Advocacy group slams govt’s nuclear push, recalls Hiroshima-Nagasaki, Chernobyl, Fukushima disasters
Marking 80 years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the advocacy group Friends of the Earth India has issued a scathing public statement condemning the Indian government’s aggressive expansion of nuclear energy and proposed legal amendments that would allow private sector entry and dilute liability provisions. The group warned that such moves threaten to repeat “history’s gravest mistakes—not through war, but through irresponsible expansion of nuclear energy.”
The statement, dated August 9, titled “Remember Hiroshima–Nagasaki, Resist Nuclear Colonialism,” links the trauma of past nuclear disasters—from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Chernobyl and Fukushima—with the risks posed by India’s current nuclear agenda. It criticizes the government’s plans to achieve 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047 through Bharat small modular reactors, calling it a “false solution” that endangers lives, ecosystems, and future generations.
Friends of the Earth India expressed alarm over the Union Budget 2025–26 allocation of ₹24,661 crore to the Department of Atomic Energy, with ₹11,650 crore earmarked for new projects and SMRs. The group highlighted that proposed reactor sites in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu are located in tribal and ecologically sensitive areas, often without public consultation or informed consent.
“The radioactive legacy of nuclear ambition is one the world still struggles to contain,” the statement reads, adding that nuclear energy’s ecological footprint is “severe,” with waste remaining hazardous for thousands of years and construction damaging forests, rivers, and coasts.
The group also criticized efforts to amend the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, and weaken the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, arguing that these changes are designed to benefit corporate players, including foreign reactor suppliers who refuse to take responsibility for their technology. “Weakening liability provisions shields reactor suppliers from accountability, even if their technology is faulty or unsafe,” the statement asserts.
Calling nuclear energy “financially unviable,” Friends of the Earth India pointed to frequent delays, budget overruns, and high costs of waste management and decommissioning. “Yet the government continues to market nuclear energy as a ‘green,’ ‘safe,’ and ‘clean’ solution to the climate crisis—claims that collapse under scrutiny.”
The statement concludes with a call to action: “This is more than a policy dispute—it is a battle for our democracy, our communities, and our ecosystems. We must not let the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki fade, nor mortgage India’s future to radioactive danger.
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