Press release - November 23, 2011
New Delhi, November 23, 2011: A paper published in Current Science journal concluded that the proposed Jaitapur nuclear site is not immune to 6-plus magnitude earthquake. The study was conducted by two leading geologists, Roger Bilham and Vinod Guar [1]. It had been claimed by Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report that the seismic activity at the Jaitapur site is zone 3 and not a risk to the proposed nuclear plant.
The Paper concludes, "Unhappily, however, the apparent seismic quietness of Jaitapur does not mean that a severe earthquake cannot occur there. If stress in the region is sufficiently mature to have brought an existing subsurface fault close to failure, an earthquake may be imminent."
The report states that since Jaitapur lies in the same compressional stress regime that has been responsible for generating both the Latur and the Koyna earthquakes measuring 6.3 and 6.4 respectively on the Richter scale in the past five decades, it can be argued that a similar sized earthquake could possibly occur directly beneath the power plant.
According to Karuna Raina, Nuclear and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace India, "The report clearly highlights the lack of consensus on the seismicity of the area. After this report the government cannot claim that the seismicity of the area is a sorted issue. The environmental clearance based on wrong data should be scrapped and the process taken up in light of the scientific views available now."
The methodology used to determine the maximum strength of an earthquake at the site relies on patchy geological data covering only the past two centuries. Lack of recent earthquakes during that period can be an indication of higher, just as well as lower, earthquake risk in the future, as major earthquakes at any given quake-prone location in the region occur at intervals of millennia rather than centuries," concluded Karuna Raina.
END
Notes to Editor:
1- http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/jaitapur-nuclear-plant-site-not-immune-to-earthquake-experts/articleshow/10840888.cms
2- http://www.npcil.nic.in/main/jaitapur-atomic-power-plant.aspx
For more information contact:
Karuna Raina, Nuclear and Energy Campaigner – Greenpeace India, ,
+91 9901799669
Hozefa Merchant, Media Officer – Greenpeace India, ,
+91 9819592410