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print versionThe Koodankulam safety petition by many of India’s highly respected scientists was sent on 13 May 2013 to the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and to The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) - plain text is posted below and a PDF copy of the original is attached below.
13 May 2013
Hon’ble Chief Minister
Government of Tamil Nadu
Secretariat, Chennai 600 009
Hon’ble Chief Minister
Government of Kerala
Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram 695001
cc:
Prime Minister’s Office
SouthBlock, RaisinaHill
New Delhi 110011
Secretary, Dept of Atomic Energy Anushakti Bhavan
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Marg, Mumbai 1
Respected Chief Ministers:
We, the below-signed (next two pages), 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 for the long-term safety of the nuclear plant.
As the Chief Minister 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. 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.
(The affiliations listed in the next two pages are meant purely for purposes of identification. It is understood that all signatories are signing in their personal capacity, and this does not reflect on the official positions of their respective organizations.)
Name Designation Dept/Specialization Affiliation City
1 Atul Chokshi Professor Materials Engg. IISc Bangalore
2 Sujay Basu Professor/director Energy Jadavpur Univ/Centre of Energy and EnKvoirlkoantmaent Management
3 Vinod Gaur Professor Geophysics CMMACS Bangalore
4 Subodh Kumar Professor Materials Engg. IISc Bangalore
5 Debasis Sengupta Professor Oceanography IISc Bangalore
6 Bikramjit Basu Assoc. Professor Materials Science & Engg IISc Bangalore
7 Venu Madhav Govindu Asst. Professor Electrical engg IISc Bangalore
8 Siddhartha P. Sarma Assoc. Professor  Molecular biophysics IISc Bangalore
9 Vidyanand Nanjundiah Professor Ecological sciences IISc Bangalore
10 Sanjit Chaterjee Asst. Professor Computer sci. & automation IISc Bangalore
11 K.S. Gandhi Professor Chemical engg IISc Bangalore
12 A.G. Menon Professor Earth sciences IISc Bangalore
13 Bhanu Pratap Das Senior Professor Astrophysics IIA Bangalore
14 Vandana Shiva Founder Environmentalsit/Physicist Navadanya New Delhi
15 Sushma V. Mallik Assoc. Professor Astrophysics IIA Bangalore
16 D.C.V. Mallik Professor (ret’d) Astrophysics IIA Bangalore
17 Rohini Balakrishnan Assoc. Professor Ecological sciences IISc Bangalore
18 Mahua Ghare post-doc Ecological sciences Centre for Pollination Studies Kolkata
19 Ravi Sankar Kottada Asst. Professor Materials Engg. IITM Chennai
20 Partho Sarothi Ray Asst. Professor Phsyics IISER Kolkata
21 Shiv Sethi Assoc. Professor Astrophysics RRI Bangalore
22 Meher Engineer Professor/ex-director Physics Bose Institute Kolkata
23 K.S. Jagadish Professor (ret’d) Civil engg IISc Bangalore
24 Supratik Chakraborty Professor Computer sci. IITB Mumbai
25 Deepak D’Souza Assoc. Professor Computer sci. IISc Bangalore
26 MJNV Prasad Asst. Professor Materials Engg. IITB Mumbai
27 Kartik Shanker Assoc. Professor Ecological sciences IISc Bangalore
28 Dibyendu Chakravarty Scientist D Materials Engg. ARCI Hyderabad
29 T.A. Abinandanan Professor Materials Engg. IISc Bangalore
30 K.V.S. Hari Professor Elec & comm engg IISc Bangalore
31 C.P. Rajendran Visiting Professor Earth sciences IISc Bangalore
32 Arijit Bishnu Assoc. Professor Computer Science ISI Kolkata
33 Renee Borges Professor & Chairperson Ecological sciences IISc Bangalore
34 Lakshmi Saripalli RRi trust position Astrophysicist RRI Bangalore
35 Vijay Chandru Chairman and CEO Management/Comp sci. & automaStitornand Bangalore
36 Sumati Surya Assoc. Professor Physics RRI Bangalore
37 Sachindeo Vaidya Assoc. Professor Physics IISc Bangalore
38 Procheta Mallik none Physics none Bangalore
39 Sushama Yermal Instructor Biologist IISc Bangalore
40 Palash B. Pal Professor Astrophysics Saha Inst. Kolkata
41 M.S. Bobji Assoc. Professor Mechanical Engg IISc Bangalore
42 Gopal Krishna NASI platinum Jub. Sen. ScientistAstrophysics TIFR (retired)/IUCAA Pune
43 Harish Bhatt Professor Astrophysics IIA Bangalore
44 Arati Chokshi none Astrophysics none Bangalore
45 Vinod John Asst. Professor Computer Science IISc Bangalore
46 Dileep Jatkar Professor
47 Anshuman Maharana Reader
48 Naresh Dadhich Professor
49 Vikram Vyas Professor
50 Krsihnendu Sengupta Professor
51 Suvrat Raju Reader
52 Abhishek Dhar Professor
53 R.I. Kaveri post-doc
54 Ashok Pati Professor
55 Joseph Samuel Professor
56 Carol Upadhyaya Professor
57 Madan Rao Professor
58 Prajwal Shastri Assoc. Professor Astrophysics IIA Bangalore
59 Anjula Gurtoo Assoc. Professor Management/Comp sci. & automaItIiSocn Bangalore
60 Sudhir Vombatkere Major General (ret’d) Civil engg none Mysore
Affiliations: IISc=Indian Institute of Science, RRI=Raman Research Institute; TIFR=Tata Institute of Fundamental Research;
IITB = Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay; IIA = Indian Institute of Astrophysics; IISER = Indian Institute of Science Education and Research;
NIAS=National Institute of Advanced Studies; IUCAA=Inter-University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics;
IITM = Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, HCRI = Harish-Chandra Research Institute;
CMMACS=Centre for Mathematical Modelling And Computer Simulation; ICTS=International Centre for Theoretical Sciences;
- Koodankulam safety pÂetition from scientiÂsts
- [original PDF]
