The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is looking for an opportunity to send a high-level team to meet Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and explain to her the advanced safety systems installed in the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.
“We are looking for a chance to meet the Chief Minister and make a presentation about the plant. The DAE has not done any harm to people. Kudankulam power project should get commissioned in the interest of the nation. If given an opportunity, the Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission himself will call on Ms. Jayalalithaa to explain the precautions taken,” S.K. Malhotra, Head of Public Awareness Division, DAE, Mumbai, told The Hindu on Saturday.
Mr. Malhotra, who is the DAE's official spokesperson, was in Kanyakumari to participate in an exhibition-cum-awareness meeting about the project which is yet to be commissioned due to protests from some individuals and groups who raised safety concerns.
Urging the Tamil Nadu government to extend its support to commission the power plant, he observed that “a few outsiders and groups” had “brainwashed” the local people to further their vested interests, and “it is sad that the DAE team, comprising scientists and engineers, is not being allowed to visit interior villages around Kudankulam for direct interaction with the people.
Any opportunity given to us to allay people's fears or doubts raised by a few groups would be utilised. Unfortunately, we are being prevented by the district administration from going to the villages citing law and order situation,” Mr. Malhotra said.
Mr. Malhotra was presented a national award for excellence in science and technology by the Indian Society of Analytical Scientists at its Kanyakumari meeting.
