The overconfidence shown by Indian officials on nuclear safety is unfounded and alarming
MV Ramana, Physicist, Program On Science and Global Security, Princeton University

That Predictable Strong Arm

AREVA Solar, an AREVA subsidiary, has been awarded a contract by Reliance Power to build a 250 MW concentrated solar power (CSP) in Rajasthan.

AREVA said under the contract, it will build two 125 MW CSP plants using its Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) technology and will provide construction management services for the project. The first phase of the project is under construction, with a target commercial operation date of May 2013.

Farmers in Haryana have stepped up their campaign against the setting up of the Gorakhpur Nuclear Power Plant in the Fatehabad district of the state.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has earmarked over 628 hectares of land to set up a 2,800-MW power plant which will use pressurised heavy water reactors at a cost of `13,000 crores. The villages earmarked for site selection include Gorakhpur, Kumaharia and Kajalhedi.

MUMBAI: The anti-Jaitapur nuclear plant pitch rose a notch higher on Sunday with demonstrations and rallies against the nuclear power plant being held at a number of places across the state. To mark the first year of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, demonstrations against Jaitapur project and other nuclear power projects were held in Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Pune and Satara.

Villagers opposing the 10,000 MW Jaitapur nuclear power project in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district have decided to launch an economic non-cooperation movement against Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.

About 4,000 locals participated in a protest rally from Ratnagiri to Jaitapur on Sunday. About 700 of them signed a pledge that they would not give any lodging and material supplies to the contractors and NPCIL staff working on the project.

The government today said there will be no compromise on nuclear safety or livelihood of any section of society in India's pursuit of atomic power, a statement that comes against the backdrop of anti-nuclear protests in Kudankulam and Jaitapur.

Addressing a joint sitting of Parliament, President Pratibha Patil asserted that the country would more than double its nuclear power generating capacity in the 12th Five Year Plan period from 2012-17.

Several members of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s hand-picked National Advisory Council (NAC) have asked the government to stop harassing the anti-nuclear activists in Koodankulam.

They are amongst a group of over 50 intellectuals, including historian Romilla Thapar, writer Arundhati Roy, and scientist A. Gopalakrishnan to have signed a statement asking the government to halt its vilification campaign against the people’s movement against the Koodankulam nuclear plant.

Rubbishing allegations of foreign funding to the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power project in Ratnagiri district, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray today said that those who are willing to go ahead with the project should be probed.

"If somebody feels that money is being given to protest against the Jaitapur nuclear power project, then I think they are with rotten heads," Uddhav told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.