Must Reads

Australia’s uranium mining: racist and dangerous history

Australia’s uranium mining: racist and dangerous history

Latest, Must Reads, Uranium Mining July 23, 2015 at 12:34 pm 0 comments

Last month’s announcement that Energy Resources Australia will pull the plug on the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory signals the end of one of the most controversial chapters in Australian mining history. Keri Phillips of ABC traces the history of uranium mining in Australia and Ranger’s role in it.

Investigate Koodankoolam Irregularities: Eminent Indian Citizens Urge

Investigate Koodankoolam Irregularities: Eminent Indian Citizens Urge

Must Reads October 24, 2014 at 3:22 pm 2 comments

With its declared commercial operation always 15 days away, the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant’s Unit 1 has become an object of ridicule. Earlier this month, Unit 1’s turbine sustained severe damage as some component came loose and broke the turbine blades.

The nuclear shadow over Karachi: nuclear reactor plan imperils 20 million people

The nuclear shadow over Karachi: nuclear reactor plan imperils 20 million people

Asia, Must Reads, Top Flash October 17, 2014 at 12:13 pm 0 comments

A debate has started about the wisdom of building two large Chinese-supplied nuclear reactors in Karachi. The fundamental concern is that the nearly 20 million people living in Karachi—about one out of every 10 Pakistanis—could be at risk from these reactors.

The two reactors, worth $4.8 billion apiece, are to be supplied on a turnkey basis by the Chinese National Nuclear Corp. A soft Chinese loan of $6.5 billion apparently proved irresistible to the cash-strapped Pakistani government. This brand of reactor, known as the ACP-1000, has not yet been built or tested anywhere. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), which will operate these reactors, insists the reactors will be safe.

Kovvada: a wake-up call?

Kovvada: a wake-up call?

Kovvada, Must Reads October 17, 2014 at 11:39 am 0 comments

Just about 68 km from Visakhapatnam, the Kovvada village in Srikakulam lies in ruins. Rows of hutments here have been swept away and dozens of boats lining the shore have been damaged in the razing Hudhud that took the coastal belt by `storm’ on Sunday. Still shaken by its impact, people here are now struggling to bounce back to normalcy, while dreading to wonder just what the scale of destruction at the site would’ve been had the proposed Kovvada Nuclear Power Plant come up in the area by now! First given shape close to a decade ago, this project has been firmed up by the Centre over the past three-four years, with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), in 2013, even going ahead and enhancing the capacity of the proposed plant from the initial 6,000 MW to 10,000 MV. To be spread over 2,000 acres (roughly), the plant is likely to adversely affect four villages -Pedda Kovvada-Chinna Kovvada, Ramachandrapuram, Tekkali and Guddem -that house over 3,000 people.