Trapped in radiation

Many people may appreciate, that the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), in collaboration with the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), has taken another tangible measure to overcome the crippling energy crisis in the country, by building Kanupp 2 – (K2), the largest power plant in the country, located near the Paradise Point in Karachi. However, placing a nuclear power plant so close to a heavily populated city like Karachi does pose several large scale threats, both accidental and ecological. Energy officials are requested to ensure public safety against pilferage and leakage of radio-active substances from the nuclear plants. It is alarming to note, that the existing ‘evacuation plan’ of the K2 project is restricted to only 5 km of area around the project, which is dangerously inadequate. Any accident or negligence at this project may lead to the spread of fatal levels of radiation across Karachi, and these threats should have been cautiously and comprehensively addressed, by the Sindh Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), before it granted the approval of this venture. 

A more comprehensive ‘evacuation plan’ for these projects must be devised to save the city from the possible wrath of nuclear technology. The concerned authorities must realize that the ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ (EIA) reports of such nuclear projects clearly raise some ‘Red flags’, due to possible threats and consider the history of a few major catastrophes around some major cities of the world. Thus, immaculate measures of safety must be ensured at all such nuclear facilities.

Ammar Muzaffar

Karachi