Learning some tough lessons from the cascading effect of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, the government has decided to set up standalone safety and operation systems in the nuclear reactors at the Jaitapur Power Park (JPP), two of which are expected to be operational by 2019. It has also been decided that all future reactors to be set up will be a mix of imported and indigenous technology.
A high-power meet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and attended, amongst others, by Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, environment minister Jairam Ramesh, MoS in the PMO V. Narayanswamy, Department of Atomic Energy secretary and Atomic Energy Commission of India chairman S. Banerjee, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India chairman, and T.K.A. Nair, principal secretary to the PM, emphasised that there was going to be no relocation of the controversial JPP.
The only concession the government was willing to make was that the Jaitapur project would be implemented in a phased manner with two 1650 Mw reactors being set up in the first phase. However, relenting to increasing pressure from civil society, the government has taken the unprecedented decision of setting up an independent and autonomous Nuclear Regulatory Authority of India (NRAI) that will subsume the existing Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
Not only will this statutory body oversee the safety aspects of all 22 nuclear plants in the country, it will also fulfil the obligations to the operational safety review team of the International Atomic Energy Authority by inviting them to assist in audit and safety reviews of these reactors. In a bid to create greater transparency in the functioning of the DAE, the government has agreed to set up six safety review committees regarding these reactors. Their findings will be placed in the public domain. Mr Ramesh emphasised that a separate environmental appraisal committee comprising specialist was set up to look into strategic nuclear power plants.