Anti-nuclear groups stage demo

TIRUNELVELI Condemning the ongoing expansion of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project with four more Russ

Condemning the ongoing expansion of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project with four more Russian reactors in addition to the already functioning 2 X 1,000 MWe units and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited’s decision to construct ‘Away From Reactor’ facility to store the spent fuel at Kudankulam, the anti-nuclear groups organised a demonstration here on Friday.

 Speakers at the demonstration, the speakers said the Union and the Tamil Nadu Governments, ignoring the peaceful and sustained protests by the public against the KKNPP, had constructed and commissioned two nuclear reactors, each with 1,000 MWe capacity and were engaged in building four more units with a similar capacity. The Department of Atomic Energy, which should have organised public hearing on the proposed construction of AFR, had not prepared ‘Environment Impact Assessment Report’ on this upcoming spent fuel storage facility even though both the exercises were mandatory.

 Moreover, reports are doing rounds that the NPCIL, the project proponent, was mulling over establishing its spent fuel reprocessing unit at KKNPP in addition to the AFR. However, the NPCIL, which does not have the technical expertise for constructing deep geological repository for burying the nuclear waste, refuses to share any information in this connection under Right to Information Act.

“The MPs of DMK should raise these serious issues in Parliament and make sure that the nuclear waste getting generated in KKNPP is sent back to Russia,” said S.P. Udhayakumar, who presided over the agitation.

The protestors said the radioactive spent fuel, which had to be protected for “hundreds of years” as per the protocol evolved by the International Atomic Energy Agency, would pose a serious threat to the people living within the aerial radius of over 150 km in case of any accident.

They wanted the government to withdraw the cases filed against the anti-nuclear protestors from 2011 to 2014.

Advocate G. Ramesh, CPI (M) state committee member K.G. Bhaskaran, State deputy general secretary of MDMK T.M. Rajendran, MDMK Tirunelveli city district secretary K.M.A. Nizam, State administrative committee member of CPI S. Kasi Viswanathan and Rev. Fr. M.P. Jesuraj participated in the demonstration.