Effects of Indian nuclear facilities and nuclear proliferation on Sri Lanka

Introduction

Nuclear threat is a much-discussed topic in the present day Sri Lanka, and in international and political arena and security forums.

During the last two months Sri Lankan scientists from the Ministry of Power and Energy have revealed and discussed information and threats posed by the two nuclear installations in South India – Kalpakkam and Kudankulam.

The installation of the discussed facilities dates back to 1998, following an agreement with Russia. Apart from the deterrence distance to Sri Lanka, it gives a heavy threat as far as the quality of the power systems are concerned because the particular NBRK nuclear power system is not even installed in Russia; the Russians consider the particular facility as a testing condition.

Although designed output of nuclear capability is deterrence and destructive, the different nations use this as a power tool or a political tool to achieve the higher status of the regional hegemony. Though countries discuss regional cooperation, power sharing, and free trade, etc., the nuclear assets and capabilities contribute vice versa in order to destroy the said important development concepts.

This is very imminent among the countries of the nuclear umbrella: UK, USA, France, Russia, and China, etc. At present, this unhealthy threat is moving to the Asian region, especially to South Asia. The main two countries that are part and parcel to this problem in South Asia are India and Pakistan at present.

Nuclear bomb threat

Both these countries are developing their nuclear arsenal, especially the weapons grade material, in order to be on par with each other. Also, the strangest aspect is that both countries were supported by China or North Korea on different occasions.

India had achieved its range officially up to 2,500 km, which covers the total geographical area of Pakistan and partially South Asian region, threatening neighbouring countries. Pakistan too had partially covered India, threatening the neighbouring countries with the range of 2,000 km officially. But both countries are trying to achieve the status of ICBM (Inter Continental Ballistic Missile), which can target any of the points in the world.

During 2003, there was an incident that a Malaysian company was trying to sell a centrifugal radio activate material separation system to Libya and Iran which can convert peaceful radioactive material to weapons grade material, which shows that nuclear is a lucrative business venture.

The world has witnessed the devastation of nuclear bombs activated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 9 August 1949. During the incident 2,700 people died immediately and subsequently the death toll went up to 140,000 deaths due to the residual effect of radioactive material. Though this considered as a hypothetical situation, any country in the range of a nuclear bomb can be affected in different ways.

Nuclear installations

It is really important to talk about the nuclear threat to our own country. Apart from the nuclear bombs, the nuclear power generating stations and other related nuclear facilities emit a great threat to our country. Accidental discharges from nuclear institutes are a common occurrence though this is hidden from the media for obvious reasons. Fifty-six accidental discharges have occurred in the world at different installations averaging at least one per year after the World War II.

There are two nuclear installations/facilities which are close to our country on the western coast of India. Those are Tuticorin and Kudankulam, which are respectively 98 km and 240 km away from Sri Lanka. Comparing the residual effect of nuclear arsenal at this distance is a very trivial one.

Considering Chernobyl disaster in Russia as an example, one can conclude that the residual effects travel more than 5,000 km subsequently covering the Sri Lanka’s total geographical area. But the immediate threat will be to Mannar District and subsequently it may spread up to the adjoining districts like Puttalam, Kilinochchi, Anuradhapura, Mullaitivu, etc. Therefore, this threat has the potential to destroy our people, their properties, and the environment of the area too, because radio activity might last for thousands of years depending on the respective radioactive material.

At present there are many discussions and debates are imminent in the media and at the professional level but I have discussed this matter in 2003 in my book, ‘Nuclear and Sri Lanka’ very extensively, though there was negligible attention due to professional illiteracy on the subject at the time.

Remedies to avert catastrophes

There are various remedies to avert the threat of this phenomenon. The first step is to make the people aware of the threat by educating them. There was a good example to that effect by the Chernobyl incident (Russia) in Kiev, the city closest to Chernobyl where 110 km away from the incident faced the greatest danger.

In this incident 29 people died immediately and subsequently 240,000 died due to the nuclear related sicknesses, but all the people of the area who had knowledge of the danger escaped from the disaster. Therefore, education is an important requirement.

The other factor is the preventive measures that are taken, mainly to identify the dangerous levels of radioactivity in the area and protect people by giving them protective gear and assigning them to protect themselves in underground areas.

Though it is done by the rich countries in the West, developing countries are far away from such protective measures since they are costly. Also, this nuclear radiation gives different other effects like electromagnetic pulses, which disable electronic parts of the equipment that can damage total power systems, water systems, communication, transport, and basically all the infrastructure in the area, isolating people from all countermeasures.

Legally the countries have access to employ their monitors and observers. If the respective installations affect other countries, then they will have the control over the procedures and protective systems of the installations which can cause an accidental discharge. Though it has not happened anywhere in the world, this has to be implemented in order to protect the nation. There are many international treaties and conventions to control and stop nuclear deterrence; they are far from being effective in the region. Therefore, the affected countries in the region need to air their voice against the nuclear proliferation to protect their own countries that are covered by nuclear deterrence.

Conclusion

Nuclear has more good uses than the bad. Power generation, crack detection, food preservation, and sterilising are few of the good uses. Therefore, this has to be exploited without damaging and destroying the life of the people and the environment. Sri Lanka too is facing a severe power crisis in the country and introduction of a nuclear energy installation is one of the viable options.

Finally, people have to develop more and more nuclear-related knowledge in order to use the system to the optimum and reduce the threat and dangers to the minimum.

The book ‘Nuclear and Sri Lanka’ gives a very comprehensive knowledge on present-day discussions in the country on the threat posed by the nuclear installations in South India, especially by Kudankulam and Kalpakkam.

 (The writer is a Nuclear Strategist and Specialist in Transportation Systems and Management. He has published a book on nuclear development in South Asia, titled ‘Nuclear and Sri Lanka’. He presently conducts lectures on subjects pertaining to the Transportation and Logistics Management Degree and Masters at CINEC Maritime University. He has published many articles on transportation and management. He is presently employed at the Central Bank. He can be contacted via chandana_w @yahoo.com.)