South Asians Against Nukes - Year 10
January 4, 2009
URL: groups.yahoo.com/group/SAAN_/message/1225

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#1.

Down To Earth
31 December 2008

“Nuclear arms race will trigger nuclear terrorism”

Tilman A Ruff, Australian head of the International Campaign to
Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), was in India in November. At Jadugoda
in East Singhbhum, Jharkhand, he observed a human settlement
perilously close to the mines of Uranium Corporation of India. He
spoke to Alok Gupta

Why do you oppose mining of radioactive minerals when they can
generate nuclear power?

Nuclear power is not a long-term solution to electricity shortage.
There is a limited stock of uranium and other radioactive metals on
the planet. At the current rate of extraction, this stock will last
barely a few decades. Radioactive minerals either go into the making
of nuclear bombs or end up as waste. There is no scientific method to
manage nuclear waste. This waste will harm the environment for
billions of years.

Solar and wind power are more viable options.

Isn’t Australia the second largest producer of uranium?

Yes it is. But in Australia people rejected the previous government
that pushed for nuclear energy. They voted for a government that has
made its anti-nuclear stance quite evident. But a lot needs to be
done. Australian activists have emphasized time and again that
uranium extraction is not worth the risk it poses to human life.

There is widespread belief that uranium mining is lucrative. Contrary
to that, Australia’s uranium export is just 0.28 per cent of its
total mineral export. Australia earns just $400 million (US $258
million) from it out of a total export earning of over $100 billion
(US $64.5 billion).

Why do you say nuclear arms race will trigger nuclear terrorism?

One of the bitter truths of nuclear armament is that if one country
arms itself, its neighbours follow suit. Nuclear technology is easily
available in the international nuclear black market. We have seen
nuclear rackets like the one run by A Q Khan of Pakistan. He was
involved in the clandestine international nuclear technology
proliferation a few years ago. More and more countries are trying to
procure nuclear technology. They have completely stalled the nuclear
disarmament process. It’s becoming easier by the day to procure
nuclear technology. This will eventually trigger nuclear terrorism.

How do you see the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (npt) and nuclear
disarmament?

NPT has turned into a non-performance treaty that has been rejected
by many countries. Many nations have not complied with the treaty
even after signing it. India, Israel and Pakistan are freely
developing nuclear weapons. North Korea has nearly walked out of the
treaty. Lately some actions of the International Atomic Energy Agency
have created an imbalance. I am referring to the agency’s approval of
the Indo- US nuclear deal.

Hasn’t India already agreed over no first use of nuclear bombs?

That is true but the 123 Agreement gives too much discount to India
and it will have a far reaching impact. Other nations that have
signed the 123 Agreement with the us have been barred from using
their collaboration for nuclear tests. But amendments have been made
to exempt India. Such exceptions made for a new signatory are bound
to offend previous signatories.

What is the situation in Jadugoda?

The situation in Jadugoda is extremely dangerous. I have never seen
human settlements so close to a Uranium mine, tailing or waste pond
and tailing pipe. In the Dugridih village of Jadugoda a tailing pipe—
carrying radioactive waste to the tailing pond of the corporation—
burst on August 3 this year, and people have since been living amid
the radioactive waste. Nowhere else in the world do people live amid
such danger.

How grave is the threat of an impending nuclear catastrophe?

The gravity of the situation can be predicted from the Doomsday
Clock, a symbolic clock maintained by the Bulletin of Atomic
Scientists at the University of Chicago, which conveys how close the
planet is to catastrophe. In 1991 the clock was 17 minutes to
midnight, wherein midnight represents ‘catastrophic destruction’. Now
it has moved five minutes to midnight. The bulletin has specifically
mentioned that a nuclear catastrophe is imminent.

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#2.

-------Forwarded Message-------
from Shalini Gera
date Wed, Aug 20, 2008 at 9:03 AM
subject Fourth radioactive leakage in Jadugoda in 20 months (third
time in the same village)

Dear friends,

On 16th August, 2008, pipes carrying uranium tailings in Jadugoda
(Jharkhand) burst again, spewing the village of Dungridih in Jadugoda
with radioactive waste for the third time since Dec 2006. Records
obtained from UCIL (Uranium Corporation of India Ltd, which owns and
operates the mines and operations in Jadugoda) through [Right To
Information Act] RTI filings reveal that there have been three
previous tailing pipe leakages in recent months, where radioactive
material was released into the environment-- on 24th December 2006,
10th April 2007, and 22nd February 2008. In an additional incident
in July this year, excessive rains caused the tailing ponds to
overflow and contaminate the village ponds and canals.

1. In the first instance of tailing pipe leakage in Dec 2006, the
radioactive waste contaminated the local water canal in Dungridih,
killing all acquatic life in the channel. UCIL officials only
reached the site after the villages blockaded the road, after the
waste had been spilling for 9-10 hours. A report of this incident is
available here:
http://www.jadugoda.net/Accidents/index.html

2. In the second instance, 4 months later, we know that 1.5 tonnes of
solid radioactive waste and 20,000 liters of liquid radioactive waste
was leaked (this is the smallest of the recorded leaks) but more
information is lacking.

3. In Feb 2008, tailing pipes burst again in Dungridih and
radioactive sludge entered the streets and houses of the local
villagers. After a sustained campaign by local activists, the UCIL
CMD, Mr Ramendra Gupta informed villagers that they would be
relocated to safer places and all protective measures will be taken
to ensure that no further leakages happen from the tailing pipes.
However, no such steps have been taken so far.

4. In July 2008, Jadugoda received record rainfall, which caused
tailing ponds at Turamdih to spill over into the village ponds and
lakes. UCIL acknowledged this spill but claimed that there was
nothing they could do to prevent it.

(RADIOACTIVE WASTE FLOWS INTO VILLAGE
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=9dcc11cc-
d424-4900-95a1-41310e6daffe)

5. In August 2008, the tailing pipes have burst again in Dungridih,
and the radioactive sludge flowing through them at high pressure has
been sprayed over 10-12 houses.

In the replies received through RTI filings, the UCIL admits that the
previous accidents were caused by poor maintenance and negligence
("Damage to rubber lining and metal due to prolonged use" and "Damage
to rubber linings by wooden log left inside the pipes during
replacement"). It is appalling that the UCIL is endangering the
lives of all these villagers through sheer carelessness, but what is
even more sinister are the recent pronouncements of the CMD Ramendra
Gupta suggesting that the latest leakage is due to sabotage by the
villagers (even though there are CISF jawans patroling the area all
the time).

In face of collective organizing by the affected villagers, the UCIL
has renewed its promises of transferring them to a safer location.
It should be recalled that these villagers in Dungridih are those who
have already been displaced once due to the construction of two of
the three tailing ponds in the area. As such, they are technically
"illegal" settlers on UCIL land and their settlements are all
"unauthorized", and the UCIL has maintained that it is under no
compulsion to resettle these villagers--but will do so out of
compassion. Having thus systematically illegitimized these original
inhabitants of the land and put their lives and livelihoods at
danger, the UCIL is now conferring a favor on these communities by
now displacing them once more and resettling them at safer locations.

The local media has been covering the spills though the news did not
make it to the national media. The few news items I could find on
the web around the latest radioactive spill are below. Shriprakash
with JOAR (Jharkhandi Organization Against Radiation) has a
compilation of many newspaper cuttings, photographs of the different
leaks, and UCILs responses to RTI queries--he can be reached at "Shri
Prakash" .

-Shalini

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#3.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080818/jsp/jharkhand/story_9706624.jsp
The Telegraph (Calcutta), August 18, 2008

BLAME GAME OVER UCIL TOXIC GAS LEAK
- Panel against radiation calls for relocation of villagers

Our Correspondent

Tailing pond of UCIL at Jadugoda. File picture

Jamshedpur, Aug. 17: Toxic and radioactive waste engulfed Dungridih
village, around 60km from here, late last night due to leakage in a
pipe of Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL).

The UCIL officials rushed to the spot this morning to plug the leak
in the pipe carrying uranium mill tailing (waste) to the tailing pond
even as blame game over the episode started.

While the UCIL authorities have ordered a probe into the incident
suspecting villagers’ hand, Jharkhandi Organisation Against Radiation
(Joar) alleged that the gas leakage took place last night due to the
carelessness of the UCIL authorities. Assuaging the terror among the
villagers following the gas leak, chairman-cum-managing director of
UCIL Ramendra Gupta said: “The pipe was repaired this morning and the
situation is under control. The leakage, caused due to dislocation of
a rubber flange, was minimum and there is nothing to worry about.
Since the incident has taken place third time in a year on the same
spot, we have decided to probe the issue,” said Gupta.

Reasoning that the incident could be the handiwork of the villagers,
Gupta said around 25 local residents were demanding employment in the
company.

Earlier, leakage developed in the UCIL pipe in December, 2006 and
February 22 this year.

“After the second spill over, the UCIL had decided to relocate all
the villagers residing near the pipeline. But the company has failed
to take any step on the relocation front till now,” said Sriprakash,
a member of the Joar.

“The company should ensure security of the pipe if it fears any kind
of sabotage. The UCIL should come forward and initiate its relocation
drive announced after the second leakage earlier this year. It cannot
play with the life of people like this,” added Sriprakash.

Conceding that the villagers should be relocated, the UCIL
authorities maintained that they were taking steps to initiate the
rehabilitation of villagers. “The villagers are residing on the land
acquired by us. We will relocate all the villagers residing near the
pipe soon to avert any untoward incident,” said Gupta.

He, however, refuted the claims that the pipe was damaged as the UCIL
was not following the safety guidelines.

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#5.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/71614

PIPES CARRYING RADIOACTIVE WASTES BURST IN JADUGODA IN JHARKHAND
STATE OF INDIA

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi
August 18, 2008

The tailing pipes carrying the radioactive and toxic slurry from
the mills of the Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) burst for the
third time on Saturday night in the Dungridih village under the
Jadugoda police station of Potka block of East Singhbhum in Jharkhand
State of India, spewing the village with uranium waste.

According to the information received from the local villagers, the
slurry has flown for about 5-6 hours, till early hours of morning on
Sunday. The pipe burst was first observed by the patrolling group in
the morning and was rectified by evening.

It may be mentioned that it is the third such incident of tailing
pipe burst. The first being on December 2006 followed by the second
in February 2008. On December 24, 2006, one of the pipes carrying
radioactive wastes from the uranium mill to a storage dam had burst,
discharging highly toxic wastes into a nearby creek. The accident
occurred in the same Dungridih a small village near Jadugoda
inhabited largely by displaced families whose lands were acquired to
construct two of the three storage dams, also known as tailings
ponds. The tailings ponds store all the radioactive wastes generated
by the milling of uranium ore in Jadugoda.

Owing to the record 338.1 mm rainfall on June 17, maximum in the past
six decades, radioactive wastes from the tailing pond of Turamdih
uranium mines on the outskirts of the Jamshedpur city has reportedly
spilled over into the village ponds, wells and fields.

According to the sources, the spill over was obvious due to
torrential rain as there is no way to divert the water flowing into
the village.

According the UCIL it is a case of sabotage. How is that the
incidents are being reported from the same village for the third time
in a row? Said one of the authority.

It is troubling that UCIL did not have its own alarm mechanism to
alert the company in cases of such a disaster.

A local NGO pointed out that the effluents flowing out of the pipes
are under high pressure; hence when there is burst of the pipes, the
flow does not take time to spread over large area.

The people in the Jadugoda area are affected not only by radiation
from tailing dams but also by lack of safety at the mines. Fatigue,
lack of appetite, respiratory ailments are wide spread. Increases in
miscarriages, impotency, infant mortality, Down´s syndrome, skeletal
deformities and different skin diseases, children with big heads,
thalassemia have been reported. The incidence of tuberculosis among
the miners is very high.

One women of nearby Tilaitand village says that her husband deserted
her because she could not get pregnant. Her villain: uranium mining.
Other tribal women says her two children were born deformed at birth
and were killed soon after. "The earth here is poisoned,'' she said.

Exposure to nuclear radiation is affecting the health of miners and
villagers at Jadugoda in Singhbhum district in Jharkhand State
located in Eastern India, which is India´s first uranium mining.
Jadugoda, literally meaning "magic land", intrigues an outsider.

According to different N.G.Os working among the tribal peoples of
Singhbhum said the radiation may not bring sudden dramatic illness
but slowly undermines the health of the people living in the
surrounding villages.

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#6.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?
main_variable=RANCHI&file_name=Ranchi14%2Etxt&counter_img=14

UCIL MULLS MODERN VILLAGE FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE-HIT RESIDENTS
Moushumi Basu | Ranchi

The management of the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) has
agreed to rehabilitate the 26 families affected by the radioactive
waste that spewed in Dungridih under Jadugoda police station,
recently. The UCIL has also proposed a modern village in its
leasehold area, besides providing the villagers with other facilities.

This is following the third incident of toxic radioactive waste
carrying pipe burst in the village that reached upto the villagers'
homes.

According to villagers, a specific site has been selected for the
purpose.
The Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the company, Ramendra Gupta,
and General Manager K Mahali visited the place on Monday.

"The members of the Jharkhandi Organisation Against Radiation
(JOAR) had put up prolonged agitation on behalf of the radiation
affected victims in and around the villages of Jadugoda uranium
mines, the management had to take its commitment seriously this
time," said Sripati Patro.

JOAR president Ghanshyam Biruli said: "We made sure that land in
question for the proposed village is not disputed. Rehabilitation in
Chatikocha village could not take place, for the same reason," said
Biruli, adding, so the obvious choice of site should fall within the
leasehold area of the company.

The management has also engaged an architect to prepare the layout
of the said village.

Further, it is also committed for the construction of shopping
complex on Main Road and loans would be given to the villagers for
business. The children of the village would also be given admission
in the UCIL run Central School. The matriculates would also be
enrolled in the ITI. Those with driving licence would also be given
bank loans for the purchase of vehicles, which would be officially
engaged by the company. It may be mentioned that Dungridih had been
one of the worst affected villages, in the recent times. "The toxic
slurry had trickled down in the same village on two earlier
occasions, on December 2006 and February 2008 respectively", pointed
out Biruli and with it came series of commitments and promises.

JOAR has warned that if the rehabilitation package was not carried
out this time, "we would be compelled to take agitation path again".
Further, the international community is also perturbed over the
repeated incidents of pipe bursts in Jaduguda and there has been
prolonged campaign by anti-nuclear activists across the world, said
Biruli.

Moreover, the issue assumes significance especially after the
penning of the nuclear accord by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with
the US. "In such a situation, the uranium processing companies cannot
simply dump their nuclear waste on the innocent villagers across the
country," he added.

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SOUTH ASIANS AGAINST NUKES (SAAN):
An informal information platform for activists and scholars concerned
about the dangers of Nuclearisation in South Asia
http://s-asians-against-nukes.org/