RMP poses threat to KRS Dam, say environmentalist

Environmentalist Maj Gen (Retd) Dr Sudheer G Vombatkere said that several questions are being raised about the safety of using nuclear power due to the incessant radiation leak at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.

Before supporting use of nuclear power, people should think about the incidents that have taken place in Japan, he added.

He was speaking at a discussion on ‘Is nuclear power in our best interests?’ held at the Institution of Engineers (IoE), here on Sunday.

Cautioning that the Rare Materials Plant poses a threat to the city, Dr Vombatkere said that nuclear material is brought from Jharkhand through train. There is no information about the safety measures that have been undertaken in the plant. Also, there is no mention of how the nuclear waste is being disposed, he added.

Accident

He said that if an accident takes place in the plant, there is a possibility that the KRS dam could be damaged.

University of Mysore retired Prof J R Lakshman Rao opined, “USA showed the way in misusing nuclear power by bombing two cities of Japan  Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the World War- 11.

Pointing out that the world came to know about severity of nuclear devices only after the bombings in Japan, Prof Rao said that until then people didn’t even know that nukes existed.

Continuing he said that while the incident resulted in the death of thousands of people, lakhs of people are suffering from the after effects, he added. This is one of the examples of the disasters that can be caused due to nuclear energy, he added.

Kaiga plant

University of Bangalore, Chemistry Department, faculty member Dr Vishnu Kamath said that a lot of protests were held to oppose the setting up Kaiga Nuclear Power Plant.

Huge loss

Even though the government knew that it would result in huge loss of bio-diversity, it went ahead with the plan. The tragedy at Fukushima, would serve as a reminder to them, the professor added.

When Nuclear Commission was set-up in 1962, all information was kept secret. Repeated fight at the Supreme Court have led to some information being given out, he said.

Environmentalist Y B Ramakrishna, Institution of Engineers President A S Sathish and others were present.