Friday 28 September 2012

The Hindu : News / National : No transparency in source of funds of political parties, reveals RTI

Only 11.89 per cent of the Congress income and 22.76 per cent of the BJP income in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 financial year have come from donations received in excess of Rs. 20,000, the two parties have claimed in contribution reports submitted to the Election Commission of India.
In a detailed analysis of the Income Tax returns filed and donations received by the political parties, the National Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms have raised several questions on the lack of transparency regarding the source of funds that the parties claimed to have received in the past years.
According to the I-T returns filed by various parties and contribution reports submitted to the EC which are accessed by these two organisations through the Right to Information Act, the top five parties with the highest income between 2004-05 and 2010-11 were: the Congress with Rs. 2,008 crore, the BJP - Rs. 994 crore, the BSP – Rs. 484 crore, the CPI(M) – Rs. 417 crore and the SP – Rs. 279 crore.

The who’s who of mining are funding India’s political parties

by  Sep 11, 2012


There are strings attached to every charity! A list released by Delhi-based NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), reveals that 26 of the top 50 companies, which made political donations to the Congress Party, are associated with mining of natural resources in one way or the other.
These companies belong to Jindal group of industries, Adani Group of Industries, Shyam group of industries, Essar group of industries, ACC and Ambuja Cements, Vedanta group of industries, Torrent Power Ltd, Salgaoncar, Chowgule, etc. Other companies listed are service providers, and provide logistics and infrastructure to these companies dealing with power generation, cement, steel, sponge iron and export of iron ore.
Thus, most of these companies require captive coal blocks, captive iron and bauxite mines. These companies are not only generous to the Congress, they are also liberally make political donations to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other political parties, and seem focused on keeping the political class happy.
Representational image. Reuters
The Jindal Group alone holds control over 10 captive mines. The Jindals made a contribution of Rs 1.05 crore to the Congress. Essar has captive coal mines at Chakla and Karanpura districts in Jharkhand and its contribution to the Congress was Rs 75 lakh.
ACC and Ambuja Cement companies donated Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore respectively to the Congress war-chest. Both belong to the same management and they too have captive coal mines at Raniganj, West Bengal. They have cement plants at Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

Wednesday 26 September 2012

HEARD ON THE STREET FROM WISE PEOPLE ON POLITY AND POLITICS


"Politics, as a practise, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds". 

"Good government is known from bad government by this infallible test: that under the former the labouring people are well fed and well clothed, and under the latter, they are badly fed and badly clothed".

"The political arena leaves one no alternative, one must either be a dunce or a rogue".

"A passion for politics stems usually from an insatiable need,

either for power, or for friendship and adulation, or a 

combination of both".

"Avoid this crowd like the plague. And if they quote you, make damn sure they heard you". 

"I have simplified my politics into an utter detestation of all 

existing governments; and, as it is the shortest and most 

agreeable and summary feeling imaginable, the first moment 

of an universal republic would convert me into an advocate 

for single and uncontradicted despotism. The fact is, riches 

are power, and poverty is slavery all over the earth, and one 

sort of establishment is no better, nor worse, for a people 

than another".


"The truth is that every intelligent man, as you well know, 

dreams of being a gangster and ruling over society through 

violence alone. Since this is not as easy as the novels would 

have us believe, people generally resort to politics and join 

the cruelest party".



Koodankulam: Nuclear Power Corrupts Absolutely !

by DiaNuke.org

Why is it that instead of addressing the apprehensions of the protesters and putting in place all necessary safeguards to dispel their anxieties, the government has instead unleashed police terror?
Brig. V Mahalingam
Brigadier (retd) V Mahalingam, has held varying command and staff appointments in his 35 years of Army service. He specializes in security related matters and is a leadership trainer. His areas of interest include national security, defence and security forces, governance, and politics.
Article courtesy:Outlook
In a democracy, protest is a legitimate tool in the hands of the people to voice their concern and exert pressure on the government to effect a course correction when the path chosen by it is assessed as “against public interest”. The effect of a nuclear accident in India, a densely populated country could be disastrous with far reaching long term implications to the environment and the people. The Three Mile Island (1979), Chernobyl (1986) and Fukushima (2011) incidents have brought to the fore the risks involved in the business of nuclear power generation.
The Fukushima disaster has altered and enhanced mani fold the risk perception of a nuclear plant in the minds of the people. Like elsewhere in the world, people in rural India, around whose habitation nuclear power plants are proposed to be built, are apprehensive that the dangers of a nuclear disaster may far outweigh the gains of nuclear power generation. It is not without a reason that Germany, a technologically advanced country where nuclear energy accounts for 26 % of its power generation, has decided to do away with all its nuclear plants by 2022 based on a referendum. In US, notwithstanding the proposals for nearly 150 coal based power plants being dumped due to opposition from environmentalists, no nuclear power plant has been approved in the past three decades. Australia and New Zealand have said a firm no to nuclear power. This is despite Australia having large reserves of nuclear fissile material. Japan, which witnessed the Fukushima disaster and its aftermath live, is reported to have taken a decision to reduce its dependence on nuclear power in the short term and abandon it altogether in the long term.

Tuesday 25 September 2012



M.G.Devasahayam
Convener, Experts Team of the Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE)
The mess that Kudankulam now is entirely the creation of Government of India and Government of Tamil Nadu due to their arrogant, arbitrary and autocratic methods giving scant respect and regard to the voices if the very people who voted them to power. Instead of entering into dialogue with the protesting public to “ally their fears ” as promised, these governments sent ‘Sarkari Scientists’ who only printed reams of paper and gave it as expert opinion. When people asked for their voice to be heard it was responded with hundreds of criminal cases of sedition and ‘waging war against the state’. When people still persisted police brutality was let loose on women and children sitting on beach sands, peacefully protesting against ‘fuel loading’ in the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP).
Actually the three officers in charge of the situation – the DIG, the SP and the District Collector – showed restraint. It was IG Police Rajesh Das who landed up out of nowhere, gave the protesters 10 minutes to disperse and when they refused, ordered lathi charge and tear gas shelling. The men jumped into the sea; but women and children could not and were beaten up. This IG is the same man responsible for the firing on innocent Dalits at Paramakudi last year. He is stated to be incapable of handling sensitive situations.Yet he has been unleashing terror among the harmless villagers and hunting down SP Udayakumar, the PMANE coordinator, as if he is an international terrorist. One wonders as to whether Rajesh Das is taking orders from the autocratic Russian masters or the democratically elected Government of Tamil Nadu.
Police is using the High Court order as a cover for indulging in brutality. The fact is that there have been several bizarre, irregular and illegal happenings connected with KKNPP from the very beginning. What baffles me is the clearance given for fuel loading and the nuclear establishment going ahead with this ‘commissioning process’ despite the scathing report of Comptroller & Auditor General of India about ‘lapses in safety measures’ by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) posing “grave threats.” CAG, the highly regarded constitutional watchdog has highlighted several lapses by AERB: Non-preparation of a nuclear and radiation policy; No safety documents as recommended by two expert committees; No decommissioning plan which is extremely critical for public safety; Non-adoption of international safety standards and practices.The Nuclear Power Corporation of India themselves have said that they are yet to implement the 17 safety measures recommended by the post-Fukushima taskforce. The environment clearance was given way back in 1988. There’s no fresh water near the site. Yet High Court has passed the order ignoring all these critical issues. The case is now in the Supreme Court


Dr. A. Gopalakrishnan. Former Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board
The government, through its Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), the Nuclear Power Corporation Limited (NPCIL), and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) is racing to bring the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, Unit-1 (KNPP-1) to full-power operation at the earliest. The questions predominantly troubling the conscientious public today are simply these: Is the Kudankulam Unit-1 ready for introduction of nuclear fuel assemblies into its core (‘fuelling’), having fully completed all the safety modifications and additions recommended by AERB’s Post-Fukushima Committee to Review Safety of Indian Nuclear Power Plants? What other mandatory, pre-fuelling safety-related tasks such as conducting proper emergency drills in villages within a 30 km-radius of the reactors remain? What are the serious implications to public safety if NPCIL and AERB move forward with fuelling activity and bring this reactor to its full power of 1000 MWe in the current state of inadequate and incomplete safety status?
On some of the glaring defaults of the current actions of the DAE, NPCIL and the AERB vis-à-vis KNPP-1, there are three Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) currently before the Supreme Court of India. The next hearing of one SLP that seriously pleads for stopping fuelling activity is set for September 27. As early as on March 26, 2012 , a writ petition (no. 8262) was filed in the Madras High Court for a direction against the DAE, NPCIL, AERB and others to implement all the recommendations of the AERB’s Post-Fukushima Report before fuel-loading is started. In response, the AERB counsel informed the court , “— that before initial fuel loading is done, the compliance of all the requirements under Annexure-8 (of the AERB report) will be ensured by the AERB and it is only after its satisfaction any direction (for loading fuel) will be given—” . Subsequently , the High Court decided to reserve its orders on August 2, 2012 , pending detailed judgement to follow.

Monday 24 September 2012

The Hindu : Today's Paper / OPINION : Sleeping with the enemy

Sometimes, your most valuable friend is no more than your enemy’s enemy. For the beleaguered Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, the fresh commitment of support from Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh on Friday is a lifeline in the nick of time. Mr. Singh’s support is conditional: he is as opposed to Foreign Direct Investment in retail as is Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, whose withdrawal from the UPA created the present crisis for the government. But his political compulsions could see him propping up the government till 2014, when the next Lok Sabha election is due. Under pressure from his constituency of Muslims to deny the Bharatiya Janata Party even an inch of additional political space, Mr. Singh is often forced to speed into the open arms of the Congress. The Congress is an enemy of the SP but not bigger than the BJP, which must be stopped at all costs from gaining in the event of a mid-term poll. For all the SP’s stupendous performance in the February assembly election in U.P., the simple truth is that the Akhilesh Yadav government needs time to consolidate itself. If the SP is to go to the people in a general election, it would surely need to show results in U.P. A key factor here is Central assistance, which has already been promised to the State. In the event, Mr. Singh’s rationalisation of his decision to continue to support the UPA was predictable: to keep “communal forces” (read the BJP) at bay. Whether or not the Congress counted on the SP’s support while pushing Ms Banerjee over the brink is difficult to say but, surely, party managers were aware of the predicament of Mr. Singh: of having to keep one eye on the BJP while taking on the Congress.
The Hindu : Today's Paper / OPINION : A risky strategy, born of panic


As the economy slows down and the rupee wilts, Manmohan Singh has bitten the ‘reforms’ bullet with both eyes on the credit rating agencies whose negative reports have done much to dampen the ‘animal spirits’ of investors, foreign and native.
Last November, when the Congress party made a push to introduce foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, protests in Parliament forced the government to back off. Pranab Mukherjee, who was Union Finance Minister at the time, said the FDI plan was being put on hold until a political consensus emerged.
I asked a senior member of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet what had changed between November 2011 and September 2012. There is still no consensus on FDI in retail, yet a decision has been taken to go full steam ahead. “What has changed is the value of the rupee,” the Minister replied. Every rupee that the dollar gains adds Rs 8,000 crore to India’s annualised oil import bill. “Of course, Manmohan admitted to us that not even one dollar may flow into retail or airlines right now”, he said. But this decision to open the sector and raise diesel prices has to be taken in order to stop the rupee from going into free fall.
The Hindu : Today's Paper / OPINION : Sayonara nuclear power
The much needed big push towards low-cost, highly-efficient, cutting-edge renewable energy technologies was lacking till recently. Even the compulsion to cut down carbon dioxide emission levels by 2020 failed to overcome the inertia. But the landscape has squarely and dramatically changed following the 9 magnitude earthquake and killer tsunami waves that resulted in the catastrophic accident in the Fukushima nuclear reactor units in Japan. In what may appear as well co-ordinated announcements made very recently, Japan and France, both major nuclear power champions, have announced their departure from nuclear energy dependence. If March 11, 2011 has gone down in history as a dark day for Japan, the government’s September 14 decision to end its reliance on nuclear power by 2040 by closing down all 50 reactors will forever be remembered as a defining moment. This will, in all probability, mark the beginning of a renewable energy technology revolution. If after World War II, the Japanese people transformed their nation into one of the world’s most industrially developed ones, the possibility of the country producing an encore with alternative energy technology developments cannot be ruled out.

Saturday 22 September 2012

Full text: PM's address to the Nation - Indian Express

Warning against the country slipping back into 1991 economic crisis, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said time has come for "hard decisions" to put the country on the path of high and inclusive growth. PM sought trust and understanding of the people in a televised address to the nation. Here's the full text:
My dear brothers and sisters,
I am speaking to you tonight to explain the reasons for some important economic policy decisions the government has recently taken. Some political parties have opposed them. You have a right to know the truth about why we have taken these decisions.
No government likes to impose burdens on the common man. Our Government has been voted to office twice to protect the interests of the aam admi.
At the same time, it is the responsibility of the government to defend the national interest, and protect the long term future of our people. This means that we must ensure that the economy grows rapidly, and that this generates enough productive jobs for the youth of our country. Rapid growth is also necessary to raise the revenues we need to finance our programmes in education, health care, housing and rural employment.
The challenge is that we have to do this at a time when the world economy is experiencing great difficulty. The United States and Europe are struggling to deal with an economic slowdown and financial crisis. Even China is slowing down.

Friday 21 September 2012


Anti Nuclear Protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on September 22

by DiaNuke.org

Join People's Struggle to Stop Koodankulam Nuclear Plants. Show your Solidarity to the Peaceful Democratic Struggle. Protest State violence on innocent People. Condemn the Police for Framing false cases against Protesters.
Join the Dharna on 22.9.12 Saturday at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi. 10am to 4pm
FRIENDS OF KOODANKULAM ANTI NUCLEAR MOVEMENT
PUCL - National
PUCL - Delhi
AISA
SFI -JNU
Students Against Nuclear Plants
Indian Renaissance Movement
Democratic Citizen Forum
Artists Against Nuclear Plants
Contact
N.D. Pancholi - 9811099532
Malathi Maithri - 9968454175


DiaNuke.org | September 20, 2012 at 10:06 pm | Tags: Antinuclear ProtestKoodankulamnuclear energy | Categories: Latest | URL: http://wp.me/p1y6UD-3lr

Thursday 20 September 2012

‘FDI could be used to get in black money’ | The Asian Age

Raising questions regarding the recent decision on Foreign Direct Inves-tment (FDI), anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Sunday said that FDI could be used as a source to bring back Indian black money into the country.
“FDI will not change the economic situation of the country. Till the time there is no law passed to curb corruption, the economic situation will not change,” said Mr Hazare in his blog, adding, “The ruling party and many other parties claim that FDI will change the economy. The Opposition says it is harmful. All are eyeing the 2014 elections and trying to eat into each other’s vote bank. People like me, who have distanced themselves from political parties cannot really rule out the fact that money coming from FDI could be Indian black money. It is not wrong on part of the people to think that our country’s money will find its way back into the country, but in another form.”
Corruption and money laundering - Moneylife


The existing systems in India have clearly not prevented black money and the proceeds of corruption from leaving the country. Hopefully the next generation revolutionaries can actually use technology to bring about the change we want to see

First the Gandhian, Anna Hazare and then the yoga guru turned social activist, Baba Ramdev; India has witnessed two major voices against corruption in the last year. While Anna and his team's movement primarily focused on bringing a strong Lokpal Bill, Baba Ramdev has been crusading to bring back the black money stashed away in Swiss banks, to India.
 
Corruption has assumed unprecedented proportions with the Coalgate allocation scam running into billions of dollars and everyone from the erstwhile Bhartiya Janata Party government (now the main opposition party), led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the current United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, led by Dr Manmohan Singh, being under the scanner. The Indian parliament hardly worked in the monsoon session, with the ruling party and the opposition at loggerheads with each other

Wednesday 19 September 2012


Japan calls time on nuclear

by Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Japan decided to join the "no-nuclear" club last week, bowing to public aversion to these plants after the Fukushima accident in March 2011. At the same time, it projected significant investments in renewable energy.
Japan will have no nuclear power by the end of the 2030s, according to the new energy policy approved by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on 14 September. Idled reactors will however be allowed to restart during the 27-year wind-down period. On the flip side, the policy also envisages investment of JPY 38 trillion (USD 487bn) on solar, wind and other types of renewable energy over the next two decades, with an additional JPY 84 trillion investment in energy-efficient technology.
Japan has already introduced what are seen as fairly generous feed-in tariffs for renewable energy, beginning 1 July 2012. There have been multiple announcements of projects subsequently. Two large renewable power initiatives were announced last week: a 1GW wind farm with 500 turbines on the island of Hokkaido, to be developed by telcommunications company Softbank, and a 250MW solar project backed by the Goldman Sachs Group, IBM, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone and Toyo Engineering, among others. Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates that about 900MW of utility-scale solar projects - or those larger than 1MW - have been announced this year, of which 350MW are already under construction.
In Europe, France was also looking at energy and emissions, decades ahead. President Francois Hollande said he favoured a 40 per cent cut in emissions from the EU bloc by 2030 from 1990 levels, and to 60 per cent by 2040. The current target is to lower carbon emissions by 20 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020.


Kudankulam – Way Out of the Nuclear Mess

by DiaNuke.org

M.G.Devasahayam
Convener, Experts Team of the Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE)
The mess that Kudankulam now is entirely the creation of Government of India and Government of Tamil Nadu due to their arrogant, arbitrary and autocratic methods giving scant respect and regard to the voices if the very people who voted them to power. Instead of entering into dialogue with the protesting public to "ally their fears " as promised, these governments sent 'Sarkari Scientists' who only printed reams of paper and gave it as expert opinion. When people asked for their voice to be heard it was responded with hundreds of criminal cases of sedition and 'waging war against the state'. When people still persisted police brutality was let loose on women and children sitting on beach sands, peacefully protesting against 'fuel loading' in the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP).
Actually the three officers in charge of the situation – the DIG, the SP and the District Collector - showed restraint. It was IG Police Rajesh Das who landed up out of nowhere, gave the protesters 10 minutes to disperse and when they refused, ordered lathi charge and tear gas shelling. The men jumped into the sea; but women and children could not and were beaten up. This IG is the same man responsible for the firing on innocent Dalits at Paramakudi last year. He is stated to be incapable of handling sensitive situations.Yet he has been unleashing terror among the harmless villagers and hunting down SP Udayakumar, the PMANE coordinator, as if he is an international terrorist. One wonders as to whether Rajesh Das is taking orders from the autocratic Russian masters or the democratically elected Government of Tamil Nadu.
Police is using the High Court order as a cover for indulging in brutality. The fact is that there have been several bizarre, irregular and illegal happenings connected with KKNPP from the very beginning. What baffles me is the clearance given for fuel loading and the nuclear establishment going ahead with this ‘commissioning process’ despite the scathing report of Comptroller & Auditor General of India about ‘lapses in safety measures’ by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) posing “grave threats.” CAG, the highly regarded constitutional watchdog has highlighted several lapses by AERB: Non-preparation of a nuclear and radiation policy; No safety documents as recommended by two expert committees; No decommissioning plan which is extremely critical for public safety; Non-adoption of international safety standards and practices.The Nuclear Power Corporation of India themselves have said that they are yet to implement the 17 safety measures recommended by the post-Fukushima taskforce. The environment clearance was given way back in 1988. There’s no fresh water near the site. Yet High Court has passed the order ignoring all these critical issues. The case is now in the Supreme Court
Fact of the matter is that Nuclear power is neither the cleanest nor the safest. The human cost is too high. There’s been no new plant commissioned in the US for the last 20 years not only because of environmental concerns, but also because no bank is willing to fund it. No one is willing to insure a nuclear plant because of the risks involved. There are many hidden costs, among them the cost of decommissioning it after 40 years and storage of spent fuel for several centuries!

Monday 17 September 2012


THE HINDU’s Bias on Koodankulam: An Open Letter

by DiaNuke.org


To
The Editor
The Hindu, Chennai
Cc
Rahul Siddharthan
 Shankar sharma

Shankar Sharma is a Power Policy Analyst.
His latest publication - a monograph on Integrated Power Policy, is a strongly recommended:
He can be contacted at
shankar.sharma2005 (at) gmail.com
Dear Sir,
This has reference to a lead article with the title " The real questions from Kudankulam" by Rahul Siddharthan on 14th Sept . I would like to say that a holistic perspective of all-round welfare of our communities would throw up a lot of questions on the arguments made in the article.
Whereas it is clear that nuclear power technology, as any other complex technology, cannot be associated with zero probability of catastrophic failure, the society has to make a transparent assessment of its costs and benefits to our densely populated communities. Can we say that the true costs to the communities of three major failures in the history at TMI, Chernobyl and Fukushima were negligible or much less than the true benefits of those nuclear power plants?
In an article "Chernobyl 25 years later: Many lessons learned" Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of USSR has this to say : Today we know that about 77,000 square miles of territory in Europe and the former Soviet Union has been contaminated with radioactive fallout, leaving long-term challenges for flora, fauna, water, the environment, and human health. Tens of billions of dollars have already been spent in trying to contain and remediate the disaster, with a new containment shell now being constructed over the 1986 sarcophagus and what’s left of the reactor. The material damage inflicted by Chernobyl, although enormous, pales in significance when compared to the ongoing human costs. The true scope of the tragedy still remains beyond comprehension and is a shocking reminder of the reality of the nuclear threat. It is also a striking symbol of modern technological risk. The closed nature and secrecy of the nuclear power industry, which had already experienced some 150 significant radiation leaks at nuclear power stations throughout the world before the Chernobyl fire, greatly contributed to the accident and response difficulties. As the global population continues to expand, and the demand for energy production grows, we must invest in alternative and more sustainable sources of energy—wind, solar, geothermal, hydro—and widespread conservation and energy efficiency initiatives as safer, more efficient, and more affordable avenues for meeting both energy demands and conserving our fragile planet.


The Worst Week for the World’s Nuclear Industry

by DiaNuke.org

Anamika Badal
JAPAN, BELGIUM, SPAIN, FRANCE, USA, CANADA, INDIA, GERMANY, ITALY, SWITZERLAND
Within one week, the industry has been dealt such a severe body blow that it will have to struggle hard to even survive. Let us take a look at the week’s news:
Japan will phase out nuclear power - Japan's decision to end its reliance on nuclear power by the 2030s means it will join the ranks of countries such as Germany, Italy and Switzerland in turning away from nuclear power after last year's Fukushima disaster. Given that Japan has 30 percent dependence on nuclear power and the Japanese government stand that the restart of the nuclear plants was inevitable, this decision is a major policy reversal. It comes after strong and sustained peoples protests against the government policy.
In Belgium, after indications of cracks were found in their reactor vessels, two reactors have been shut down indefinitely and the prospects of their restart appear dim.
Spain meanwhile said that it will close its Garoña nuclear power plant in July 2013 by not renewing the plants license to operate.
In France, President Hollande is pushing for decommissioning its oldest reactor at Fessenheim. Meanwhile, the ruling socialist in France wants to reduce dependence on nuclear power for energy to 50 percent from 75 percent by 2025.
In Canada, Quebec's new government has confirmed it will also close the Gentilly-2 nuclear reactor after a coalition of activitists opposed the plants continued operation and demanded its closure on safety grounds.
In the United States, the San Onofre Nuclear power station in California looks set for permanent closure since being shut down for the past nine months following radioactive leaks which resulted from shoddy engineering.
If one adds the fierce opposition to the start of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in southern India, the future of the nuclear energy industry itself is at stake.

Sunday 16 September 2012

Corruption prevalent everywhere: Ex-Army chief V K Singh


PATNA: Former Army Chief General V K Singh today rued that corruption was prevalent everywhere in the country and like "cancer" eating into its vitals.
"Corruption has spread like cancer to eat into the vitals of the country ... It is everywhere," he told a national conference on 'Eradication of Corruption : Social Responsibility and Challenge' here.
ENERGY SECURITY NEWS, VIEWS & OPINIONS:
September 14, 2012 4:15 AM
Cabinet panel wants Ja...
: September 14, 2012 4:15 AM Cabinet panel wants Japan to end nuclear power use PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO TOKYO — A Cabinet ...

SAY NO TO NUCLEAR POWER








Why is Indian government deaf and has adopted a couldn't care less attitude in the face of massive public protests and outcry at Koodankulam nuclear plant and future sites at Jaitapur, Gorakhpur, particularly when we have examples from all parts of the world where Nuclear power plants were altogether abandoned Just after completion. A few noteworthy examples:


Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant



The Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant was a completed General Electric nuclearboiling water reactor located 
adjacent to the Long Island Sound in East ShorehamNew York. The plant was built between 1973 and 1984 
by the Long Island Lighting Company(LILCO), but never operated.
In 1983, the Suffolk County Legislature voted that the county could not be safely evacuated in the event of a 
serious nuclear accident at the plant, and governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, ordered state officials not 
to approve any LILCO-sponsored evacuation plan. The plant was completed in 1984 and in 1985 LILCO 
received federal permission for low-power 5 percent power tests.
The plant faced considerable public opposition after the 1979 Three Mile Island accidentand the 1986 Chernobyl
 disaster. There were large protests and two dozen local groups opposed the plant. In 1981, 43 percent of 
Long Islanders opposed the plant; by 1986, that number had risen to 74 percent.
On May 19, 1989, LILCO agreed not to operate the plant in a deal with the state under which most of the $6 billion
 cost of the unused plant was passed on to Long Island residents. In 1992, the Long Island Power Authority bought
 the plant from LILCO. The plant was fully decommissioned in 1994.

Wunderland Kalkar: Nuclear Power Plant Turned 

Amusement Park

In Kalkar in 1972, construction was started on the SNR-300, the first fast breeder nuclear reactor in Germany.
 The reactor was designed to use plutonium as fuel and be cooled by sodium, and was to output 327 megawatts
 of energy. It was still a very new technology at the time, but the German government was determined to limit
 energy import and, as the uranium supply in Germany was limited, a breeder facility to use the limited resources
 efficiently was required.
The local state government was concerned about the safety of nuclear energy, and sporadic demonstration
continually delayed the project. In 1979, disaster struck at another nuclear plant at Three Mile Island, and public
protests reached new heights. Despite opposition, construction of the SNR-300 continued and by 1985 the power
plant was competed. By that time about7 billion Deutsche Mark (about 3.5 billion euros or over 4 billion USD) 
were already spent on it.
Then in 1986, after the Chernobyl disaster, the SNR-300 never went into full operation, and in 1991, the project
was officially cancelled.

Built nearly three decades ago but never used, the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (pictured) in the Philippines
 is now being promoted by its parent company, the National Power Corporation, as a new ecotourism site. 
Visitors can tour the plant and stay the night at an adjacent beach, which is home to a turtle sanctuary.
"This will be the only tourist-friendly nuclear power plant in this part of the world," National Power spokesman
 Dennis Gana told the AFP news serviceEurope, in particular, is home to several others.
"You don't see a nuclear power plant every day. Especially a nuclear reactor ... so I think for most people it 
would be very thrilling."

Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant was the first nuclear plant built in Austria, of 6 nuclear plants originally
 envisaged. The plant at ZwentendorfAustria was finished, but never operated. Start-up of the Zwentendorf plant, 
as well as construction of the other 5 plants, was prevented bya referendum on 5 November 1978. A narrow 
majority of 50.47% voted against the start-up.[1][2]
Construction of the plant began in April 1972, as a boiling-water reactor rated at 692 megawatts electric power
output. It was built by a joint venture of several Austrian electric power utilities, and was envisioned as the first of
several nuclear power plants to be built. The initial cost of the plant was around 14 billions Austrian schillings,
about 1 billion Euros today. [3] The ventilation stack chimney of the plant is 110 metres tall. The plant has been
partly dismantled. Since 1978 Austria has a law prohibiting fission reactors for electrical power generation.
The plant is now owned by Austrian energy company EVN Group and used as Solar Power Plant and for education
 purposes.
Lemoniz Nuclear Power Plant was a nuclear power plant under construction inLemonizSpain in 1983 
when the Spanish nuclear power expansion program was cancelled following a change of government. Its 
two PWRs, each of 900MWe, were almost complete but were never operated.
Conflict concerning the Lemóniz Nuclear Power Plant was one of the major anti-nuclearissues in the 1970s
 and 1980s in Spain.[1]

[edit]ETA response

The building of the power station was opposed by ETA, a terrorist Basque independentistorganisation. The
 first attack on the site took place on 18 December 1977, when an ETA commando unit attacked a Guardia 
Civil post which was guarding the station. One of the cell members, David Álverez Peña, was injured in the 
attack and died a month later. On 17 March 1978, ETA planted a bomb in the reactor of the station, causing 
the death of two workers (Andrés Guerra and Alberto Negro), and wounded another two. The explosion also
 caused substantial material damage to the facility, which set back construction.
On 3 June 1979, the anti-nuclear activist Gladys del Estal from Donostia died after being hit by a bullet from 
the police force Guardia Civil during a demonstration in Tudela(Navarra) on the international day of action 
against nuclear power. Ten days later, on the 13th of June, ETA managed to get another bomb into the works
on the facility, this time in the turbine area. The explosion caused the death of another worker, Ángel Baños. 
Meanwhile, numerous demonstrations, activities and festivals attended by thousands were being held across
 the southern Basque Country by ecologists and left leaning groups to demand the closure of the station