By giving a clean chit to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), even before submitting its final report to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the State experts' committee has lost its credibility, alleged People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) convener S.P. Udayakumar on Thursday.
In a open letter to the Chief Minister on the occasion of her 64th birthday, Mr. Udayakumar said though the local people were surprised and shocked by the inclusion of former Atomic Energy Commission chairman M.R. Srinivasan in the committee, they had accepted it, reposing faith in her.
“The committee visited the plants in Kudankulam for a few hours on February 18 and met the representatives of the PMANE next day. We pleaded with them to visit the local villages and listen to the view of people living there. But, they steadfastly rejected our request… We were pained by the committee's decision,” he said.
Mr. Udayakumar said that by making adequate modifications, the Kudankulam project could be converted into a natural-gas based power plant as was done in the case of the Shoreham nuclear plant in the US in the wake of people's opposition. “The money invested in the Kudankulam project can thus be saved.”
Mr. Udayakumar said that Tamil Nadu would not withstand an earthquake like the one that hit Fukushima, especially in view of the tremor witnessed in the villages surrounding Kudankulam in 2006.
“If there is an earthquake, we have to evacuate 15 lakh people living in a 30 km radius of Kudankulam.”
“By making adequate modifications, the project can be converted into a natural-gas based power plant”
“The money invested in the Kudankulam project can thus be saved”
