ISAS Working Papers

The Indian state's civil nuclear policy, characterised by the construction of nuclear power plants, has witnessed considerable opposition in recent years from people residing in its vicinity. The direct impact on the livelihoods of these often rural, poor and lower-caste populations is discerned through land acquisition and population displacement, along with a loss of traditional ways of earning, especially through fishing and subsistence farming. In addition, the perceived impact on health and safety of the population and pollution to the environment, especially from the radiation emitting from the plant, as well as the propensity of a potentially catastrophic accident like that of Fukushima or Chernobyl, has driven the opposition to nuclear power. The narrative, thereby, becomes one of the state and the larger national interest versus the rights of those living in the periphery. The paper demonstrates the relationship of the periphery and the nation-state with regards to nuclear power, particularly through the example of the planned nuclear plant at Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh.