An expert committee appointed by the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday submitted its report on the safety aspects of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNNP) to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, marking a crucial stage in the debate over the project. At the same time, the State government invited the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) representatives for talks on Wednesday.
“Let the government have a cool view of the report,” said M.R. Srinivasan, former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and member of the experts committee, told reporters after submitting the report to Ms. Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat.
Though Dr. Srinivasan said it was inappropriate to say what the report contained and what it did not, he indicated that the four-member committee was fully satisfied with the KKNPP's safety aspect. Asked about the safety aspect, he said, “I have not taken back my words on the issue.”
On February 20, after visiting the nuclear plant and holding talks with PMANE representatives in Tirunelveli, Dr. Srinivasan had said the state-of-the-art safety features incorporated in the reactor had made it a ‘third generation plus' reactor.
S. Iniyan, Director of Centre for Energy Studies, Anna University, D. Arivuoli, Professor, Department of Physics, Anna University and former IAS office L.N. Vijayaraghavan are the other members on the committee.
To a question whether the committee had any time schedule for the government to act on its report, Dr Srinivasan said, “We don't want to suggest any timetable.”
As the State government has invited anti-KKNPP Struggle Committee for talks, its representatives S.P. Udayakumar, S. Sivasubramanian, M. Pushparayan and Dr. Ramesh from Coimbatore will meet the Chief Minister on Wednesday.
Legal notice
Meanwhile, Mr. Udayakumar has sent a legal notice to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for insinuating that the anti-Kudankulam protests were funded by United States and the Scandinavian non-government organisations.
Advocate M. Radhakrishnan, who sent the notice on behalf of Mr. Udayakumar, said the Prime Minister had made a “false statement with an intention to harm his client's reputation”.
“The statements amount to an imputation which directly, in the estimation of the members of the public, lowers the moral character of my client and also lowers the credit of my client,” he said and urged the Prime Minister of India to make amends in an appropriate manner.