‘Untested’ proposed N-plants worry top nuclear scientists. PHOTO: FILE
Some of those concerns were expressed on Saturday by eminent physicists and academics Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy and Dr AH Nayyar at a talk on nuclear energy in connection with the two new reactors being installed in Karachi. The talk was organised at Kuch Khaas by Subhenau, a non-government organisation that works on environmental issues.
Both speakers highlighted their apprehensions about the $9.6 billion power project on the Karachi coast, which would use two Chinese-made 1,100 Megawatt ACP-1000 nuclear reactors and is partly financed by a $6.5 billion loan from the Chinese government.
Planning for the project began in 2006 and site work started in October 2013, according to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), but it did not attract controversy or public debate until it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in November 2013.
Since then, civil society organisations have expressed alarm over the development, evoking the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan. Tsunami waves caused by a massive earthquake indirectly damaged nuclear reactors at Fukushima and led to the leakage of both radiation in to the atmosphere and radioactive water in to the Pacific Ocean.
Hoodbhoy and Nayyar maintained that nuclear power plants are prone to accidents, often due to human error, and have unique causes that make preempting them nearly impossible.
Given this, putting the reactors in operation close to a densely populated area without proper testing or adequate safety and security protocols might be extremely risky, they said.
A contingent of PAEC representatives including the Karachi project’s director Azfar Minhaj attended the talk and defended the project’s location and reactor design during the discussion afterwards.
Hoodbhoy said he was principally neutral towards using nuclear power for electricity generation but said he was “not ambivalent about the seeds of enormous catastrophe [sown] in this deal with China.”
He said the nuclear power plant on the Karachi coast could be endangered by seismic activity, develop technical faults or even be targeted by militants. If any of those extreme developments happen, the wind could carry the radiation towards Karachi city, according to Hoodbhoy.
“Can you order an evacuation of Karachi?” Hoodbhoy said. “My worry is you cannot evacuate Karachi.”
He said he might drop his objections if the location of the project is changed, but PAEC officials told The Express Tribune that they were satisfied with the site and it was selected after studies that involved looking at seismic history, hydrology and cooling water availability among other factors.
Nayyar, who said he has studied some documents of the project including the official site evaluation report, said the project uses an “untested” Chinese reactor.
“The reactor is being developed for the first time and when it becomes operational in Pakistan, it will not have a history of being run,” Nayyar said.
Nayyar said the Chinese are installing ACP-1000 reactors in their own country but they have imported some components for their own reactors from French and Japanese companies.
However, he said, the Chinese cannot provide those imported components to Pakistan because of a proliferation-related restriction imposed on Pakistan by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) — an unofficial body of countries that controls trade of nuclear material that could be used to make weapons.
This leads to a bizarre arrangement where the Chinese will provide Pakistan Chinese-manufactured versions of the components they themselves have imported, according to Nayyar.
He said Pakistan should wait a few years to see if the reactor works in China before using it.
Nayyar also mentioned that a major reason for the rush by Pakistani authorities to build this plant could be that China is bypassing NSG restrictions and is also financing the project. China, he said, has a strong industry that needs to market its products, but no one except Pakistan is willing to buy their reactors.
Minhaj, the PAEC project director, claimed there was “nothing new” about the reactor design or reactor control except “passive safety features.” The Atomic Energy officials also said they have an evacuation zone stretching around a 15-km radius from the reactor.
The speakers said the worst possible scenario needs to be considered, but PAEC officials suggested no project can go through if such hypothetical situations are entertained.
Speakers and audience members also emphasised the need to opt for renewable and alternative energy sources ahead of nuclear energy to overcome the country’s power crisis.
They also stressed that PAEC should do case studies on the way its existing nuclear power plants at Chashma have affected the local irrigation and fisheries sectors.
Subhenau CEO Dr Jawad Chistie, who moderated the talk, said his organisation was opposed to the project because of the negative health effects on populations residing near nuclear power plants including an increased risk of leukemia.
“Such measures should be well thought out rather than being regretted later,” Chishtie said.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2014.
COMMENTS (15)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Over the past few days, Dr. Hoodbhoy and Dr. Nayyar have been presenting again and again the same arguments to justify their perception about Karachi’s nuclear power plants project which is baseless. PAEC has announced a press statement giving satisfactory answers to the objections. At least now both scientists should clear their minds that site allocated for the power plants project is safe and suitable, free of climatic dangers. Reactors ordered are the best in the world, advanced third generation with extra safety features and double containment to avoid any disaster.
@vaqas:
Simply..because some souls can't even fathom the idea that Pak can be prosperous. To them, Pak must always crawl, beg & says yes master.
regards,
Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority has addressed all the objections with objective proofs moving from earthquakes, tsunamis or any other kind of natural disasters. The development of these nuclear plants is primarily aimed to meet the increased energy needs of the major economic city like Karachi. The respective scientists must understand one simple thing that two major nuclear states Pakistan and China are cooperating with each other. This is not a first orientation to nuclear for both nor they are insane enough to play an adventure with nuclear. A comprehensive consideration has been given before taking any pragmatic step. Nuclear Energy is widely been used for civilian purposes throughout the world. The reproach primarily serves the room of criticism nothing else.No government can be unwise enough to risk its major economic hub for nuclear experiment. Pakistan knows very well the requirements of its nationhood.
Pakistan follows IAEA’s extensive guidelines on nuclear safety and complies with international standards. These plants will be the latest and cutting-edge technology and are based on advanced Chinese versions of French pressurized water reactor, a technology that China acquired in early 1990s. Chinese have an experience of two decades of safe operation of these reactors. China made several design changes and added additional safety features.
In Pakistan you can find hundreds of thousands of Critics and Hoodbhoy is no different. But you should ask Hoodbhoy what is the alternative solution and he will be silent then. Everybody is criticizing the Nuclear project but what is alternative solution then??. Dams could not provide us with electricity all the time as they are highly dependent on the amount of rain and similarly Pakistan dont have a high grade coal to produce electricity. Solar and Wind Power are too much expensive and that are highly variable forms of energy dependent on weather all the time. Nuclear tech is the only viable solution right now to produce consistent electricity and if anyone have any other solution then share and try to implement as well.
It has been claimed that the design of the Karachi plants, the ACP-I000, is still under development and thus untried and untested. This is not correct. The ACP-1000 design is based on the PWR concept, very similar to the hundreds of such systems operating around the world for more than 50 years. The Chashma 1 and 2 power plants are also based on the PWR designs. The ACP 1000 model of the PWR concept to be used in Karachi is not an unproven design, and is based on the earlier CPR-1000 design, which has been used in 15 plants now under construction in China, of which the first unit started operations in 2010. The ACP-1000 uses the basic PWR design with safety improvements added, to meet the current safety targets of Generation-III reactors and after incorporating the lessons learnt from the Fukushima accident. Thus, the criticism of the design is not valid.
The safety element has been factored in the design of the new power plants for Karachi. It includes the incorporation of multiple barriers in the design and many levels of safety assurance throughout the design, construction and operational phases. Post-Fukushima, nuclear power plants are being equipped to cope with the most unlikely scenarios of total blackout and non-functionality of several of the engineered safety features built in the plant. It is learnt that these safety upgrades are already being implemented in the present operating plants and would be inbuilt features of the new Karachi plants.
Larger than 60 miles radius is what U.S. has moved it's personnel away from Fukushima. Nuclear plant in Japan, which had originally 35 Km safety zone. Why now PAEC feel Karachi Nucleur plant should have Just 15 Km safety radius? Which are few feet from active Balochistan *earthquake zone also is built down-wind to Karachi. Now why the parts that China did not trust itself should be used in Pak Nuclear Reactor?