Context: Recently, Kudankulam Village Panchayat has passed a resolution against the construction of the ‘Away From Reactor (AFR) facility at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) site for storing nuclear waste.

Why is the State Government and Village Panchayat opposing the facility?

• Tamil Nadu Government and village panchayat are of the view that the AFR site would lead to radioactive pollution (spread of radioactivity) and spoil the groundwater, which is used for drinking water and irrigation.

What are the Central Government’s arguments in favour of the facility?

• The proposed AFR facility at Kudankulam Nuclear Plant is for storage of spent fuel only and not for storage of nuclear waste, as perceived by a few.
• The design of the facility ensures that there would not be any adverse impact of the facility on the personnel, the public and the environment.

Key Concept
The storage of spent fuel in a nuclear power plant is two-fold:

• One facility is located within the reactor building/service building, generally known as the Spent Fuel Storage Pool.
• Another is located away from the reactor, called the Away From Reactor (AFR) Spent Fuel Storage Facility, but within the plant’s premises.

Away From Reactor

• It is a storage system functionally independent of the reactor operation.
• It provids the role of storage until a further destination (such as a disposal) becomes available.
• They are functionally independent storage installations built at reactor sites or elsewhere.

Sources of nuclear radiation

Natural Sources

• These come from the outer space with intense radiation as their nature, therefore, causing radioactive pollution.

Gamma rays

• They are said to have the highest level of radiation and yet, depending on their intensity, some are not visible to the human eye.
• The quantity with which the rays hit the earth depends on the altitude of the earth and the geographical location.

Terrestrial radiation

• The composition of the earth's crust is a major source of natural radiation.
• The main contributors are natural deposits of uranium, potassium and thorium which, in the process of natural decay, release small amounts of ionizing radiation.

Artificial sources of radiation
Medical sources

• Radiation has many uses in medicine.
• The most well-known use is in X-ray machines, which use radiation to find broken bones and diagnose disease.
• Another example is nuclear medicine, which uses radioactive isotopes to diagnose and treat diseases such as cancer.

Industrial sources

• Radiation has a variety of industrial uses that ranges from nuclear gauges used to build roads to density gauges that measure the flow of material through pipes in factories.
• It is also used in smoke detectors and some glow-in-the dark exit signs, and to estimate reserves in oil fields.
• It is also used for sterilization in which large, heavily shielded irradiators are used.

Nuclear fuel cycle

• Nuclear power plants release regulated levels of radioactive material which can expose people to low doses of radiation.
• Uranium mines, fuel fabrication plants and radioactive waste facilities also release some radioactivity.

Adverse impacts of radioactive pollution on Health
Genetic Mutations

• Radiation leads to damage to DNA strands leading to the genetic break up over time.
• The degree of genetic mutation leading to changes in DNA composition varies due to the level of radiation one has been exposed to and the kind of exposure.

Diseases

• Cancer is the most dominant radiation-related disease.
• Others include leukemia, anemia, hemorrhage, a reduction in the life span leading to premature aging and premature deaths as well as others such as cardiovascular complications.

Cell Destruction

• Radioactive pollution has diverse effects, such as the alteration of cells.
• Radiation distorts the cells present, leading to permanent damage of the various organs and organ systems.

Burns

• Exposure to very high levels of radiation, such as being close to an atomic blast, can cause skin burns.