T
|
he Koodankulam nuclear power
project (KNPP) has become the face of the anti-nuclear movement of not only
India, but of the whole world.
(Originally published June 22, 2012 and updated) -- By Anuj Wankhede
The plant operator - Nuclear Power
Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) has steadfastly refused to budge from its
stand and continued to withhold vital site, safety and environmental details
which lead many to believe that the government is trying to hide critical and
embarrassing dangerous information especially related to reactor design which
is believed to have compromised due to last minute changes.
Be that as it may, the NPCIL
(government owned, funded and controlled) has set up the plant under almost
military style security. It claims that all safety drills have been completed
(disputed and proven incorrect) and is ready to load fuel rods to commence
operation within months – if not weeks.
In the face of such advanced
preparations for the first reactor to commence, the government excuse is that
thousands of crores have already been invested in the project and not
commissioning the reactor will mean a national waste. That argument in itself
is quite absurd when one compares the figures for the alleged 2G or Coal scams
which run into several hundred thousand crores.
But this money need not be
considered a waste or be written off. It would be extremely interesting to see
what can be done for resolving the issue amicably and with minimum waste.
The KNPP is not the first
instance of nuclear projects stalled because of resentment from the local
populace. The US has witnessed this in the famous Shoreham reactor which was
run for ONE DAY before closing down. The William H. Zimmer nuclear powerplant
in Ohio was converted to fuel combustion when it was 97% completed. The Midland
Cogeneration Facility at Michigan and at Seabrooke, New Hampshire which were
abandoned at very advanced stages of over 85% completion for reasons varying
from delays, cost over runs, technical and anti nuclear sentiments – sometimes
a combination of all these ensured the not one unit of nuclear power was
produced.
In fact, of the 253 nuclear power
reactors originally ordered in the United States from 1953 to 2008, 48 percent
were canceled while 11 percent were prematurely shut down! That is a startling
statistic in a country which invented the technology in the first place.
One could argue the US being a
rich, developed country can afford this luxury of sunk cost, so let us turn to
a country similar to India – Philippines
 |
| Bataan Nuclear Power Station (BNPP) |
BNPP was built and ready before it was abandoned following a
change of political leadership following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster besides stiff opposition to the project
from the citizens. Over $2 billion had been spent on the project, nuclear fuel
had been transported to the site when it was abandoned.
Today, it has been made into a
tourist attraction primarily to recover the cost of $40 million needed to maintain the idled
reactor and the complex.
Built nearly three decades ago but never used, the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in the Philippines is now being promoted by its parent company, the National Power Corporation, as a new ecotourism site. Visitors can tour the plant and stay the night at an adjacent beach, which is home to a turtle sanctuary. (More)
Some of the canceled nuclear
projects in the US were attempted to be run on alternative fuel - with mixed results. It is important to bear
in mind that most of these attempts happened during the 1970's and 80's and this
includes the Philippines reactor.
The BNPP revival plans included
the option to convert it into a thermal power plant run either on coal or
natural gas. Detailed studies were carried out on both the plans but were shelved as nonviable. What made them nonviable? And in such
a situation, how can KNPP be honorably salvaged?
The option of converting BNPP
into a coal fired plant was discarded primarily because of non availability of
quality coal and environmental pollution. In case of KNPP, the adverse
environmental impact of coal based plants means that it cannot be considered
viable although Tamil Nadu has good coal reserves especially at Neyveli from
where lignite coal is transported over a thousand kilometers to run thermal power
plants in North India.
The natural gas fired power plant
is therefore the default choice and was examined in detail at BNPP. The two
reasons attributed for non viability
were that firstly, the upgradation cost was prohibitive and secondly,
the amount of natural gas available in Philippines is very limited. In case of
KNPP, the technology used is quite contemporary – unlike BNPP which was built
in the late 70's and evaluated for upgrade in the late 1990's. KNPP
retrofitting costs are not likely to be very high or require massive engineering
modifications.
Coming to the next question of
natural gas, it is agreed that even in India, there is a shortage of gas and
hence many private gas power plants are affected.However, state owned Gas
Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) is successfully operating gas based projects in
western India.
One reason Philippines abandoned the idea was because it did not
have adequate transportation infrastructure to make gas available to BNPP.
However, the scenario in India is
quite different. There is an extensive network of gas pipeline and which can be
extended to feed the KNPP. GAIL and other companies are building additional
pipeline network in South India and
these are progressing rapidly. The presence of significant amount of gas
on the East coast presents a significant advantage. The Cauvery and Krishna
Godavari (KG) basins are already operational and many other explorations are
currently in progress. Neighbouring Kerala has significant gas reserves and
which are operational.
Even if gas needs to be imported,
the location of KNPP offers an advantage being on the seashore. It would not be
impossible to conceive a full fledged port for importing LNG. There are other
ports in the region which have world class LNG terminals – Kochi, Chennai,
Ennore for example are not too far and pipelines can be extended to the
project.
Imported LNG can be brought to
these ports plus, regrassification facilities at these landing ports are available and can be upgraded too.
The cost of imported LNG for
running a gas based plant at Koodankulam would be lower than that of many other
private operators situated inland. Additionally, there is abundant gas supply
to the East in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan. India already imports LNG from
Australia which comes in to the Kochi terminal.
It should be noted that nuclear
power plants involve a very substantial subsidy from the government. Right from
the building of the power plant (Cost of Work in Progress – CWIC) to the actual
running of the plant involves subsidies running into thousands of crores of
rupees. This money incidentally comes from the Indian tax payers and starts
right from the time the project starts – in case of KNPP, Indians have already
been paying for this since over twenty years and will continue to pay for at
least the next 30-40 years, probably more.
A large number of gas based ultra
mega power plants (UMPP) set up by the private sector are in doldrums because
of the (DELIBERATE) high cost of gas by Reliance Industries (RIL) and ONGC. The
government can definitely avoid the huge nuclear subsidy and instead offer part
of it for KNPP gas. The hidden cost of decommissioning a nuclear reactor is not
considered by most people. This cost is 70-100% of the cost of setting up the
reactors. One reason BNPP was made into a tourist attraction was the huge cost
involved in taking down the plant.
From a purely financial point of
view, the gas conversion of KNPP makes a lot of sense. If we look at the
available inventory, it makes even more practical sense. The land and building
along with support facilities are ready. The turbines can be used to run on gas
instead of nuclear fuel with modifications.
The switchgear is in place as is the
control and monitoring system. Given that NPCIL is talking of commissioning the
plant soon, it can be assumed that grid connectivity is also in place. With this
entire infrastructure existing, it would take a mere 2 years to operationalize
a gas fired project. The modifications can largely be carried out by Indian
companies which have enough engineering expertise in setting up gas based
UMPP’s.
At a plant load factor of 80%,
the gas based project can deliver electricity at the same cost as nuclear power
and if it operates at 100% (TATA Power manages even 102% in Maharashtra) the
cost of the gas based plant power can be lower than that of nuclear power
without the attendant risks of meltdown, danger to thousands of lives, radioactive
contamination and possibilities of rendering huge tracts of fertile land barren
and displacement of significant number of people. The marginal pollution caused
by a gas power project is far more tolerable when compared to the ridiculous
“acceptable” risk of a nuclear accident.
Another factor which can work in
favor of KNPP is that there exists a sterile or exclusion zone about 3 km around
the plant. Since this land is already acquired, it can be used for setting up a
solar farm using concentrated solar cells and generating substantial power.
Apart from solar, wind farms can be considered in this zone. Tamil Nadu is
known for its wind farms and has a number of commercially operating farms. The
location of the plant gives the opportunity to explore near-shore wind
potential which give better output compared to inshore farms. Being grid
connected means these projects can be set up in no time, probably as soon as
three months!
The government has been lucky that
all the advantages are stacked in its favor and canceling the nuclear part of
the project is only a minor hurdle. In the case of BNPP, Philippines challenged
the payments due to its American suppliers but lost the case in court and
eventually paid up. Add to this the idling cost of $40 million per annum for
about 30 years shows that if the government is keen and willing to listen to
its citizens, no cost is too high.
NPCIL will obviously throw a fit
and put many spanners in the work. That is to be expected. However, as human
beings first, the NPCIL should look at this as a testimony that they have built
the framework on which a new plant rests. There is no question of any job
losses, only the loss of control over the project for the NPCIL brass. Even here,
it is not unconceivable that NPCIL take up equity in the new venture and profit
from it.
It is now up to the government to
be pragmatic and not allow this to become an ego issue. It is honorable to accept the peoples mandate
(which the government talks about at every election) than to have blood on its
hands in case of any eventuality.
(Originally published June 22, 2012 and updated)
Anuj is a Masters in Management Studies, an avid environmentalist who believes that bigger the problem, bigger the opportunity.
He can be reached at benchmark.anuj (at)gmail.com and +919757475875
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