The nuclear emergency in Japan is giving the world a new understanding of nuclear power plants, said Dr Anil Kakodkar, former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. In an interaction with the media, here on Monday, he said: “New safety features may have to be incorporated in Indian plants, for which a detailed review would be required. It also gives us an opportunity to review the civil foundation required for the Jaitapur plant.” In a separate interaction, Dr Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, said funds will not be a constraint if new safety features are to be incorporated in nuclear plants. The Department of Atomic Energy will not compromise on the security of the plants, he said.
As for the 9,900-MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in the eco-sensitive Konkan region of Maharashtra, Dr Kakodkar said the site is less vulnerable to tsunamis and earthquakes as it is located on a plateau and falls in Seismic Zone 3, which is geologically less active..
(Zone 3 is classified as Moderate Damage Risk Zone on a scale of 2 to 5, with Zone 2 associated with the lowest level of seismicity.)
The locational advantage that the 29-metre-high Jaitapur plateau has over a site at sea-level needs to be understood in the context of the 10-metre tsunami that hit Sendai and other regions on the east coast of Japan on Friday. The tsunami led to flooding and explosion at the Fukushima 1 nuclear plant on the east coast.
According to an eminent earth scientist from IIT, a tsunami is highly unlikely on the west coast of India. Such geologically active zones are found near Japan and Java.