Jaitapur nuclear power plant no threat to environment: Kakodkar

“ The site has been selected after carrying out thermal ecological studies and there is no threat whatsoever to the agriculture or mango production as the nuclear power plant will hardly pollute the area,” Kakodkar said.

He said the radioactive losses would also be lesser. “Since initially there will be only a power station,no waste will be released outside. The waste management will be done only at the site. Whenever the reprocessing plant comes up,there is technology to tackle the waste problem,” he said.

Kakodkar also said the Jaitapur site was the best one as it fulfilled the technical and scientific norms needed for a nuclear power plant. “Such projects need a lot of space,which Jaitapur has. Moreover,displacement will also be less. The advantages of the project are definitely more,” he said.

He said nuclear power was the need of the nation. “For an economy growing at the rate of 9 to 10 per cent,energy is needed. Presently,we have a lot of deficit and need 10 times more energy than what is available to maintain the growth rate. There are options such as thermal,water,solar or renewable energy,but the amount we need can only be fulfilled by solar and nuclear energy,” he said.

“ As the nuclear power plants emit very less carbon dioxide,the nuclear energy does not cause global warming. Since we have necessary technology and now resources such as uranium have been made available through international cooperation,we should explore the option of nuclear energy,” said Kakodkar.