On 22nd February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation two new indigenously developed reactors at the Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant in the Tapi district of Gujarat. Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant’s two new reactors, unit 3 and unit 4, each have a capacity of 700 megawatts (MW). One of the two new plants is now functioning, and the other will be in the coming days.
The two new reactors, unit 3 and unit 4, are the initial two in a series of sixteen indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) of 700 MW each being developed in the country. A pressurised heavy water reactor utilises natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as a coolant and moderator. The Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) has been operational since 1993, with two units producing 220 MW each. The new units 3 and 4 have been built next to the existing units.
Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant’s two new reactors, unit 3 and unit 4, each have a capacity of 700 megawatts (MW). Two new plants have one up and running, while the second is expected to start up in the days to come.
Modi government aims to triple India’s nuclear-installed capacity in the next decade
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has determined to triple the nuclear-installed capacity in India within the next decade. Addressing the Indian Nuclear Society’s conference on “Clean Energy Transition” in December last year, Rafael Mariano Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that He [PM Modi] made clear his government’s determination to increase non-fossil fuel energy capacity and to triple nuclear installed capacity within a decade.”
“India has 19 nuclear reactors producing about 3% of its electricity. With an additional eight reactors under construction and more planned, India is currently the world’s second-largest domestic builder of nuclear power plants after China”, the IAEA stated.
#WATCH | On his meeting with PM Modi today, Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency says, "India has very important nuclear electricity generation as a part of its 2047 vision of a decarbonised economy. India is also partnering with us on… pic.twitter.com/lpI3KWEcww
— ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2023
Prime Minister Modi has on occasion reiterated the government’s commitment to secure the use of atomic energy for the country’s development. Union Minister Jitendra Prasad informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply in December last year that the central government has taken initiatives to boost nuclear power capacity from 7480 MW to 22480 MW by 2031-32. Nuclear power stations’ annual electricity generation has increased from 35334 million units (including infirm) in 2013-14 to 46982 million units in 2022-23. The installed nuclear power capacity in 2013-14 expanded from 4780 MW to 7480 MW at present.
He further stated that the development and commissioning of ten reactors totaling 8000 MW is currently underway in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh.
While the Modi-led government is working relentlessly to achieve its nuclear power ambitions, India’s nuclear power plans have for years suffered due to the politics of leftist-communist parties as well as anti-nuclear activism, with active support from foreign-funded NGOs. Such players have on multiple occasions resorted to fearmongering and stalling nuclear power projects despite the multiple assurances by all government bodies regarding their safety.
How Kudankulam Nuclear Project was stalled for years due to constant fearmongering and politics
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP), located in the Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu, was envisaged to be India’s largest nuclear power station, with a total capacity of 6000 megawatts. The construction of the facility began in 2002, but it was hampered by continuing demonstrations and political resistance.
This protest reached its peak of intensity in 2011 when people feared a Fukushima-style disaster would strike the nuclear plant. SP Udayakumar, leader of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), was a significant figure in the anti-Kudankulam movement.
In addition to Church-backed protests, leftist political parties also played a significant role in ensuring the stalling of the project. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (AIADMK) was in power back in 2011. The then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha had extended support to the protestors initially. However, in 2012, she constituted a fresh panel of experts to allay the fears of the protestors and included M R Sreenivasan, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.
The anti-nuclear power plant protests unsurprisingly reached the Supreme Court in September 2012. The petition was filed by social activist G Sundarajan against the Madras High Court’s 31st August decision refusing to impose any restraint on the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. The petitioner was represented by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Pranav Sachdeva. They argued that the Madras HC gave green signal to the KNPP without making sure that the 17 safety features recommended by the Central govt’s task force have been implemented.
Notably, the petitions, protests and continued fearmongering came despite the former President and noted scientist APJ Abdul Kalam assuring that there was no need to panic as the KNPP had state-of-the-art safety features. “I am completely satisfied and happy with the sophisticated safety features of the reactors and hence there is no need for panic since it’s only a boon to the future generation. The scientists have taken into account all these natural calamities before designing and fabricating it,” Dr Kalam had said after inspecting the reactors at the plant in 2011.
In 2012, the Russian government expressed deep displeasure with the lack of decision-making and progress with regards to the Kundankulam NPP. Speaking to the media, the then-Russian ambassador Alexander M Kadakin had asserted that their patience was running out.
“Our scientists are sitting idle since October 2011. They are scientists of the highest caliber and their services are needed back home and in countries like Slovakia,” he pointed out. The anti-nuclear lobby in India was so strong and politically connected that they managed to stall the Kundankulam project for several years despite Russia’s multiple assurances that the facility was the ‘safest Nuclear power project in the world’, built with state-of-the-art Russian technology, unlike the ‘ancient’ Fukushima design.
Supreme Court rules in favour of setting up Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant
In 2013, the Supreme Court rejected dubious petitions filed by anti-nuclear activists challenging the KNPP project on grounds of expert body-recommended safety measures not being implemented. The apex court allowed the national policy to establish KKNPP. The court noted that all the safety standards were complied with. The bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said that the plant will be operational only after all the concerned authorities grant final clearance before its commissioning. In two separate but concurring judgements, the Supreme Court bench had noted that “nuclear energy had become necessary for the welfare of the people and could minimise the power problem in the country.”
A year later, G Sundarajan accused the central government of failing to carry out court-mandated security measures in the Kudankulam nuclear plant to clear the commissioning. The activists’ counsel Prashant Bhushan had sought the formation of a team headed by the former chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to check whether the safety measures are being implemented or not. The Supreme Court, however, rejected the plea deeming it “unnecessary”.
Interestingly, most of the anti-nuclear activists including PMANE’s convenor S P Udayakumar and activist G Sundarajan joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Sundarajan was also AAP’s Lok Sabha candidate in 2014 elections.
In July 2018, the Supreme Court thwarted yet another attempt to delay the KNPP project as it rejected a plea seeking to stop operations until the Away From Reactor facility is built. The court granted the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) an extension till April 30, 2022, to build the AFR facility.
PM Modi hailed Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project as key to India’s nuclear ambitions
In January 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project’s (KKNPP) first unit to the nation alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kundankulum 1 is an important addition to India's continuing efforts to scale up production of clean energy in India: PM Modi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 10, 2016
“In years ahead, we are determined to pursue an ambitious agenda of nuclear power generation. At Kudankulum alone, five more units of 1,000 megawatts each are planned. In our journey of cooperation, we plan to build a series of bigger nuclear power units,” PM Modi said.
How the Fukushima Disaster was used by DMK for fearmongering against KKNPP even after SC said it was safe
There have been three major nuclear accidents in the world that are often cited by anti-nuclear activists, Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island. The Chernobyl accident was the most disastrous which resulted in 30 immediate deaths and 30 more in the after-effects. It is interesting to note that the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident has widely been cited by the anti-nuclear protestors, and politicians opposed to KNPP to spread fear of a similar disaster.
In the year 2021, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK) minister T.R. Balu had written a letter to PM Modi to seek his intervention regarding the Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) of the KNPP. The minister cited the above-discussed Fukushima nuclear disaster and said that SNF accumulation caused the accident. He sought PM Modi to direct AERB to ask Russia to take back SNF of the plant’s nuclear reactors 1 and 2. This came after AERB gave ‘sitting clearance’ to NPCIL to build an AFR facility spent fuel storage facility for Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) units 3 and 4.
It is pertinent to note that the Fukushima disaster unfolded due to a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and the ensuing Tsunami. There were around 19,700 deaths. However, not a single person died of radiation sickness. There have been 2313 disaster-related deaths among evacuees in Fukushima. Disaster-related deaths added to the 19,000+ deaths caused by the earthquake or tsunami.
In India, the politicisation and protests over the Kundankulam project came despite the NPCIL and ROSATOM its Russian partner ensuring that the plant is safe and all post-safety measures after the Fukushima nuclear accident were also taken into account at KKNPP.
Notably, DMK has also been opposed to the Vedanta Group-owned Sterlite Copper Plant. The party had backed the protestors opposing the operation of the plant leading to its shut down in May 2018. However, it was reported in 2021 that the people of Thoothukudi who actively participated in the protests felt cheated and even wanted the re-opening of the plant.
Last year, Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi had said that the 2018 anti-Sterlite protests in Thoothukudi were “foreign-funded”. Sterlite protest, it was purely foreign-funded, and the entire activities that led to the protest and the unfortunate police firing that cost innocent lives. That is a sad part of it. But they (foreign funders) wanted Sterlite to be closed. Sterlite was providing 40% of India’s copper needs. Copper is very important for the electronic industry, and even now, the factory is closed. And all those people behind (the protests) were getting foreign contributions,” the governor said.
The above discussion warrants recalling the vehement opposition by the leftist-communist parties to a US-India civil nuclear deal. Eventually, the left parties including the Communist Party of India (Marxist) withdrew support to the UPA government in 2009. The communist party has a history of opposing India’s nuclear ambitions, and largely, any major infra or development project. Back in 1998, India conducted five successful nuclear tests in Pokharan and declared itself a full-fledged nuclear state. However, the CPI(M) had registered strong opposition.
In a 1999 press release, the party advocated for stopping the country’s attempts to develop nuclear weapons, ignoring the critical need for it. Harkishan Singh Surjeet of the CPI(M) had even said that the nuclear tests were conducted to invoke jingoistic’ feelings to gain political mileage.
However, the current Narendra Modi-led government has adopted a pro-development approach since it came to power in 2014. Earlier this month, the Union Minister of Atomic Energy informed the Lok Sabha on the government’s efforts to enhance the percentage of nuclear power in total electricity generation in the country. He said that the government accorded administrative approval and financial sanction for setting up ten indigenous 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) in fleet mode. The Modi government has also ensured the creation of the Indian Nuclear Insurance Pool (INIP) for implementation of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, and amended the Atomic Energy Act to enable Joint Ventures of Public Sector Companies to set up nuclear power projects, alongside entering into agreements with foreign countries for fuel supply.
In January this year, the chairman and managing director of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) BC Pathak said in an interview that India is on a mission to commission one nuclear power reactor on average every year. He also gave detailed information about the progress and plans of the country’s nuclear power sector.
