Background

1. Nuclear energy is undoubtedly most controversial, yet critical part for India’s future energy security. As we know India’s annual energy demand is expected to rise to 800 GW by 2032, it is very important to consider every source of energy in the optimum energy mix.

2. Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project is a proposed 9900 Megawatt project of Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) at Madban village of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra. If and when completed, Jaitapur “will be the largest nuclear power plant in the world”.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT CRITICISES JAITAPUR NUCLEAR PLANT

1. An impact assessment report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has strongly criticized the nuclear power plant being proposed at Jaitapur in the Konkan region.

2. The report has indicated that the project – which requires about 968 hectares of land panning five villages – will have a huge negative impact on the social as well as environmental development of not just these villages and the surrounding areas, but also on the Konkan region in general.

3. The findings suggest that the government subverted facts and called fertile agricultural land barren. It also says that the Jaitapur project is sitting on a high to moderate severity earthquake zone.

Issues

1. The urgency is inexplicable as it comes before the techno-commercial offer has been examined and as earlier questions about costs and safety remain unanswered.

2. Moreover, with the Indian power sector facing surplus capacity and a crisis of non-performing assets (NPAs), a large investment in the Jaitapur project is particularly risky.

Pricing

1. It is clear that electricity from the Jaitapur project will be more expensive than many other sources of electricity, including solar and wind power.

2. Using international estimates of capital costs for EPRs from the 2010-2012 period, it is argued that first year tariffs would be around 15 per kilowatt-hour.

Delays and cost overrun

1. Across the world, EPRs have experienced delays and cost increases. For instance, the first EPR entered commercial operation in December 2018 at the Taishan site in China, five years later than originally projected.

2. Its final capital cost was estimated by industry sources to be “40% over the original estimate

High capital cost and NPA

1. The high capital costs of the EPRs are of particular concern because power-generating capacity in India has grown faster than demand causing projects to run into financial difficulties.

2. In March 2018, the parliamentary standing committee on energy listed 34 “stressed” projects, including NPAs and “those which have the potential to become NPAs”, with a cumulative outstanding debt of 1.74 lakh crore.

3. The NPCIL’s debts would ultimately be underwritten by the Indian government, if the project encounters financial difficulties, the costs would fall on Indian taxpayers.

Safety problems

1. Safety problems with the reactor design and construction have emerged in several EPRs. The most serious of these pertained to the pressure vessel, which is the key barrier that prevents the spread of radioactive materials from the reactor.

2. For instance, the EPR at Olkiluoto in Finland encountered problems with vibrations in the pipe that connects the primary coolant system with the pressuriser, which maintains the pressure of the water circulating in the reactor.

Indian nuclear Liability law issue

1. The safety concerns are exacerbated by India’s flawed nuclear liability law. In the event of an accident, the nuclear liability law would require the public sector NPCIL to compensate victims and pay for clean-up, while largely absolving EDF of responsibility.

2. Further, the Indian law provides NPCIL with a limited opportunity to obtain compensation from the French company Électricité de France (EDF) for the “supply of equipment… with… defects… or sub-standard services”.

3. The “enforcement of India’s rules” in accordance with the international Convention on Supplementary Compensation for nuclear damage, which severely limits the operator’s (NPCIL) right of recourse, i.e. not to exercise its right to claim compensation from EDF as allowed by Indian law.

4. Thus, thereby EDF can escape with limited or no consequences even after a severe accident, having little material incentive to maintain the highest safety standards, particularly if the requirements of safety come into conflict with the imperative to lower costs.

Data secrecy

• There is little public data about the EPRs being built in China, but these prices are consistent with those proposed for EPRs in Britain and indicate that each Indian reactor may cost as much as Rs. 60,000 crore.

Way forward

1. Nuclear energy, though is critical for India’s energy security but is not panacea for the problem. People of India have right to have safe and sustainable energy.

2. So future development should depend upon cost benefit analysis taking into account all the externalities involved in various components of energy mix.

3. If this is done, it is most likely that policy will get incline strongly in favor of non-conventional sources of energy that is solar, wind and biomass.