A Hobson’s Choice on Energy

The Supreme Court on Monday gave its go-ahead for the operationalising of the first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. The court was of the view that the plant is safe and its functioning was essential for the larger interest of the nation and its economic growth. The apex court’s view, keeping the economic growth of the nation in mind, is a welcome step. However, as also noted by the court, it is essential that there is no compromise when it comes to ensuring safety and monitoring the operations of the plant.
The KNPP deal was struck in the ’80s between the USSR and India but only took momentum since 2011. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster in 2011 and the Rawatbhata nuclear plant leak in 2012, in addition to the earlier accidents in Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, have eroded public trust in nuclear energy. Developed nations in the West are gradually switching to other sources for meeting their energy requirements. However, given that the nation needs to produce energy to fuel its growth trajectory, India is left with a Hobson’s choice when it comes to nuclear energy. That the reliance on alternate sources of clean energy has fallen woefully short of meeting the ever-growing energy need tilts the balance more in favour of nuclear energy.
A great deal of the suspicion and fear that the KNPP will be detrimental to the people’s lives and livelihoods in and around the plant is because, as put by M S Swaminathan, ‘there was a greater need for communication between scientists and local communities’. That the governments, both the State and Centre, have failed to win the confidence of the local people is evident from the strong protests that have been going on for two years now. There is also a need to check that the reactor does not have substandard equipment. This fear gathers momentum as allegations of corruption have been levelled against Zio-Podolsk, which is a subsidiary of the Russian firm Rosatom involved in building the KNPP. Based on Russian media reports that Zio-Podolsk was involved in supplying products for reactors in China and India, China has started a quality check on its nuclear reactors. There is no reason why India should not do a similar check. Various issues like the disposal of nuclear waste, discharge of hot water from the plant into the sea, its impact on marine life, the displacement of nearly one lakh people in a 16-km radius of the plant, etc, need to be satisfactorily addressed. Meeting India’s growing energy needs and ensuring environment safety is a tightrope walk for the government. The challenge is in succeeding in this delicate balance act.