Greenpeace raised objections about the building of nuclear reactors in an earthquake zone in India. The construction is being funded largely by France’s BNP Paribas Bank.
The concerns come as French President Nicolas Sarkozy signed several nuclear energy agreements during his four-day visit to India on Monday.
Large deals were signed between French nuclear giant Areva and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. to develop two nuclear reactors and to supply fuel for 25 years at a cost of about 7 billion euros (US$9.3 billion), according to India Times.
Greenpeace called on BNP to stop its financing of the construction of two French-designed evolutionary power reactor (EPR), a third generation water reactor. The same EPR is being constructed in Finland. It describes BNP bank as the world’s first bank to support such risky projects.
Greenpeace activists protested against the reactors being built in the earthquake zone, which is in India’s Jaitapur region, because of three fault lines there, which led to three earthquakes that occurred between 1990 and 2000.
“The Indian earthquake risk scale ranks areas from one to five. Jaitapur is classified as a four, meaning earthquakes can reach seven on the Richter scale,” the organization states on its website.
“In short, this is a crazy project,” Greenpeace states. The group says that there is growing opposition toward building nuclear reactors in the area, mostly by farmers and fishermen who were denied compensation for their lands.
The website stated that about 10,000 people had protested at the Jaitapur zone over the weekend, and 700 demonstrators were arrested.
The concerns come as French President Nicolas Sarkozy signed several nuclear energy agreements during his four-day visit to India on Monday.
Large deals were signed between French nuclear giant Areva and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. to develop two nuclear reactors and to supply fuel for 25 years at a cost of about 7 billion euros (US$9.3 billion), according to India Times.
Greenpeace called on BNP to stop its financing of the construction of two French-designed evolutionary power reactor (EPR), a third generation water reactor. The same EPR is being constructed in Finland. It describes BNP bank as the world’s first bank to support such risky projects.
Greenpeace activists protested against the reactors being built in the earthquake zone, which is in India’s Jaitapur region, because of three fault lines there, which led to three earthquakes that occurred between 1990 and 2000.
“The Indian earthquake risk scale ranks areas from one to five. Jaitapur is classified as a four, meaning earthquakes can reach seven on the Richter scale,” the organization states on its website.
“In short, this is a crazy project,” Greenpeace states. The group says that there is growing opposition toward building nuclear reactors in the area, mostly by farmers and fishermen who were denied compensation for their lands.
The website stated that about 10,000 people had protested at the Jaitapur zone over the weekend, and 700 demonstrators were arrested.
Friends Read Free