When a farmer named Praveen Gawankar and two neighbors began a protest four years ago against a proposed nuclear power plant here in this coastal town, they were against it mainly for not-in-my-backyard reasons. They stood to lose mango orchards, cashew trees and rice fields, as the government forcibly acquired 2,300 acres to build six nuclear reactors — the biggest nuclear power plant ever proposed anywhere. But now, as a nuclear...

Anti-nuclear campaigners in India see the earthquake that hit Japan last week, which threatens the meltdown of the Fukushima atomic power facility there, as a wakeup call for this country’s ambitious nuclear power programme. When India completed a nuclear power cooperation deal with the United States in October 2008, it threw open a 270 billion U.S. dollar market for nuclear reactors. Now members of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers’ Group are queuing...

“Our plants' design, method of storing spent fuel are different” Evolving situation; scientists will come back with more conclusive answers: Shivshankar Menon More safeguards needed as part of environmental clearance at Jaitapur: Jairam Ramesh Top officials of the nuclear establishment on Wednesday assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that a nuclear catastrophe similar to the one that is devastating Japan is most unlikely to happen here. National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon said the officials noted...

Fukushima has become part of the local lexicon at Jaitapur. As news of the apocalypse-like situation in Japan reaches the far corners of villages in and around the area, residents have increased their agitation against the proposed 9,900 mw nuclear power plant. Jaitapur area falls in the seismic zone 3 category, and data from the Geological Survey of India shows that between 1985 and 2005, there were 92 Earthquakes. The biggest earthquake...

The tsunami-triggered nuclear crisis in Japan will not slow down India's nuclear power plans. The Government on Tuesday made it clear that there would be no rethink on the Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Maharashtra. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh who has been criticised by civil society groups, for clearing the proposed 9,900 MW nuclear power project in the eco-sensitive Western Ghats, said his ministry would put in additional safeguards as part...