Southern States - Tamil Nadu

`Security concerns will not stop new nuclear plants'

By R.K. Radhakrishnan

CHENNAI APRIL 13. Security concerns would not impede the present pace of progress in setting up newer nuclear power plants, the Atomic Energy Commission Chairman, Anil Kakodkar said.

The massive expansion in capacity planned now would increase the demand for heavy water. But with all plants doing well and with the current technology upgradation drive, the demand could be met, he said.

``This year and last year too, the heavy water plants have had 102 per cent capacity utilisation. At this moment, we have no problem at all in providing heavy water for our needs. But this cannot continue indefinitely. There will be a time when you may require additional capacity. But there is time for that. The point is that for a heavy water plant the gestation period is slightly lesser than what is needed for nuclear power plants. At this moment, we do not need any addition to the heavy water plants. But may be about five years from now it may become necessary. At that time we will start additional plants,'' Dr. Kakodkar said.

The security of nuclear power plants should be the responsibility of an entire nation and not merely of the utility provider, the Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC), Chairman and Managing Director, V.K. Chaturvedi, said at the Kaiga generating station.

``More than they (nuclear power plants) being the property of the utility provider, they are the wealth of the nation. And it is the job of the Government also to take care of those steps,''

This was not the thinking in India alone, but the general practice the world over, he said.

But this did not mean that the NPC had abdicated its responsibility.

There was a series of security-related drills after the September 11 attacks in the U.S. Asked if the location of the Koodankulam plant — so close to Sri Lanka and the LTTE held-territory — worried the NPC, he said plant officials and the Central Industrial Security Force were taking care of security aspects.

``Within the area of utility there are changes in procedures everywhere. And they are being implemented...Nobody thought of a plane before the September 11 attacks,'' he said.

The consensus at a recent international seminar was that no outfit could provide fool-proof security.

``People who are working in the plant should be aware of security aspects. We have asked senior officers of our plant to go around and see what the CISF is doing and what more needs to be done,'' he said.

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