Activists worry about proposed nuclear power projects near city
We aren’t opposed to the project, said architect Arif Belgaumi about the two new nuclear power plants proposed to be built near the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (Kanupp). “All we want is a public Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that addresses our concerns about the proximity of these reactors to a city the size of Karachi.”
He was speaking at a meeting organised by the Karachi Citizens Collective at The Second Floor café to discuss the $10 billion K-II and K-III project. The Sindh High Court passed a stay order for the project until a public EIA is conducted after a small group of citizens and activists filed a petition.
“Kanupp was built in the 1960s but Karachi has grown since then,” explained Belgaumi. “After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, an area with the radius of 30 kilometres from the plant was evacuated. Most of Karachi lies within the same distance from Kanupp.”
He also pointed out the region lies at a triple tectonic fault. Still, he conceded that Kanupp was perhaps at the safest possible point, between the earthquake-prone Makran belt and the low-lying Indus delta areas that are susceptible to flooding and tsunamis. “The only problem? It just so happens that it’s located right next door to a city of over 20 million residents.”
Barrister Abdul Sattar Peerzada, who is representing the petitioners in court, explained that according to the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act of 1997, no project can be carried out without a public hearing for an EIA.
The Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority filed their comments in court on November 7, which Peerzada called ‘absolutely abysmal’. “They filed a No Objection Certificate that says that they do not need a public hearing because it is a matter of national security and that outweighs the public interest,” he said. “Nobody is asking them to divulge state secrets but we have a right to know about the risks posed by the project and how they plan to deal with a crisis.”
The issue of how the government would handle a crisis was at the fore of the audience’s minds, with few people having much confidence in its abilities. “Forget 30 kms or even 10 kms, our government is not competent enough to even evacuate and rehabilitate the residents within a single kilometre,” asserted a participant.
“We would like to see an open process,” explained Belgaumi. “The problem affects everyone but the PAEC is making the decisions in a closed environment. And the decisions should not be made by the people whose livelihoods depend on these projects.” Peerzada summed up the argument: “It’s about fear of the unknown. If you could inform us and educate us, we might be pacified.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2014.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) have comprehensively studied the circumstances that led to the Fukushima failure and the measures taken by Japan to address the crisis and draw conclusions on how to improve the safety of nuclear power plants in Pakistan. Pakistan has the experience of operating nuclear technology, which spans over four decades. During this period, security and safety have been the hallmarks of the nuclear industry. Pakistan has the qualified manpower and professionals and it is now constructing a fourth and fifth nuclear power plant. The security measures at operational nuclear facilities in Pakistan are up to international standards. There are no doubts that safety will be on top priority for Pakistan’s nuclear industry in future projects and Fukushima provides an even bigger drive to Pakistan to enhance safety and develop emergency response programmes.
it is the oil lobby and USA working against china, simultaneously...nothing wrong with design or location of plant...if a tsunami destroys karachi then so what? govt should not move sea away from karachi then?
An initial version of the emergency plan for the new plants has been prepared, but it is not required in the SER. However, at this site PAEC has the advantage of having had KANUPP operating for the past 41 years for which the emergency plan, duly approved by local, provincial, and national authorities, has been in place. This plan fully caters to the evacuation of people in the emergency planning zones and exercises are regularly carried out to test and improve its implementation. Similar plans will also be a part of the documentation for the new reactors which will be submitted to PNRA in accordance with the schedule in the relevant regulations. Experience from all the three past reactor accidents shows that most health impacts have arisen from misjudged reactions to the accidents, such as forcing evacuations even if they were not justified on an objective basis. Creation of an atmosphere of fear of radiation amongst the affected population has further aggravated these problems and is the major underlying cause for their persistence over a long period of time. Therefore, indulgence in baseless fear-mongering is a great disservice to the people.
The possibility of accidents occurring in unexpected ways is fully recognized in the design of nuclear reactors, and the concept of “defense in depth” is employed extensively to counter it. Compared to the older designs, the ACP1000 design for the new plant has several additional layers of safety that greatly diminish the probability of any accidental radioactivity release to the environment.
There are varieties of opinions which people hold about “Nuclear” and that is the very reason that everyone deals with his own individualistic approach towards its credentials. For a common man, nuclear covers only the horrified picture. But those who are literate and follow the global trends are strong supporters of civilian use of nuclear to generate energy. The building of Karachi Nuclear Power Plants has nothing new to get astonished. There are many nuclear power plants which are peacefully operated. Regarding Karachi, people are living with crafted hallucinations of Fukuhshima and Chernobyl which are far off cry really for KII & KIII.
Pakistan gets involved with nuclear from quite long time period which headed towards subsequent buildings of many related organizational bodies. So this assumption is really baseless and illogical that with Karachi nuclear power plants they are running some kind of “nuclear business” for their own sustainability. It reflects that activists lack substantive allegations against the project. There is no doubt in this that Pakistan becomes a nuclear weapon state as a result of immense efforts of its people. Certainly they never let the country in danger.
IAEA has given approval for the construction of nuclear power plants than what these environmental thinks off themselves to be? Chinese companies have had a hard time breaking into markets considered vital to Western national security. But when it comes to nuclear energy, China Inc., backed by the economic might of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, is making a push overseas. This all hue and cry was shown before by the same physicist when Chashma 1 and 2 was about to start but nothing happened because of our controlled safety records.
A country having an experience of more than 40 years in the field of constructing and operating nuclear power plants can never be stupid enough to put the life of its people at stake. The site for nuclear power plants have been selected after careful observation and analyzing all the safety concerns. Environmental Impact assessment study have been done before confirming the project and later people of the Sindh were also given presentation by the field experts in order to give them awareness about the power plants and all the concerns of people. Though anti-nuclear lobby in Pakistan is again getting activated but the long lasting uses and benefits of nuclear power can never be ignored.