Environmental group Poovulagin Nanbargal has written to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) seeking an inspection by an committee that includes independent experts from various fields into the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), after operations at the first unit were stopped yet again. The first unit commenced operations after 108 days last week but had to be shut down after a ‘technical snag’ just three days later.
Letter to AERB
In a letter to the AERB Chairman, G. Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal said the Unit 1 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project had tripped over 40 times since October 2013. Listing out various instances of the unit tripping, he said “Globally, a nuclear reactor, on occasion of shut down, will be restarted within 45-60 days after maintenance. But in case of KKNPP Unit 1, it takes at least four months for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) to restart the reactor, after maintenance which is an alarming situation.”
G. Sundarrajan, of Poovulagin Nanbargal, said that despite Supreme Court directions, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. never submitted any report regarding the various malfunctions to the AERB.
Technical problems
“The NPCIL’s failure in sending any reports to the AERB and other authorities can be confirmed by the ‘Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, Units I and II’, published on March, 2017,” he said.
Referring to the concerns raised in the audit report, he said many serious technical problems existed in the KKNPP.
This requires immediate action by the AERB and sought the formation of an Expert Committee to look into the issues, he added.
