Kudankulam plants safe, reject anti-KNPP petitions: Govt

Reiterating that the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) had advanced safety measures, the Central government on Tuesday appealed to the Madras High Court to push aside all petitions with regard to the Indo-Russian project.

In a joint petition, the Centre as well as the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) maintained that experts and scientists inside the Kudankulam plant worked on its safety and there was no question of a Chernobyl or Fukushima Daiichi type disaster happening.

"Chernobyl-type accident is impossible at Kudankulam and the advanced safety features of Kudankulam units will prevent any serious incident of that magnitude," said the Department of Atomic Energy and the AEC.

The counter petition argued that the plant had been constructed 7.65 metres above sea and was safe from a possible tsunami or other natural disasters.

"The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board had already undertaken a thorough review of safety measures," it said.

The counter pointed that over Rs 14,000 crore had been spent on the project as on October 31 and any temporary stoppage of work would result in wastage of national funds and resources.

The 1000 MW each KNPP was also said to be Generation III Plus plants, the most advanced nuclear power plants in the world.

Besides apprising on the safety measures, the petition strongly sought the dismissal of all petitions that have demanded a fresh review of the project.

Terming the PILs as 'publicly-oriented', the petitioners said the court must not entertain groups seeking to stall the project

Over the last several months the Kudankulam nuclear plant saw massive protests demanding the closure of the plant.

The protesters, most of them fishermen backed by NGOs, activists and church people, expressed concern over pollution of seawater and fears of a Fukushima Daiichi type disaster.

Last week, senior officials and scientists of the project conducted its first 'Off Site Emergency Exercise', a mandatory drill prescribed by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).

However, the 'People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE)', spearheading the agitation against the KNPP, alleged that "the secretive and fake disaster management training session" at Nakkanery village was "just to create false records to satisfy the AERB".

The village hardly had 100 houses with a population of 300 people and most residents had "gone out for work" when the police surrounded the village and blocked all the roads," the PMANE coordinator Fr Pushparayan said in a statement.