Veeriyam-Koodankulam-A Necessity?

Power Demand In India:-

Electricity consumption in India, currently at some 600 Tera Watt hour (TWh) annually, is set to double by next decade, surpassing the Russian levels in the process.

      KPMG's Global Advisory Practice released a power industry research published under the title, "Think BRIC ! reveals that in order to supply this extra electricity, total generating capacity should jump by 90 giga watt (GW) to 241 GW, with an increased emphasis on nuclear, clean coal and renewables, including solar and small-hydro.

The survey finds that while the state and federal governments have initiated reforms, legislation designed to supply electricity to all consumer groups, conservative elements and social programmes, the 'systemic weaknesses and contradictions within frequently combine to stifle progress.'Additionally, factors like increasing economic activity, wealth and population, an improved standard of living and infrastructure developments are all expected to underline a continuous increase in demand for power in the next decade. "A rural electrification programme in the 1980s brought electricity to 200,000 villages for the first time."

"Generation capacity hit 150GW in 2006, a 40 per cent increase on the 2000 figure, after reforms in 2003 initiated a much needed restructuring of the power sector. However, one respondent of our survey estimated that at least 500 million Indians still have no access to electricity.""With per capita GDP rising by about eight per cent per year during 2000-2008, the growth in energy demand is enormous".As private sector investment in power generation was increasing, India could face challenges until 2020 to comfortably meet its demand. According to the study, country's peak power capacity deficit was expected to widen in 2013 to 15.6 per cent of total capacity, up from 12.3 per cent last year.

Besides generation deficit, there were inefficiencies in transmission and distribution systems and electricity theft. To combat this, some respondents expressed confidence in government assurances on formation of an independent regulatory system which would support growth in private investment and in public-private partnerships.Private investors have already made a start in building independent power plants and the share of privately generated power currently was around 13 per cent of the total production, Agarwal said.Coal, which already provides almost 70 per cent of India's power, would remain the dominant primary fuel, holding out commercial opportunities to those producers who are global leaders in high efficiency, clean-burn plant.The respondents surveyed also felt that India is an attractive destination for foreign capital investment. The survey also reveals that as compared to other BRIC countries, India had the second highest growth rate between 2000 and 2008 with an electricity consumption of 5.7 per cent.Despite this, the country has the lowest electricity consumption per capita out of the BRIC countries. India's power consumption per capita was expected to be roughly 841 kwh in 2020.

Power Demand In Tamil Nadu:-

Availability of power is one of the biggest inputs necessary for the sustained growth of any economy. This becomes even more important for a state like Tamil Nadu, which is one of the most industrialized and urbanized states in India.  

Over the last few years, Tamil Nadu has been facing massive power deficits. According to the CEA, the state was expected to have a power deficit of around 18% in 2010-11. As a result, the state is now facing huge power cuts. On an average, 3-4 hours of power cuts are being experienced by consumers in the state. The impact of this power shortage is being felt mainly by the industries, leading to a loss in efficiency and production. 

The first step is to analyse the requirement and availability of power in the different states and identify the extent of power deficits. 

 Requirement versus Availability of Power:-

Tamil Nadu is expected to have a deficit of around 18%, which was the highest among all the States considered. Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are also expected to have a high deficit of 11% followed by Gujarat with an 8% deficit. Rajasthan and West Bengal on the contrary are expected to perform well with Rajasthan displaying a perfect balance and West Bengal having a large surplus of 16%. 

The reason for the huge deficits in Tamil Nadu is due to the lack of power availability. Anticipating a huge increase in demand, driven by economic growth, states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh put in added efforts to increase the availability of power. This was done both by increasing own capacity and by encouraging private investment in power generation. On the contrary, such a long term vision to increase availability of power was absent in Tamil Nadu. 

Sources of Power Supply:-

There are five main sources of power in a state – own generation, central allocation, power purchased from IPPs, short term power from the exchange and other sources (including wind mills). The sources of power for the various states under study are given in the figure

As can be seen from the above graph, among all the states, Tamil Nadu is the most dependent on outside sources. Own generation of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board is among the lowest of all the states considered. 

 A large portion of power supply in the State (around 30%) is allocated to it from Central Generating Stations (CGSs). Another significant portion of power (15%) comes from other sources, which includes wind power generation. Dependence on wind power generation, which is highly seasonal in nature, is another reason for the massive power deficits in Tamil Nadu. Further, with 6% of its power coming from the power exchanges, Tamil Nadu has the highest dependence on short term power sources among the states considered. 

How Veeriyam Sees Koodankulam:-

As mentioned above factors for the necessity of power,Veeriyam sees Kudankulam as a essential source of power Generation.Some koodankulam so called protesters say that a Nuclear plant build will result in mass destruction of life and property in case of accidents and they take case of  Russian "Chernobyl Disaster .There is a basic difference between Cherbyl and Koodankulam Plants.

Chernobyl Disaster is due to the uncontrolled increase in the furnace temperature.  This dispersed large quantities of radioactive fuel and core materials into the atmosphere. and ignited the combustible graphite moderator. The burning graphite moderator increased the emission of radioactive particles, carried by the smoke, as the reactor had not been encased by any kind of hard containment vessel. The accident occurred during an experiment scheduled to test a potential safety emergency core cooling feature, which took place during a normal shutdown procedure.This case in entirely different from kudankulam 

kundankulam Opponents have brain washed the localities by saying and showing the pictures of Chernobyl and World war photos too.

I read an interesting article in a Newspaper,When the journalist asked the locals of kudankulam about the reason why they oppose the plant,some replied that it may bring them diseases.And you what they told about the disease???,they said the plant  may bring them "Malaria,Dengue!!!"Such is their ignorance.

Let me discuss about the Kundankulam opposition Bullet point :-

1)KO(Kundankulam Opponents):-Only Nuclear generation can create power??why not renewable source of energy ??
Veeriyam :-Yes,indeed renewable energy are better than Nuclear,but not consistent.In india even renewable energy are encouraged in large extent.If there is lack of such development then Govt.would have developed many kudankulam.
Consider,Wind power generation,the power generation depends upon the speed of wind and intensity too.So the power genearated is not constant.Solar generation,The amount of energy developed through solar is neglible it can satisfy power required for a house not for a country.

2)Kudankulam plant is expandable it can produce power to about 3000Mw whereas other source of power generation do not fulfill this capacity.

3)People who oppose the Kundankulam power generation,will they not use the power when it is generated saying it is nuclear???

4)Where were the groups when kudankulam was build,why only oppose when it is built fully??It is foreign christian institution who generates the nuisances to hold the development of country.

5)Where was Udayakumar when construction was in process?-May be canvasing funds with christian institution.

6)Many people who oppose kudankulam now ,they even doesnt know that there is a plant built before a year or so.

7)KO stick to a point that when Tsunami hit japan,their Fukushima plant got hit and if they same situation happens to kundankulam,what will happen????
Veeriyam:-Kudankulam is not located in Earth quake prone zone therefore such tsunami do not occur.
So,Whole Heartely Veeriyam Supports Kundankulam power plant,Provided that all the safety measures has been already in place before commissioning!!!