Nuclear threat: India turns down Lanka s request
Monday, 22 October 2012 - 2:16
AM SL Time
India has
refused to accept a year-long request to have Sri Lankans to be part of safety committees in
the event of a nuclear fallout at the Kudankulam Nuclear Plant in Tamil Nadu to
be commissioned shortly, Atomic Energy Authority (AEA) Chairman Dr. Ranjith
Wijayawardana said yesterday.
The matter was taken up by Sri Lanka when officials
from both governments met during a two-day meeting in New Delhi a fortnight ago
to discuss Sri Lankan concerns on the plant, but the Indian side remain
non-committal.
Dr. Wijayawardana said the AEA sought to become a part
of the Safety Monitoring Committee at Kudankulam. The controversial nuclear
facility is some 160 kilometres from Sri Lanka s North-Western coast.
We are keen on keeping a close watch on the work at
the plant and for this, Sri Lanka has sought permission from India to be part
of the safety monitoring mechanism, Dr. Wijayawardana said.
He conceded that Colombo s concern regarding the
safety issues surrounding the nuclear complex that is set to be commissioned
before the end of the year was relayed to the relevant authorities in India one
year ago, but Delhi had failed to respond until earlier this month.
On an invitation from New Delhi this month, a Sri
Lankan delegation held talks with Indian officials and the issue was discussed
at length, Dr. Wijeyawardana said.
He said Sri Lanka failed to obtain a firm assurance
that it would be allowed to be on hand to monitor the functioning of the plant
and more talks on the subject were put off for mid next year after the
scheduled commissioning of the plant, an indication that India was not willing
to share information on the issue. We have initiated a bilateral approach and
we are hoping that India will cooperate in the best interest of everyone
concerned, Dr. Wijayawardana said.
Last week the Sunday Times reported that India was
willing to provide an early warning system to Sri Lanka in case of a nuclear
fallout from the plant.
We have already put in place several precautionary
measures that include the installation of five early warning devices. These
devices, provided by the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), have
already been set up at naval outposts in Kankesanturai, Mannar, Delft Island,
Kalpitiya and Colombo. Three more devices were to be installed in Galle,
Trincomalee and Samanalawewa, Dr. Wijayawardana said. He said a special task
force comprising security forces officers, experts, volunteers and officials
from the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) was also at hand to deal with a
crisis situation.
Environmentalists, however, slammed Sri Lankan
officials for failing to advise the Government on the dangers posed by this
complex.
Hemantha Vithanage, executive director of the Centre
for Environmental Justice and Friends of the Earth, said the AEA had failed to
address the seriousness of the issue and advise the Government accordingly.
In India there is a howl of protests against the
plant, but Sri Lanka which is the closest country to the controversial complex
has chosen to be on bended knees and listen to the dictates of Delhi. In case
of a mishap at Kudankulam there is little Sri Lanka can do to stay out of the
way, early warning systems or otherwise, since radiation particles travel fast,
he said.
Mr. Vithanage said the Sri Lankan coast was the most
vulnerable.
For example Puttalam is just 160 kilometres away from
Kudankulam while Chennai is some 450 kilometres away and therefore India is not
really bothered, he said.
In addition concerns were also raised on the dumping of nuclear waste from
the plant with fears that they might be pumped into the Indian Ocean which
would lead to a disaster for marine life in the region, the environmentalist
said.
Source:http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2012/10/79480.html
