Mumbai- Activists slam govt’s nuclear policies

Nikhil M Ghanekar, Hindustan Times Mumbai, May 12, 2013

First Published: 01:26 IST(12/5/2013) | Last Updated: 01:27 IST(12/5/2013)

On Saturday, the Coal-ition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) and anti-nuclear activists criticised the Centre’s policy of expediting civilian nuclear energy projects when most developed nations have shunned the technology following the Fukushima disaster.
CNDP founder Achin Vanaik and activists such as Praful Bidwai and Vaishali Patil spoke on nuclear disarmament, the secrecy around nuclear power and the huge costs of producing nuclear energy at the seminar- ‘Coming out of the nuclear trap’.

Bidwai said the department of atomic energy had propagated myths about the advantage of nuclear power. “The costs of producing nuclear energy are exorbitant… the cost of decommissioning reactors is half of what is used to build them.”

The seminar’s organiser Kumar Sundaram criticised the Supreme Court’s decision on the Kudankulam plant. “The court did not take into account the safety standard violations. But this judgment will not deter other protests,” said Sundaram.