EIA is done competently'

C.B. Jain is the Project Director of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project. In this interview to Frontline, he presents the project authorities' point of view.

What is the update on the land acquisition process? Has all the land been acquired and have people accepted the cheques? What is the rate per hectare the government or the NPCIL has paid for the land?

The land acquisition process has been completed. All the land has been acquired and some of the people have accepted the cheques. The land is acquired from five villages, namely, Madban, Varilwada, Karel, Mithgavane and Niveli.

The basic rates for all the three categories of land are different and also vary from village to village. In addition to the basic rate', each owner of the land is entitled to get 30 per cent solacium amount' on the basic amount as well as 12 per cent interest per annum from the date of issue of notice under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act until the date of declaration of land for the particular village. This period for interest calculation varies from 799 days to 966 days for the above five villages depending on the date of issue of such notices and declaration of award. Based on the above, the details of the amount being paid as compensation to owners are: Basic rate per hectare: Kharif Rs.1,15,500 to 4,01,000; varkas Rs.65,000 to 2,67,500; and potkharaba Rs.33,750 to 66,875. The final rate, including 30 per cent solacium and 12 per cent interest being paid to owners: Rs.1,80,490 to 6,48,653; Rs.1,01,574 to 4,32,705; and Rs.52,740 to 1,08,176.

Are there any people from the affected villages who have accepted the cheques for land? If so, please give me their number. How much land has been acquired and from which villages?

Some people have accepted the cheque. This information is not available with us as cheques are being distributed by the Special Land Acquisition Officer, Office of the District Collector, Ratnagiri. The land acquired is as follows: Madban - 690.401 ha; Varilvada - 1.910 ha; Karel - 70.686 ha; Niveli - 72.614 ha; Mithgavane - 72.614 ha. Total - 938.026 ha.

At the public hearing on May 16 at Madban, Vivek Monteiro raised the question of the cost of the project. He said according to the latest Economic Survey of Maharashtra the two reactors would cost Rs.60,000 crore. If so what will be the cost of the power eventually?

The unit energy cost from this plant will be comparable with the electricity from thermal/indigenous nuclear power plants.

People have raised serious questions about the EIA at the hearing. Do you think it is competently done and reflects a true picture of the situation at the project site? Also, there are issues of storage of spent fuel after 100 years. Could you please clarify?

Yes, the EIA is done competently. The radioactive waste after 100 years could be disposed of in deep underground geological repositories with protective barriers.

There is a lot of resistance to the project. How do you expect to overcome that? When do you expect to start construction and start the first reactor?

We are having a continuous dialogue with all the project-affected people as well as their representatives since December 2005. We are hopeful that we will start the project construction with their support. We expect to start the construction by 2012 and start the first reactor by 2017-18.

What is the type of reactors you will be using and have they been used anywhere else in the world? At the hearing it was submitted that Areva is building a reactor in Finland which is still under construction and the cost is 5.3 billion euros. Is this correct?

It is proposed to implement EPR NPP units at the Jaitapur site in technical cooperation with Areva, France. EPR units are under construction in Finland, France and China. We cannot comment on the cost of the Finland EPR.