Stop work at Jaitapur nuclear project immediately: Left

The Left parties today demanded immediate suspension of work at the proposed 9900 mw Jaitapur nuclear power project and said it favoured an independent review of existing nuclear installations in the country.
Addressing a press conference, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and CPI leader D Raja, who visited Jaitapur yesterday, asked the government to do away with imported nuclear plants, which they said were costly and will come up with EPR (European Pressurised Reactor) technology, which has not been tested anywhere in the world.
"Suspend all nuclear reactor purchases. After Fukushima, we cannot take risks. We have been told that the government is still in negotiations to fix prices of reactors. This should be stopped," Karat said.
He said the review of safety of nuclear facilities must be transperant and done by experts outside the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
Raja demanded that the nuclear liability law be reformed to extend the liability to the supplier in case of design defect.
Criticising the UPA government for not being transparent on the issue of nuclear power, Karat said it had failed to take people into confidence, especially after the nuclear crisis in Japan.
"According to nuclear experts, each reactor in Jaitapur will cost not less than Rs30,000 crore and the cost will be Rs 2 lakh crore for six reactors that are proposed to come up there. This means Rs20 crore will be spent to generate one mw of nuclear energy. While indigenously produced electricity would cost around Rs8-9 crore," Karat said.
The CPM leader said in France and Finland too, the EPR technology implementation has been delayed and there have been cost overruns due to safety and design issues.
On his part, CPI national secretary Raja lashed out at the state government for responding to the concerns of the locals with oppression.
"All those who oppose the project have criminal cases filed against them and the area is permanently under prohibitory orders," he alleged.
Karat said the Left parties will form a national committee to support the agitation against the Jaitapur project.
To a question on whether the Left will include Shiv Sena, which is stridently opposed to the project, in the committee, Karat evaded a direct reply, saying that it will be difficult to form a committee of political parties given their ideological differences. "But, we want to make this panel broadbased and involve professional experts as well," he said.
Raja said after Fukushima, agitation against Jaitapur project has assumed greater national importance as it will have a far reaching impact on the future of the country.
Karat said nuclear power constitutes 30 per cent of Japan's total electricity generation. But despite being technologically advanced, disaster had happened in Fukushima, forcing the Japanese and German governments to reconsider their views on nuclear projects.
"But, our government thinks it is not accountable and does not even want to declare the estimated cost for nuclear power production," he alleged.