MUMBAI: Former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman Anil Kakodkar has stated that the French-made Areva European pressurized reactors, which India plans to import for the Jaitapur nuclear power project in Ratnagiri district, were tested. "It is wrong to say that they were untested reactors. They are based on previous reactor experience," he asserted, while pointing out that other countries were constructing similar reactors. He was addressing nearly 400 students and...

-The Hindu   Union Minister of State for Forest and Environment Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said environmental clearance to a project should not be construed as a licence for forceful eviction of people. Asked about the resistance to land acquisition for the Posco steel project in Orissa, Mr. Ramesh said acquisition should not be coercive. He hoped the Orissa government would exhibit sensitivity in dealing with the agitators and resolve the issue...

-The Hindu   BNHS Director A.R. Rahmani to head the NPCIL's study The National Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) plans to undertake a comprehensive study to understand the possible effects of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project on the marine ecology and biodiversity in the area. Five environmental organisations will participate in the study, which will be headed by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Director A.R. Rahmani. In a letter, NPCIL chairperson and...

Over a dozen students of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences today boycotted their annual convocation while others handed badges that read “No to Nuclear Energy” to chief guest Jairam Ramesh in protest against the Jaitapur power project. A group of 22 students, who had visited the seven villages in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district that will be affected by the 9,900MW nuclear plant, also presented the environment minister with a fact file...

On the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, India announced that it would go ahead with the planned nuclear power plant at Jaitapur, Maharashtra. Even the media, which could have kept up the pressure on the government, dismissed the protests by the local people in Jaitapur as one incited by the Shiv Sena and so not worthy of any attention. While I am no Sena supporter, it is difficult...