Plant in Kerala? Because no govt has any gutts to bring in a plant there in Kerala. So even to supply electricity to Southern Grid Tamil Nadu has two nuclear plants. Second one is also huge. No one can dare to set up one in Kerala!

Why so? Is it because of opposition from the Church? Is it a policy of the Church in India onlee because it does not look so in Europe/S Korea.

[Philip]

JVJ,when the PMO and other GOI agencies say that a foreign hand is involved,do you contradict them? Do you claim to know any better? Do you ant an avalanche of info about the dubious role that the so-called "Christian" chuch,including the Vatican has played right from WW2 wiht the infamous "ratlines" helping Nazi war criminals to escape from Europe? The fact that Catholic Church leaders are encouraging the protests is a fact,it is not in dispute.One cleric even denied in the media that he had stopped support for the protests.The Catholic Church also had a dubious role to play in the Lankan Eelam wars and a similar kind of game is being played out here by some of them.Banknotes and biryani are the sordid equivalent of the "loaves and fishes" today,as these clerics "sermonise from their mounts",pardon the pun!

[Pratyush]

India can thank Uncle Sam for Julia Gillard’s uranium backflip

[Aditya_V]

JVJ,when the PMO and other GOI agencies say that a foreign hand is involved,do you contradict them? Do you claim to know any better? Do you ant an avalanche of info about the dubious role that the so-called "Christian" chuch,including the Vatican has played right from WW2 wiht the infamous "ratlines" helping Nazi war criminals to escape from Europe? The fact that Catholic Church leaders are encouraging the protests is a fact,it is not in dispute.One cleric even denied in the media that he had stopped support for the protests.The Catholic Church also had a dubious role to play in the Lankan Eelam wars and a similar kind of game is being played out here by some of them.Banknotes and biryani are the sordid equivalent of the "loaves and fishes" today,as these clerics "sermonise from their mounts",pardon the pun!

I wouldn't blame the Catholic Church for this, I am sure the Vaiko's, Seeman's, Vijaykanth's etc supporting this protest for thier vested interests play a part in distribution of these. Seeman even tried to go to us collect funds for rabble rousing, but given the mood in India(Indian Government) the authorities in NY sent him packing in the next flight.

While I don't think a majority of Christians support these protests, positions taken by certain persons from certain small churches in the hamlets surrounding Koodandalam like TN should cut power to other states for power generated from Neyveli(TN imports and exports power to other states based on demand), Indian should roll back Nukes, Nuke power plants etc.. are down right anti national.

[SSridhar]

Early commissioning of KKNPP sought

The Tirunelveli District Small and Tiny Industries Association (NELSTIA) has urged the State and Central Governments to take immediate steps for the early commissioning of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project with adequate safety measures to bailout power-starved Tamil Nadu where the manufacturing units have been hit hard due to prolonged blackouts for the past five years.

Passing a resolution in this connection, the recently held NELSTIA's general council meeting at Ilanji in the district said that while the Centre had assured that the nuclear reactors of KKNPP had all safety features after the Department of Atomic Energy had conducted a series of safety trials in the reactors, the State Government had made it clear that the fisherfolk's livelihood would not be affected by the commissioning of the plant.

[kmkraoind]

Kevin Rudd fumes over PM Julia Gillard's uranium backflip - news.com.au

Posting in full.

KEVIN Rudd has been angered by Julia Gillard's uranium backflip, as the Prime Minister's controversial party threatens to divide the Labor Party.

The Foreign Minister was in India when Ms Gillard announced the Government would reverse a ban on selling uranium to the sub-continental country, Fairfax media reported.

Mr Rudd was not consulted on the decision, leaving the former PM fuming and pushing his already delicate relationship with Ms Gillard to the edge.

Their fractious bond could boil over, as rumours persist of a Rudd-led leadership spill amid growing discontent from the party's Left-leaning faction.

Anthony Albanese was the first Cabinet member to speak out against the decision but Mr Rudd said he supported the PM, adding the issue was likely to spark "a major debate".

It comes as speculation linked the PM's backflip to the Mineral Resources Rent Tax, in an alleged bid to placate mining companies.

Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Neville Power questioned whether the proposed sales would benefit BHP's Olympic Dam uranium mine in South Australia.

BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata have agreed to the $11 billion MRRT which the Government hopes will become law before the end of the year.

"You would wonder," Mr Power said yesterday at Fortescue's Port Headlands wharf in Western Australia.

He had no evidence to support the speculation and Government sources denied any connection between the tax and Ms Gillard's confirmation yesterday that the Government would switch policy on Indian uranium sales.

[joshvajohn]

Philip Whatever Indian PM says we cannot taken it at face value, he also has to provide evidence in public for whatever he says.

[milindc]

Philip Whatever Indian PM says we cannot taken it at face value, he also has to provide evidence in public for whatever he says.

Indian PM? Why not our PM? and btw, who is we?
If you are from some other country, just ****** off from this discussion on Kudankulam nuclear plant.

[joshvajohn]

milindc Indian pm is cannot be our pm because he is not sharing concerns of people in TamilNadu. I wanted to claim India to be my/our country but not the present primeminister as our PM. He has lost credibility of being a PM and should give way for next generation. but some of you guys when you cannot argue you try to find mistakes and personalise them. The word 'We' I meant philip and myself. Koodankulam is just 40 miles away from my place. Some guys are not really aware of the context in Koodankulam and are trying to manipulate the people out there.

Milindc your words are very siimilar to PM's word accusing others (of anything that they can misinterpret) who write critical reflectons. If you cannot live different and opposite voices this is not your place.

Protests against Koodankulam nuke plant hit Chennai
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/s ... 111114.htm

[Neela]

Philip Whatever Indian PM says we cannot taken it at face value, he also has to provide evidence in public for whatever he says.

JVJ, I do not understand your post.

Indian PM is stating this.
SK Jain, NP chairman is stating this.
Bharat Karnad is stating this.
The local churches are there , the protests are driven by them,some have travelled to Fukushima and the funds to this travel are clearly large.
If it looks like duck, quacks like a duck what do you think it is?
Either you have more information on the real source or you are in denial.

This shooting from behind someone's back and then hiding is immature.

[joshvajohn]

So what? It is in the Court and truth will come out.

[vishvak]

milindc Indian pm is cannot be our pm because he is not sharing concerns of people in TamilNadu. I wanted to claim India to be my/our country but not the present primeminister as our PM. He has lost credibility of being a PM and should give way for next generation.

He is PM of the country. TamilNaadu is the state with a CM. And the next generation has no credibility at all to be the PM, if Rahul Gandhi/Priyanka-Robert Vadra is what is meant by 'next' (whoever) generation.

The word 'We' I meant philip and myself. Koodankulam is just 40 miles away from my place. Some guys are not really aware of the context in Koodankulam and are trying to manipulate the people out there.

If I live withing X km of a nuclear plant, within Y Km of hospitals, roads & railways, within Z km of sea and the rivers should I also block people going to work someplace related and not vote otherwise for a particular candidate?

More people die of floods and tsunamis than nuclear accidents totally but people avoid shifting away from coastlines and the rivers.

So what? It is in the Court and truth will come out.

Does truth always come out in courts? Only that much which can be proved is considered as substantial, otherwise rest is ignored. That does not mean everything else is not true. It mean it could not be proved in courts.

India has effectively put many nuclear plants under International watch and even then there is this problem. How does it help nuclear energy generation in India?

[milindc]

milindc Indian pm is cannot be our pm because he is not sharing concerns of people in TamilNadu. I wanted to claim India to be my/our country but not the present primeminister as our PM. He has lost credibility of being a PM and should give way for next generation. but some of you guys when you cannot argue you try to find mistakes and personalise them. The word 'We' I meant philip and myself. Koodankulam is just 40 miles away from my place. Some guys are not really aware of the context in Koodankulam and are trying to manipulate the people out there.

Milindc your words are very siimilar to PM's word accusing others (of anything that they can misinterpret) who write critical reflectons. If you cannot live different and opposite voices this is not your place.

Protests against Koodankulam nuke plant hit Chennai
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/s ... 111114.htm

This is not the first time, you have showcased your secessionist agenda ; Even if I don't agree with all the policies of MMS, I will never say he is Indian PM, will always say 'our' ; TamilNadu is part of India, and is not a separate country, where you can say Indian PM

[PratikDas]

Philip Whatever Indian PM says we cannot taken it at face value, he also has to provide evidence in public for whatever he says.

And you have to learn to trust your country's nuclear scientists because the "Indian" PM trusts them, or leave the country, or get a PhD in nuclear science yourself and then argue from a position of sanity instead of being a mouth piece, or shut up. It is that simple.

Quite simply, if you don't know how to take no for an answer then sometimes you're better off not asking the question.

You have proven adept at not countering the most important post I have seen in this thread, which was on the nature of questions posed by the "people" on the origins of the nuclear material to be used and intentions of the Indian government with regards to the nuclear power plant. It is none of your business and neither is it mine nor any other civilian's.

All you need to know is that the plant is safe, because one "Indian" nuclear scientist after another has said so.

Koodankulam officials bewildered by the questions raised by the (christian church supported!) protestors

News from popular Tamil daily DINA MALAR. All clasified details and political rhetoric from these innocent fishermen that too questions in Hindhi and Malayalam confirms suspision that this is an act of foreign elements and elements outside the tamilnadu state is trying to scutle the operation when it is about to begin!
Rough translation.
The 25 of 50 questions raised reportedly by innocent fishermen(!) includes, the location of reactor,technical details, methods of filling uranium ! detailed operational report, country of origin of uranium being bought, recycle technology(!), route of uranium transportation(!), cost of project and complete details, the ill effects of this project when considering the good(!) relationship with china, pakistan, and sri lanka & maldives (!!!!!!), the details of agrement between countries suppliying nukclear fuel(!!!!), whether any (military use of) atomic wepons wll be produced or not ??!!!! etc.
P.S. Interestingly majority on the readers are aginst these anti national protestors and firmly with the GOI to arrest these religious idiots and take the India to move forward with its economic agenda ! Tamilnadu's literacy rate improvement has its own advantage ! Good !

[Neela]

milindc Indian pm is cannot be our pm because he is not sharing concerns of people in TamilNadu. I wanted to claim India to be my/our country but not the present primeminister as our PM. He has lost credibility of being a PM and should give way for next generation.

Why is your allegiance to India hostage to who the PM of India is?

[Neela]

PratikDas,

The usual answer to your post will be "All that is fine...but I am living near the plant and I am affected the most".
Such people do not want to trust anybody except their local agenda and keep crying that they are victims.
So no amount of experts, scientists, researchers, Kalams is going to help them.

[PratikDas]

So what? It is in the Court and truth will come out.

And who do you think the Supreme Court Judges are going to ask about the safety of the plant? Jesus?

Or do you think they will not undergo a crash course at BARC to qualify themselves in nuclear science before deciding?

No, Sir. The judges will ask the same nuclear scientists that the "Indian" PM consults and the same scientists you have been choosing to ignore for reasons beyond the realm of logic.

All you and your kind have managed to do is delay the inevitable. For subverting the nation's progress, albeit temporarily, take a bow. I know a few Tamils deeply resentful of the political centre of gravity in the north. It seems to matter not to this kind that there are many states in India that have an identical claim to disenfranchisement. I'm Bengali and if Mamata Banerjee, Pranab Mukherjee, or Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee are the best Bengal has to offer then, frankly, I'd rather try my luck at bringing Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel back from the dead to become the next PM.

Koodankulam is NOT Bhopal, no matter how you try to spin it.

[vishvak]

So what? It is in the Court and truth will come out.

And who do you think the Supreme Court Judges are going to ask about the safety of the plant? Jesus?

Or do you think they will not undergo a crash course at BARC to qualify themselves in nuclear science before deciding?

No, Sir. The judges will ask the same nuclear scientists that the "Indian" PM consults and the same scientists you have been choosing to ignore for reasons beyond the realm of logic.

It is always risky signing nuclear agreements. Now India has put reactors under observation of international watchdogs while internally it is getting tougher to benefit out of it while outside some parties tend to go around liabilities. If tomorrow the protestors do not agree with court judgements, however long it takes, it is not the protestors who will be questioned.

[chetak]

So what? It is in the Court and truth will come out.

And who do you think the Supreme Court Judges are going to ask about the safety of the plant? Jesus?

Or do you think they will not undergo a crash course at BARC to qualify themselves in nuclear science before deciding?

No, Sir. The judges will ask the same nuclear scientists that the "Indian" PM consults and the same scientists you have been choosing to ignore for reasons beyond the realm of logic.

It's always better to recognize trolls and beware of predatory birds!

[PratikDas]

It's always better to recognize trolls and beware of predatory birds!

Sir, the same predatory birds seem to be missing in action. I must bring the rusty pitchfork out of the shed.

[Neela]

It's always better to recognize trolls and beware of predatory birds!

NO I do not think of Joshvajohn as a troll. I only find his sense of trust in matters of national interest weirdly oriented.
His underlying concerns are valid but as the hakim saab said, indians seem to not to trust Indians on matters of scientific nature.

[chetak]

{quote="PratikDas"}

It's always better to recognize trolls and beware of predatory birds!

NO I do not think of Joshvajohn as a troll. I only find his sense of trust in matters of national interest weirdly oriented.

Humbly beg to disagree