The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has denied any plans to dump nuclear waste from Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu at abandoned gold mines of Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), around 120 km from Bangalore.
Swapnesh Malhotra, head, Public Awareness Division, DAE told Express: “There are no plans to transport nuclear waste from Kudankulam to KGF.
”On Thursday, a section of the media reported that the National Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that the abandoned gold mines will be used for storing and reprocessing nuclear waste.
That set off alarm bells in KGF. Dumping of nuclear waste, residents feared, would adversely affect their health.
Nuclear experts, however, allayed fears. “Any nuclear waste disposal facility must be approved by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and Ministry of Environment and Forests.
So far, no application has been received proposing KGF as a disposal facility,” A R Sundararajan, former Director, Radiological Safety Division of AERB, told .
Such a proposal requires thorough investigation about the site and a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report will have to be prepared and reviewed.
“No such work has started on KGF,” he said.
Sundararajan, who worked extensively in the field of atomic energy said the inventory of nuclear waste in India has not reached a stage where it needs to be stored in geological repositories like abandoned mines.
“Only the US and Russia use such repositories for storing nuclear waste and that too mainly due to their extensive nuclear weapons programmes.
” Even countries like France that extensively use nuclear energy, do not use such facilities.
