Activists protesting the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant on Wednesday dismissed suggestions that they were ready to allow work to restart at the plant's first unit, if the Chief Minister approved such a measure.
In a statement, the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which is spearheading the agitation, said its Struggle Committee member M. Pushparayan denied having made any statement to that effect. “We want the KKNPP project to be scrapped completely.”
The PMANE also said it continued to enjoy the support and solidarity of the Bishop and the Tamil Nadu Bishops' Council.
It accused the Tirunelveli Congress MP, S.S. Ramasubbu, of leading a small group of detractors against the PMANE and “causing confusion in society”.
As he also represented the people who opposed the KKNPP, he should resign his elected office before taking sides on an issue such as nuclear policy.
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Tuticorin, Yvon Ambroise, in a separate statement, clarified that there was no change in his stand in support of the people's struggle against the KKNPP. “
As per the Catholic Church's teaching and the Tamil Nadu Bishops' Council resolution, I continue to show my solidarity with my people, who are under great fear and anxiety concerning the Kudankulam nuclear plant,” Bishop Ambroise said.
“I stand united with the people morally and spiritually,” he added.
Keywords: Kudankulam nuclear plant, nuclear safety, KKNPP
@Angela Alvares.. Low frequency sound just because are not loud and you can only feel them doesnt mean are safe. I really have the urge to put a few bicycles connected to a house wiring and make people like you cycle it to keep the house lit. then you will understand the amount of energy we are talking about and 2% in a total sum makes a huge amount. 2% in 100 is 2 but if its in 10,000 its 200. which is quite a number.For your solar panel housing great but wat on a overcast day??and anyway do you know how the panels are made? And how much chemical waste the sensor making process generates..just because u see solar and wind dont jump to conclusions.
@Angela Alvares.. Its really is a treat to read your comments. I dont know where you get your facts from. All of france is contaminated with Uranium why did u go around taking radioactive counts with a geiger muller counter?..if so why arent people dying there.your worst fear of a nuclear melt down is the harm right.if all of france is contaminated then all of their kids should have genetic defects isnt it? And who said france doesnt need AC.May be your geography is so poor,there are parts of france that have peak summers n need air con.and Drinking water is nto used to cool the reactor miss angela they use river water which isnt used for drinking until ur some cattle n decide to get a sip.And also coolant doesnt become radioactive.its flown through a pipe and only heat is transfered for your information.!!!!!WIND ENERGY HAS HEALTH EFFECTs. you are proud of the windmills.do you know how many residents near that area are affected due to the sound from the rotors day and night.
Really, it is so strange to see so many candid scientists and experts trying to "allay the fears of the people"! Are they knocking at the right door? Should they not try to "allay" Hillary Clinton's fears instead? Otherwise, why is she insisting India changes her sovereign law to suit the Convention on Suplementary Compensation? Should they not try to "allay" the nuclear companies' fears, since they refuse to enter the nuclear business without a liability exemption beyond the ridiculous amount of Rs. 500 crores! If they are so sure, if they are so confident, why on earth a liability exemption, only for nuclear power?
@A Sankaranaryanan. Cold countries don't need AC as their temperatures are very low (near zero) to start with. However all of France is contaminated with radiation (mainly from uranium mine waste dumped everywhere and the French are themselves keen to phase out nuclear power as it is too expensive. Also 40% of all drinking water in France is used to cool it's 58 reactors so farmers have been committing suicide and the cattle have had to be killed for lack of pasture due to excessive droughts that France has been facing year after year. @Muthu Kumar Please check the net for the Maglev Wind Turbine which uses less acreage than nuclear power plants (as it is one massive unit that levitates on magnets) Maglev produces 2000MW of electricity (same output as the two dangerous nuclear power plants in Koodankalam using free fuel 'WIND' instead of expensive and deadly uranium. I'm living in the Hills already with my 21st century modern solar heating and plant to phase into 100% solar ASAP.
It is good to see that people of Kudankulam and nearby villages have come up so strongly against KNPP. But I don't understand one thing that why they are asking all of a sudden to scrap the whole project. PMANE who is leading this movement just wants to scrap the project with only one point "Safety." I agree that safety is very much important but better to sit with KNPP official and start to sort out the matter. First they should understand the safety aspect and then work out if that can be improved. I know that PMANE has some very good scientists. And it is the duty of every engineer and scientist to come up with a solution rather than run away from the problem. I am sure PMANE will understand this. If scientists starts running away from the problem then they are not scientist they are just coward and they will push our society and our future into dark. Scrapping the project will not help anyone. Neither govt. nor the local. It will only reflect the attitude which we Indian have.
It is not clear from where Ms Angela Alvares got the information that three times power generated in a nuclear facility would be required/used for cooling the atmosphere. In such a case ,France which meets more than 75% of her electricity requirements with power generated in Nuclear power plants would need another 150% of its power from other countries to cool the atmosphere.Secondly nuclear power generation did not begin in the forties. Although the nuclear power generation results in radioactive used-up fuel and there has not been any development in disposal of that except storing them in salt rocks underground ,the current attempts are to reprocess the same for reuse in different reactors. Actually the thermal plants burning fossil fuels to generate electricity are throwing up CO2 leading to climate change and we have to find ways of storing the CO2 instead of letting it to the atmosphere.
@angela alvares: Most developed nations are using this technology. If your 10% rule was true, why are they using it. Wind, solar and hydro are not yet fully developed, very expensive and are subject to geographical restrictions. There has been only 1 nuclear accident till date and that too was due to abject neglect. If human error has no safety mechanism, it is better you pack your bags and head for the Himalayas to live in isolation.Paranoia is a dangerous thing.
Koodnakulam Nuclear project is higly Dangerous one. It was failure in Russia. If it blasts it will generate the temperature which will melt steel. So it will destroy whole Tamilnadu and Kerala. But the people of tamilnadu and Kerala do not know about its dangerous consequences. The people only beleive the illiterate politicians voice. They are telling that only 3 percentage of power requirement of our nation will be fullfilled. For that can we make south India as Sahara desert?
Nuclear power is very safe , clean and green. history is the witness of few countable incident happened in nuclear power plant all over the world, where as so-many incident happened and happening in other power plant , manufacturing, production industries but no body going to stop them. every day people are dying due to road accident ,plane crash , rail accident. its doesn't meant we have to stop taking advantage of public and private/own transportation instead of this we incorporating more safety features , utilizing advance technology. Same is applicable for nuclear power plant also. We have to think constructive not destructive.
@Angela, Please realize that electrical power is the basic need for the day and a must for the developing country like mine. The demand is not meeting the requirement anywhere and we are approx. short of 40% when compared to requirement. Also understand that electrical power in India is more used in agriculture than luxury. Please take a visit to villages across India and see that they are suffering 12 hrs without power. Reaming time is used to pump the water to the fields. The scientist of my country has better stats of Nuclear power impact. Our PM and Dr Kalam stress for the need of 7 - 10 nuclear power plants because Coal is dying down not env friendly, Wind is not guaranteed source, Solar cannot be used for large production, Oil is costly. As of safety we need to leave it to our scientist and not to our priest let individuals do their job they are professionals in it. The wrist watch you are wearing is been manufactured from 1880 do you think you are still using that technology?
@Ramesh,Nuclear power todate provides only 3% of India's electricity, but generates atmospheric heat that requires 10% of India's electricity for air-conditioning due to this added atmospheric heat! If we add 80 more dangerous nuclear power plants we will get only 10% more electricity which will require probably 30% of the total electricity for ac for the added heat!. We lose 30% additional total electricity from faulty transmission towers! How does inherently dangerous nuclear power then help with the progress of the country??? This 1940's expensive way of generating power is now discarded in developed countries. If India is to come up and be a strong nation ,it has to switch over to alternate new modern 21st century technologies such as wind, solar and tides and hydro. Human error has no safety mechanism! Tsunami and earthquake sizes cannot be predicted.Better to be safe than sorry
Nation's interest stands first, We are not sure as to why only one religious heads are heading this protest. Are we paying the price of secularism and democratic rule?
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