Power with responsibility
There are two parts to the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on Kudankulam, and each is equally important. Much to the relief of the Centre, which had invested hundreds of crores of rupees there, the Tamil Nadu government which desperately needs electricity, and the nuclear establishment whose very raison d’etre had been challenged, the court has said the power plant can now be switched on. Apart from underscoring the need for the plant to satisfy all environmental safety conditions stipulated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the judges have wisely tasked Kudankulam’s operator — the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited — and its regulator, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, with a review of the plant every three months, after initially certifying the safety and reliability of all the components and systems installed. The AERB today is not independent of the Department of Atomic Energy, which is the parent body of NPCIL, and the government itself plans to replace it with a more credible Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority. While judicial orders can help ensure that Kudankulam starts its operations on a sound footing, building public confidence will depend on the approach of the nuclear establishment to a host of issues: of safety of nuclear material, handling of spent fuel, and the need to build scientifically validated nuclear waste repositories without delay.
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