Alternatives for Nuclear Power

National Power Scenario at a Glance

The achievement of increasing installed power generation capacity from 1,362 MW in 1947 to the current level of 190,593 MW (as of Feb 2012) as per details given below, is impressive:

Thermal 124,731 MW 65.44%

Hydro 38,849 MW 20.38%

RES (MNRE) 22,233 MW 11.67%

Nuclear 4,780 MW 2.51%

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Total 190,593 MW 100.00 % (Captive Generation of 19,509 MW)

Note: The availability of energy from Hydro & RES will be low, depending on Load
Factor, when compared to that from Thermal & Nuclear

.But, In spite of this impressive addition to installed generation capacity, the country is facing both energy and demand peaking shortages more than 10% and 12 % respectively, partly attributable to inefficiencies in Generation, Transportation & End Use of Energy in Power Sector.

The projection of huge growth of power generating capacity to 800,000 MW by 2031-32 (about 4 times from the present level), to sustain annual growth rate of 8% to 10% .for the next 20 years, seems to be based on the “Supply Syndrome”, rather than the thrust to improve efficiencies in the Power Sector .

Energy Security & Nuclear Power

The hollowness of the argument that India needs Nuclear Power for ensuring Energy Security, can be seen from the fact that it hardly contributes to 2.51% of the present installed capacity, in spite of huge investments in Nuclear Power Sector during the last 4 decades or so.

Even assuming that the projected installed capacity of 60,000 MW of Nuclear Power will be achieved by 2031-32, (which, going by the past record, is most unlikely), at huge financial costs under the Myth of Nuclear Safety, it hardly contributes to 7.5% of the projected total installed capacity of 800,000 MW by then, which is no where near providing energy security.

The linking of energy consumption/supply with the growth rate embodied the Myth that economic vitality requires steadily increasing energy consumption. The Nation’s Energy Security depends on efficient use of Energy Services that maximize economic competitiveness and minimize resource depletion, environmental degradation / impacts.

Cheapest & Cleanest Alternative to Nuclear Power

Cautioning against the way development is being pursued in India, Prof.Elinor Ostram, Noble Laureate in Economics (2009) is reported to have said "If we feel that eliminating poverty is only accomplished by building Power Plants and all the rest, rather than enabling people to develop resources in ways that are less destructive of the environment, the problem will get worse”

The improvement of efficiencies of the Installed Generating Capacities, Reducing Losses in Transportation of Power and improving Efficiency by the End Users of Energy (Energy Conservation Measures) which have considerable potential, can do away with the need for meager Nuclear Power involving enormous cost and risks.

Inefficiencies in existing Power Sector

The fact is, “It takes energy to make energy”. In the case of coal based TPPs, the energy is Extracted from Coal and Converted (Thermal-Mechanical-Electrical) to Electrical Energy. It is estimated that by using Sub-critical technology boilers and the steam turbine-generator sets, the efficiency of Extraction and Conversion from Coal to Electrical energy is hardly 33% and it may go up to around 40% even by using Super-critical technology boilers.

Taking into account, auxiliary consumption of TPPs, AT&C Losses (30%) and the inefficient use of Electrical Energy by the end users (Potential Saving of 25%), the percentage of the actual energy effectively utilized comes down drastically. At present, the overall efficiency, of extraction and conversion of Coal Energy to Electrical Energy and its transportation & the effective end use, may work out to be around 20 to 25%.

Stop Capacity Addition (Megawatt) Syndrome!

While about 80% of coal energy is being lost in the system, should the addition of Coal based TPPs be continued, unmindful of their socioeconomic & environmental impacts and with out giving priority, for improving the efficiencies in the Power Sector, which is more cost effective? It is suicidal, trying to add generation capacities and feeding into inefficient network to cater for energy inefficient end usage.

Priority needs to be given to improve the efficiency of the existing coal based Thermal Power Plants by adopting better technologies and integrating with Solar Thermal technology, so as to bring down the consumption of coal and the running costs.

SSM & DSM Measures (Negawatt)

.The Supply Side Management (SSM) Measures, for bringing down AT&C Losses, estimated to be around 30% and improvement of network Power Factor to International standards by the Power Utilities need to be given the highest priority. At present the metered and billed energy is estimated to be less than 50% of the energy handled by the power utilities. As a result the bulk of the energy generated by the Power Plants is not reaching the consumers / not being metered and billed.

Whatever the energy received by the consumers and billed, is being wasted, partly due to energy inefficient devices, appliances, equipment, process, technology, practices, life-styles etc. used / adopted by the consumers. It is estimated that there is energy saving potential to an extent of 25% by adopting suitable/appropriate Demand Side Management (DSM) Measures. (Agriculture 36%, Industry 25% and Commercial & Domestic 20%)

Renewable Energy Sources (RES) & Energy Security

In view of local Environmental & Global Warming impacts of fossil fuels, particularly Coal, it is the right time to lean towards Renewable Energy Sources (RES) such as Solar, Wind, Fuel Cell & other Renewables, based on small and decentralized units, rather than through centralized, large size units based on Coal & Nuclear. They can cater for local consumers, independent of the grid and feed excess power into the grid. The stand alone Solar-LED-Lithium Battery Lighting system may be a viable substitute for subsidized kerosene in remote rural areas. The grid interactive Roof-Top Solar PV systems with net-metering facility may be a viable option, as it does not place any pressure on already scarce land resource.

Taking into account the Economic Costs of Coal Based Power and Nuclear Power--A Very Expensive, Sophisticated and Dangerous Way to Boil Water-- which should include all benefits and costs incurred for the Society during their entire life cycle, the Solar Power may prove to be cheaper even today.

“Electricity is but the fleeting byproduct from Nuclear Power. The actual product is forever deadly radioactive waste.”—

-Michael Keegan, Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes

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Save from Terrorism of Nuclear Power Plants!

Dr.Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India in his speech on 27 th Raising Day of SPG,( 2 nd April 2012) is reported to have said

“Terrorism to day acquired new forms and new shapes. It is now often driven by a bold and educated class of terrorists.----- Their activities are marked by the use of the latest technology as a source multiplier. The security environment in our country today is also impacted by a large number of external factors, which are not really within our control”

Therefore people around Kudunkulam, Jaitapur and Kovvada Areas should not be made the sacrificing goats, under the “Myth of Nuclear Safety” and the “Bogy of Energy Security”, ignoring “Nuclear Reactor Disasters” with devastating impacts for decades to come, from Nuclear Accidents, due to unpredictable and outside human imagination and due to external factors which are not really within our control.

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Kovvada Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) Srikakulam District AP

Kovvada People have the Right to Know :

1) Has the Site for KNPP been approved by AERB, in accordance with Regulatory Consenting Process based on AERB Safety Code?

The. Govt. of India (DAE) is reported to have accorded “In-Principal” approval for setting up Kovvada NPP for 6 x,1000 MWe (LWRs), by constituting a Site Selection Committee (SSC) chaired by CMD, NPCIL, apparently with out “Siting Approval “ by AERB, which is very elaborate & complex exercise, involving study of enormous amount of field data

2) Does KNPP Site conform to “Population Considerations” stipulated for Site Selection?

The Sites with low population densities up to radial distance of 30 KM are to be preferred for NPP and the population within radius of 10 KM of NPP should be less than 2/3 of the State average with no population centers of more than 10,000 within 10 KM.

The proposed KNPP Site, on an area of 775.51 Hectors, including 265.89 Hectors of private land, is Fenced and Prohibited Area up to radial distance of 1.5 KM, called Exclusive Zone (EZ). There are 5 villages/habitations (Ramacendrapuram, Gudem, Kotapalem, Tekkali, and Jiru Kovvada) with 862 households, having population of about 3,500 in the proposed Exclusive Zone of Kowada NPP, with South West Corner of the Site appears to be falling under CRZ Area.

The area from 1.5KM to 5.0 KM from KNPP site, called Sterilized Zone (SZ) (Restricted Area), in which no new activity is permitted and the existing activities, people, structures continue to remain. Total population in Sterilized Zone should be small, say less than 20,000. But there are 42 villages/habitations with about 6700 households, having total population of about 30,000 in the proposed Sterilized Zone (1.5 to 5.0 km) of KNPP.

The area up to radial distance of 16 KM from KNPP, which is called Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ), has 108 habitations, with 17,000 households and population of 71,4000 (excluding Exclusive Zone and including Sterilized Zone ) to be evacuated in the likely event of emergency. This area may have to be extended as KNPP is going to have 6 x, 1000 MWe (LWRs) and in the light of Fukushima experience.

3) Has DAE considered the Land-Use and Type of Houses in Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ), before according In-Principle Approval for KNPP?

The private land to an extent of 10,400 Hectors in EPZ is predominantly with intensive agricultural activities, mostly horticulture and most of the houses in EPZ may not be suitable to provide shelter in case of emergency.

4) What is the fate of 30,000 people and agricultural produce in 4600 Hectors of private land in Sterilized Zone, which is exposed to radioactive emissions / releases from routine operations of 6 Reactors, with a capacity 1000 MWe each, for the next 30 to 40 years of their operation ?

5) How is Nuclear Waste generated by KNPP going to be managed?

Are Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant (NFRP),Nuclear Waste Treatment Plant (NWTP), Nuclear Waste Immobilization Plant (NWIP) and Nuclear Effluent Treatment Plant (NETP) proposed to be set up at KNPP Site at a latter date , if so their likely adverse impacts on people and agriculture in the area ?

6) What are the contents of MOU/ Agreement between the KNPP Operator- NPCIL- and the American Equipment Supplier for KNPP, on Nuclear Liability?

Stop Land Acquisition for KNPP under the “Myth of Nuclear Safety” and the “Bogy of Energy Security”, till the People of Kovvada Area are taken into confidence & satisfied on the above points at least !

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9% Growth Trajectory- For Whom & How Long?

Economic Growth vs. Economic Development

The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is reported to have said that difficult decisions were needed to revert to 9 % Growth Trajectory as the path ahead is not easy. The Prime Minister and the Planning Commission seem to be obsessed with the “Economic Growth Trajectory”, which is only one aspect of the process of “Economic Development” as economist Amartya Sen pointed out. The Economic growth, which is a phenomenon of market productivity & rise in GDP, does not necessarily mean Economic development.

They seem to pay only a lip-sympathy to “Economic Development”, which needs the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers to promote the standard of living, the economic, political, and social well-being of the people, with environmental sustainability, social inclusion, health, safety, literacy, and other initiatives.

Ground Realities

The data from the Census 2011 holds a mirror to the conditions under which many households live under thatched roofs, without access to safe drinking water, electricity, sanitation (toilets) etc. and also reflects the success or failure of several government programmes over the last two decades, in spite of high economic growth trajectory being claimed.

The Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia admitted that inequality increased in the income distribution in both rural and urban areas, which itself goes against “Social Inclusion’- the objective of economic development.

It also goes against ‘Directive Principles of State Policy’ of The Constitution of India- Article 39 ( c )- for securing that the operation of the economic system does not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment.

World Bank inspired Growth Model

Our policy makers, over the last two decades, influenced by the World Bank culture, seem to be advocating the Economic Growth based on US model, centered on Oil, Automobiles, Malls, Consumerism, and Nuclear Power, unmindful of their impending adverse impacts. Even US, with all its economic and military might, having access to the natural resources all over the world till recently, is finding difficult to pursue.

How can India, with the population 4 times that of USA and having only one third of its territorial extension, blindly pursue the US life-styles and practices?. It will be too late and too expensive, to realize and act upon to clear the mess created, once the disaster of unsustainable natural resource depletion and the environmental pollution hits us with the speed and magnitude of which we are not fully aware.

What India needs is Sustainable Development, with industrial process that minimizes both inputs of energy and materials and output of waste products and pollutants and with emphasis on resource efficiency.

The cheap and abundant supply of products and services encourages wasteful usage of resources. The conspicuous consumerism depicting vulgar display of wealth, needs to be curbed, even if it means modest growth trajectory, as long as it promotes the economic, political, and social well-being of the common people, with environmental sustainability and social inclusion.

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Lessons to be learnt from Japan regarding Nuclear Power

Japan- once one of the world’s leaders in nuclear energy- with all but 2 of its 54 commercial nuclear reactors being shut down since Fukushima Daiichi disaster a year ago, will have at least temporarily shut down the energy source, once generated at least a third of its electricity.

Yet, Japan has so far reported to have succeeded in avoiding shortages, thanks in part to a drastic conservation program that has involved turning off air-conditioning in the summer and office lights during the day. It has also increased generation from conventional plants that use more expensive natural gas and other fossil fuels in a nation already uneasy about its reliance on foreign sources of energy.

“The contest over the future of atomic energy in Japan seems to be unfolding in the fishing town of 8,800 residents, 550 miles southwest of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi plant and areas contaminated by its fallout. Two of the reactors at the Ohi Nuclear Power Plant were the first to finish the stress tests, making it a crucial test case of whether Japan’s nuclear plants can be restarted. The sprawling plant here was not damaged by the earthquake or tsunami but sits idled as the plant operator is unable to restart them because of opposition from local residents”.

With few alternatives, the prime minister, Yoshiko Noda, has called for restarting the plants as soon as possible, saying he supports a gradual phase-out of nuclear power over several decades. Yet, fearing public opposition, he has said he will not restart the reactors without the approval of local community leaders.

In contrast, in India we are trying to add more Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) under the “Myth of Nuclear Safety”, unmindful of its serious consequences that too brushing aside or ignoring the opposition from the local communities, being demonstrated by Kudunkulam, Jaitapur or Kovvada.

The other Myth is that economic vitality requires steadily increasing energy consumption which only contributes to high energy intensity, going against the energy security and economic competitiveness of the country & contributing to environmental degradation

The Energy Intensity (energy consumption per unit of GDP) continues to be higher than that of Japan, UK etc. with considerable scope for improvement, even after 10 years of Energy Conservation Act, 2001 and National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency.

Just by reducing T&D Losses to 10%, which is still higher than 5% achieved in some countries, and improving energy saving in consumption, having the potential of around 25 %, we can do away with the need for the projected Nuclear Power capacity of 64,000 MW by 2031-32 at exorbitant cost and impending hazard to Human-Environment, in addition to avoiding frequent power interruptions.

Industrial Projects - Naxalism?

The Hon'ble Union Minister for Rural Development is reported to have stated on 7 th August in Hyderabad that the "modern face of Naxalism was reflected in the industrial projects which flout the environmental norms" Also added that major projects such as the Vedanta, Sompeta, Posco and Bauxite Mining in Araku--all had an environmental dimension which can acquire the Naxalite overtone, unless handled effectively, favoring a completely different approach to the administration in Tribal Areas.

Disparity and Denial

When there is glaring disparity between the rich and the poor and the people are denied the right to their land and livelihoods and the State Administration becomes a passive on looker or still worse when it becomes an abettor, we see the rise of a sense of deprivation, hopelessness and intolerance. The desperate people can resort to desperate solutions. Intolerance also has its role. It can, in the name of ideology, fan the flames of hate and ignite a belief that terrorism is the only solution to a community's or nation's ills. As a result they may care little about themselves and the people they hurt.

Collusion of Administration

From the information available, it can be inferred without much of a doubt, that AP State Administration and MOEF, GOI, colluded with the project proponents of Coal based Thermal Power Projects (TPPs) at Sompeta and Bhavanapadu in Srikakulam district, for allocation of land in ecologically sensitive Wetlands and for according the Environmental Clearance, respectively. Same is the case in respect of Bauxite Mining in Araku and Chintapalle Forests in Scheduled Areas of Visakhapatnam district and for setting up the associated Refineries and Power plants.

Fight Root Causes & Forces that Create them

Mr. Klaus Toepfer, the former Executive Director of the UNEP said that "It is the forces of poverty, environmental degradation and hatred that give birth to the intolerance that can lead to fundamentalism and terrorist acts"

He also said that while fighting against terrorism, we must also expose the forces that create poverty, intolerance, hatred and environmental degradation that can lead to an unstable world.

Conclusion

The State Administration used uncalled for and massive police force to protect the vested interests of the Project Proponents of TPPs at Sompeta and Bhavanapadu and to suppress the peaceful movement of the project affected people against the TPPs. In unprovoked Police Firings, the lives of five innocent people were lost apart from many villagers who took part in the agitation were booked in false criminal cases.

Both the AP State Govt and MOEF, GOI, failed to enforce the "Rule of Law" by not taking action against the Project Proponents and the Officials concerned, in accordance with Sections 15, 17 & 19 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

What do we expect the denied, deprived, desperate and discriminated people to do, when there is no Rule of Law (Environmental) ?

Why no action on the Forces, that have easy access to the policy and decision makers and create poverty and environmental degradation, which are the root causes?