The geological study of the Jaitapur region, where the Central government intends to put up a nuclear power plant, is not publicly available.
Prof Roger Bilham, a geologist from Colorado University in the US, said he and his friends in India had repeatedly sought data on the geological and/or seismic study from different quarters, but got nothing. “Anyone seeking to set up a nuclear power plant will have to carry out a seismic study of the region, and this data should be available to the public. The absence of such data’s availability raises suspicion,” said
Bilham, adding that while he did not see a conspiracy behind the data not being made available, he would urge the nuclear officials to make the data public.
Prof Bilham and Dr Vinod Gaur of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics have co-authored a paper in which they say that an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 on the Richter scale can occur in the Jaitapur region.
Bilham pointed out that Koyna and Latur had suffered earthquakes within the last 50 years.
“Jaitapur lies in the same compressional stress region that caused the Koyna and Latur quakes. The probability of such a quake is low, but it must be an important consideration while designing the nuclear power plant,” he said.
He also said that India’s western coast has large sedimentary deposits anda small earthquake can trigger massive tsunamis.
Bilham, however, said he was not against a nuclear power plant in Jaitapur; he simply advocated a stronger structural design keeping in mind the fact that a quake in this region simply could not be ruled out.
“India is smashing into Asia, and thus earthquakes will always be a possibility,” he said.
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