11, April 2011 Nuclear
Power in India
The
unprecedented nuclear disaster in Japan is a dire warning to India’s increased
vulnerability to suffer a similar fate. It is ironic, that
in spite of strong domestic opposition to the development of nuclear power, the
US is willing to sell its technology to India. The disposal of nuclear wastes
in the US continues to provoke a ‘not in my back yard’ response from the
general public. In contrast, India is so intoxicated becoming a member of the
exclusive nuclear club that it has all but ignored this important ‘red flag’.
The storage of these wastes in the bowels of Yucca Mountain in Utah is like a
ticking time bomb – a long term health hazard. The only source of uranium in India, the raw
ingredient for nuclear energy production, is Jadugoda, a small tribal village
in mineral-rich Jharkband (formerly Bihar). The health of the indigenous people
of that area has been devastated and the environment destroyed by ongoing
mining operations. I urge readers to
Google “Buddha Weeps in Jadugoda", a ground-breaking documentary, which
shows the grotesque health hazards of uranium mining. The film depicts the
casual attention applied to the transportation of the refined uranium ore or
yellow cake, in leaky barrels which spewed large amounts of lethal radiation.
The nuclear industry is so
capital intensive and risky that it cannot be privately financed but must
survive on taxpayer guarantees – with limited liabilities for any nuclear
mishaps.
We
cannot afford to play Russian roulette with current and future generations of
Indians. Government and quasi-government officials are notoriously inept in
matters of safety. It seems like the human tragedy which accompanied the Bhopal
disaster more than 25 years ago has been forgotten. A nuclear mishap would be
an unmitigated disaster to India’s densely populated people. Indians should
demand action to reverse support for this dangerous and inherently unnecessary
steam generation
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