Scientists' letter to CMs voicing concern over Koodankulam equipment

The following is a letter written by a group of scientists to the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala expressing their concern about the use of substandard components in ooudankulam Nuclear Power Plant 1 & 2, and the revelation at this late stage that four valves in a critical safety system were found defective:

To: Hon'ble Chief Minister

Government of Tamil Nadu

Secretariat, Chennai 600 009;

To: Hon'ble Chief Minister

Government of Kerala

Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram 695001

Copy: Prime Minister's Office

South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi 110011

                                                      Date: 14^th of May 2013

Respected Chief Ministers:

We, the below-signed, are scientists from various disciplines who are concerned about the quality of components and equipment used at the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNP) Units 1 & 2. Our concerns arise from recent media reports about the use of substandard components in KKNP 1 & 2, and the revelation at this late stage that four valves in a critical safety system were found defective.

These safety concerns are compounded by the fact that Russian authorities arrested Mr. Sergei Shutov, procurement director of Zio-Podolsk, on corruption charges for having sourced cheaper sub-standard steel for manufacturing components that were used in Russian nuclear installations in Bulgaria, Iran, China and India.  This has led to several complaints of sub-standard components and follow-up investigations in Bulgaria and China. The ramifications of such corruption need to be taken very seriously as they have implications on the long-term safety of the nuclear plant.

As the Chief Ministers of the states hosting and neighbouring the nuclear power plant, the two of you have a responsibility to satisfy yourself and the residents of Tamil Nadu and Kerala that the plant has been constructed to the highest safety standards. Any exercise to assure oneself of the quality of components used will have to be done before the plant is commissioned. Once commissioned, the radioactive environment in sections of the plant will make it impossible to access and test some potentially critical components.

Unfortunately, as we have seen in Fukushima, there is the danger that the impact of a major hazardous event in Koodankulam may not be localized but could spread to larger regions in both Tamil Nadu and Kerala. To reduce such a risk, in the light of recent revelations, we believe that it is important to have a fresh independent and thorough quality inspection of the components used in the two reactors.

We, the below-signed, include scientists who believe that nuclear energy has a legitimate role in securing our energy future and others that believe that nuclear energy is too risky. Through this letter, we are not advocating for or against nuclear energy. All of us are of the opinion that when dealing with complex and potentially dangerous technologies transparency, honesty and a rigorous adherence to the highest quality standards are imperative.   Even the Supreme Court's recent judgment has emphasized the need to ensure the quality of components and systems before operationalising the plant.

We urge you to convey to the Prime Minister and the Department of Atomic Energy that before commissioning the reactors, they should consult independent national experts to formulate an inspection regime and carry out a full-fledged inspection into the safety of KKNP 1 & 2. Such an inspection should pay particular attention to the allegations of sub-standard equipment and components.

	Name	Designation	Dept/Specialization	Affiliation	City
1	Atul Chokshi	Professor	Materials Engg.	IISc	Bangalore
2	Subodh Kumar	Professor	Materials Engg.	IISc	Bangalore
3	Debasis Sengupta	Professor	Oceanography	IISc	Bangalore
4	Bikramjit Basu	Assoc. Professor	Materials Science & Engg	IISc	Bangalore
5	Venu Madhav Govindu	Asst. Professor	Electrical engg	IISc	Bangalore
6	Siddhartha P. Sarma	Assoc. Professor	Molecular biophysics	IISc	Bangalore
7	Vidyanand Nanjundiah	Professor	Ecological sciences	IISc	Bangalore
8	Sanjit Chaterjee	Asst. Professor	Computer sci. & automation	IISc	Bangalore
9	K.S. Gandhi	Professor	Chemical engg	IISc	Bangalore
10	A.G. Menon	Professor	Earth sciences	IISc	Bangalore
11	Bhanu Pratap Das	Senior Professor	Astrophysics	IIA	Bangalore
12	Vandana Shiva		Environmentalsit/Physicist	Navadanya	New Delhi
13	Sushma V. Mallik	Assoc. Professor	Astrophysics	IIA	Bangalore
14	C.V. Mallik	Professor (ret’d)	Astrophysics	IIA	Bangalore
15	Rohini Balakrishnan	Assoc. Professor	Ecological sciences	IISc	Bangalore
16	Mahua Ghare	post-doc	Ecological sciences	Centre for Pollination Studies	Kolkata
17	Ravi Sankar Kottada	Asst. ProfessorI	Materials Engg.	IITM	Chennai
18	Partho Sarothi Ray	Asst. Professor	Phsyics	IISER	Kolkata
19	Shiv Sethi	Assoc. Professor	Astrophysics	RRI	Bangalore
20	Meher Engineer	Professor/ex-director		Bose Institute	Kolkata
21	K.S. Jagadish	Professor (ret’d)	Civil engg	IISc	Bangalore
22	Supratik Chakraborty	Professor		IITB	Mumbai
23	Deepak D’Souza	Assoc. Professor		IISc	Bangalore
24	MJNV Prasad	Asst. Professor	Materials Engg.	IITB	Mumbai
25	Kartik Shanker	Assoc. Professor	Ecological sciences	IISc	Bangalore
26	Dibyendu Chakravarty	Scientist D	Materials Engg.	ARCI	Hyderabad
27	T.A. Abinandanan	Professor	Materials Engg.	IISc	Bangalore
28	K.V.S. Hari	Professor	Elec & comm engg	IISc	Bangalore
29	C.P. Rajendran	Visiting Professor	Earth sciences	IISc	Bangalore
30	Arijit Bishnu	Assoc. Professor		ISI	Kolkata
31	Renee Borges	Professor & Chairperson	Ecological sciences	IISc	Bangalore
32	Lakshmi Saripalli		Astrophysicist	RRI	Bangalore
33	Vijay Chandru	Chairman and CEO	Management/Comp sci. & automation	Strand	Bangalore
34	Sumati Surya	Assoc. Professor	Physics	RRI	Bangalore
35	Sachindeo Vaidya	Assoc. Professor	Physics	IISc	Bangalore
36	Procheta Mallik	none	Physics	none	Bangalore
37	Sushama Yermal	Instructor	Biologist	IISc	Bangalore
38	Palash B. Pal	Professor	Astrophysics	Saha Inst.	Kolkata
39	M.S. Bobji	Assoc. Professor	Mechanical Engg	IISc	Bangalore
40	Gopal Krishna	NASI platinum Jubilee Senior Scientist	Astrophysics	TIFR (retired)/IUCAA	Pune
41	Harish Bhatt	Professor	Astrophysics	IIA	Bangalore
42	Arati Chokshi	none	Astrophysics	none	Bangalore
43	Vinod John	Asst. Professor		IISc	Bangalore
44	Dileep Jatkar	Professor		HCRI	Allahabad
45	Anshuman Maharana	Reader		HCRI	Allahabad
46	Naresh Dadhich	Professor		IUCAA	Pune
47	Vikram Vyas	Professor		Shiv Nadir Univ	UP
48	Krsihnendu Sengupta	Professor		IACS	Kolkata
49	Suvrat Raju	Reader	Physics	TIFR	Bangalore
50	Abhishek Dhar	Professor		TIFR	Bangalore
51	R.I. Kaveri	post-doc	Ecological sciences	IISc	Bangalore
52	Ashok Pati	Professor	Astrophysics	IIA	Bangalore
53	Joseph Samuel	Professor	Physics	RRI	Bangalore
54	Carol Upadhyaya	Professor	Social sciences	NIAS	Bangalore
55	Madan Rao	Professor	Phsyics	RRI	Bangalore
56	Sujay Basu	ex-Professor/director	Energy	Jadavpur Univ/Centre of Energy and Environment Management	Kolkata
57	Prajwal Shastri		Astrophysics	IIA	Bangalore
58	Anjula Gurtoo	Assoc. Professor	Management/Comp sci. & automation	IISc	Bangalore
59	Sudhir Vombatkere	Major General (ret’d)	Civil engg	none	Mysore