India: Anti Nuclear Movement Constitutes Independent Experts Panel

People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE)

Idinthakarai

Press Release

November 3, 2011

PMANE Constitutes an Expert Panel for the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project

The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) has expanded its existing scientific team and constituted an Expert Panel of noted scientists, engineers, doctors, environmentalists, advocates and specialists with the objectives of advising the movement, educating the public, interacting with the state and central government officials, and the Expert Group constituted by the central government.

Our Expert Panel will probe the different aspects of the KKNPP project such as land acquisition issues; siting of reactors 1 and 2; environmental impact assessment (EIA) report; Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) violations; public hearing processes; construction quality and reliability; contractor irregularities and corruption charges; employment issues; VVER reactor design and engineering; VVER reactor performance and safety; dummy fuel and disposal; fresh water demand and supply; Pechiparai dam and Tamirabharani river water utilization; desalination plants and reliability; impact of desalination on the sea and sea food; nuclear waste disposal and management (high-grade, medium-grade, low-grade and liquid wastes); radiation safety; routine emissions; workers’ safety and well-being; people’s safety and well-being; baseline data on health concerns; radiation illnesses (including all types of cancers); high and dense population around the plant; oceanography; fisheries and seafood security; impact on land, agriculture, livestock, and food security; impact on flora and fauna; thermal ecology; seismology; conservation issues (Gulf of Mannar biosphere and the Western Ghats); terrorist and security threats; impact on bilateral relations with Sri Lanka, Maldives, China and Pakistan; impact of mining activities; disaster management plans and emergency preparedness; evacuation procedure and preparedness; Russian and Indian liability issues; project cost and Russian debt analysis; electricity generation and transmission; capacity factor monitoring; fuel and waste transportation; decommissioning plans, technology and cost; impact of increased sea patrol and militarization of the area; erosion of civil liberties; noise pollution; KKNPP expansion plans (3, 4, 5, 6); IAEA safeguards arrangements and NSG-related issues; possibilities of setting up reprocessing plant and weapons facility.

The PMANE requests the KKNPP authorities to share the EIA, Site Evaluation Study, Safety Analysis Report, VVER Performance Report and other relevant documents to initiate our dialogue with the central government’s Expert Group and to prepare our responses.

On receiving the above reports, our experts will prepare brief position papers on the above-mentioned issues and topics as soon as possible. Second, the PMANE will publish a compendium with all these research papers. Third, the PMANE will organize a national symposium on the KKNPP project and hold a Press Meet. This publication will be used for popular discussions, media outreach, dialogues with the governmental authorities and a national debate on the KKNPP project.

The members of the Expert Panel include:

[1] Professor Dr. M. Arunachalam
 Head (i/c) of Sri Paramakalyani Centre for Environmental Sciences of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University.Tirunelveli.

[2] Praful Bidwai
 A senior journalist and opinion maker; has visited Koodankulam several times to attend public hearing and other nuclear power-related events.

[3] M. G. Devasahayam, IAS (Retd.)
 Senior civil servant and former chairman of Haryana State Electricity Board; advisor to major power utilities and expert in power utility management.

[4] Dr. Soumya Dutta
 Former head of Indira Gandhi Environment Centre; former in-charge of Information Division of Vigyan Prasar, Department of Science and Technology.

[5] Dr. Meher Engineer
 A physicist, science researcher and a communicator; served as the Director of Bose Institute, Kolkata; known for civil society initiatives.

[6] Dr. Surendra Gadekar
 Completed Ph.D. in Physics at IIT-Kanpur in 1979; did post-doctoral research for 2 years in Iowa State University in the United States; worked at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru; has been studying and writing on nuclear-related issues since 1986.

[7] Jacob John
 Infrastructural economist trained in the London School of Economics and Warwick University in the UK; specializes in changing infrastructures for community use; has studied and written extensively on the feasibility of the Sethusamudram project.

[8] Professor Dr. S. Ajmal Khan
 Professor, Center for Advanced Studies in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai, Tamil Nadu.

[9] Dr. R. S. Lal Mohan
 Completed Ph.D. on fisheries and further studies on marine science in the United States; served as Principal Scientist in Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (ICAR), and in Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
[10] Dr. C. R. Neelakandan
Environmentalist and writer; after his studies in Kerala, he had training at the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Bombay; and joined Keltron in 1983.

[11] V. T. Padmanabhan
 Member of European Committee on Radiation Risk, and No Nukes Asia Forum; analyzed the health studies among the Hibakushas of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; did a genetic study on high radiation areas of Kerala; and cancer risk in BARC, TAPS and MAPS etc.

[12] Dr. M. P. Parameswaran
 India’s first Ph.D. in nuclear engineering; worked in Bhaba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) during 1957-1975; now works with Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP).

[13] Dr. V. Pugazhendi
 A medical practitioner; has been studying the impact of Kalpakkam nuclear power plants on the local environment, people and plant workers; has published several reports on multiple myloma among employees and relatives (2003), auto-immune thyroid disease (2008), and thyroid cancer death in 5-km zone (2010); founded Doctors for Safer Environment (DOSE).

[14] Dr. R. Ramesh
 A medical practitioner, has written books on the geology of Koodankulam, desalination plants of Koodankulam, Pechiparai reservoirs, PFBR reactors, and the feasibility of the Sethusamudram canal project; founded Doctors for Safer Environment (DOSE).

[15] Professor Hanumantha Rao,
 Former member of Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission; and former Energy Engineer at Neyveli Lignite Corporation.

[16] Professor T. Shivaji Rao
 Director of Center for Environmental Studies, GITAM University, Visakhapatnam.

[17] Adv. T. Lajapathi Roy
Environmental lawyer; practices law at the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court.

[18] Er. Sukla Sen
 A retired engineer from Kolkata, Sen works with EKTA (Committee for Communal Amity), Mumbai; and Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP).

[19] K. A. S. Sharma
 Former Power Secretary, Government of India; former secretary of Economic Affairs of India at the Ministry of Finance.

[20] Professor Dr. P. Sivakumar
 Former Head of Department in Physics at Presidency College, Chennai; former Principal of GTM College; former Syndicate member of Madras University; former President of Government College Teachers Association.

[21] Capt. B. K. Subbarao
 Captain Indian Navy (Retired); advocate Supreme Court of India; has visited Koodankulam and written on the issue in leading newspapers and magazines.