Aruna Roy to Sonia: Nuclear Safety bill is anti-transparency

Refusal by the Nuclear Corporation of India (NPCIL) to abide by the Central Information Commission’s order to make public the Kudankulam nuclear plant’s safety report has been strongly criticized by leading RTI activist and national advisory council (NAC) member Aruna Roy. NPCIL is constructing the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu in collaboration with Russia. In a strongly worded letter to NAC chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Roy has also brought up issue of the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority (NSRA) Bill 2011, which seeks to amend the Right to Information Act. “It (referring to the Bill) also permits the creation of special nuclear safety regulatory authorities which will be born vaccinated from the RTI Act. There is no rationale for safety and regulatory authorities to be outside the purview of the RTI,” says Roy in her letter. (Read full letter here ) [caption id=“attachment_329332” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The Kudankulam nuclear plant is not operational yet. AFP”]  [/caption] The NSRA, 2011, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in September, proposes two amendments to the RTI Act. The first seeks to remove from the scope of the RTI Act sensitive information relating to nuclear and radiation safety issues. And the second seeks to shield regulatory bodies that oversee nuclear facilities established for strategic and defence purposes. It may be recalled that earlier this year, information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi had written to the Prime Minister expressing ‘serious concern’ on the government’s proposal to amend RTI act through the Nuclear Safety Bill. PMANE to move Supreme Court The SP Udayakumar-led People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) , which has been leading the struggle against the Kudankulam nuclear plant from neighbouring Idinthakarrai village since September last year, has in a press statement today condemned the NPCIL’s refusal to follow the CIC order. As per the CIC order NPCIL was directed to “provide an attested photocopy of the Safety Analysis Report and Site Evaluation Report after severing any proprietary details of designs provided by the suppliers to the appellant before 25 May, 2012.” The NPCIL was also directed to upload the two reports on its site by May 30. PMANE has said that it will now “intensify our struggle to get all the relevant information about the KKNPP for our safety and well being and we will also take all possible legal steps to that effect.” Pusparayan, one of the leading members of the PMANE, told Firspost they had begun the process to move Supreme Court. NPCIL has already said that it would approach the court if the CIC didn’t review its order. Defending their decision not make the reports public, S K Jain, Chairman of NPCIL had earlier said, “Safety analysis report is prepared by the Atomstroyexport and Atomenergoproekt (AEP) of Russia. It is a proprietary document which NPCIL is holding in a fiduciary capacity and cannot be shared with anybody without the consent of the Atomstroyexport and AEP." Pusparayan, meanwhile, has appealed to the government to “be democratic and genuine in sharing information with the public.”