Kudankulam: From barren land to powerhouse
Chennai: Sixteen years is a long time in a human being’s life, but counts for nothing in the life of a nation. And it took all those 16 years to convert a barren land at Kudankulam village, in Tirunelveli district, lapped by frolicking waves, into a powerhouse for India.
Back in 1996, when this correspondent visited the Kudankulam nuclear power project (KKNPP) site along with a BBC correspondent, there was no watchman and a few goats managed to get through the unmanned fence to nibble at the little grass that grew.
Towards the close of 1998, there was a flurry of activity at the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) office in Nagercoil, marked by visits by top officials of the corporation.
The bhoomi puja was performed in the presence of NPCIL chairman and managing director V.K. Chaturvedi in 2002. S.K. Agrawal and S.K. Jain, who had worked since the inception, frequently interacted with the media updating us about the works.
“Accidents may happen anywhere. We think the roads are safe, travel by air or water is safe. But there have been accidents. Accident or the thought of it should not deter us from marching ahead,” Agrawal had said then. Siding a little closer to me, he said, “Do you know, scientists and workers at Kudankulam, like the pilot or driver, would be the first to be affected if any mishap occurs? God forbid. Still we take the risk.”
He organised a series of workshops for journalists, and often used to say nuclear power was the only option to meet the power requirements of the nation.
Today, Kudankulam is dwarfed by the huge structure of the reactor there. Though anti-nuclear activists may liken the reactor to a time bomb, it was a project waiting to happen. And happen it did, on July 13 this year. The first unit at the KKNPP attained criticality at 11.05 pm on Saturday.
Activists and public have in this case too, like ISRO’s LPSC at Mahendragiri, underestimated the “silent” determination of the scientists, whose views the government took seriously and did things their way.
Like Agrawal, who is sadly no more, had believed, we should exude confidence that the Russian VVER (water cooled and water resistant) reactors, each generating 1,000 Mwe and having a lifespan of 60 years each, will continue to meet our power demands without a break and sans trouble.
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