Kundankulam villagers demand nuke plant closure

Months away from commercial production, Kudankulam nuclear plant is facing severe resistance from the villagers.

The latest being, the road block in the highway by the villagers to demand closure of the nuclear plant in Kudankulam.  Though the government has repeatedly assured about the safety measures, the villagers said they don’t believe government assurances that the facility is safe.

Some villagers near the Koodankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu state have been fasting for five days. They occupied the road on Thursday to intensify their protests.  The protesters, along with hundreds of local fishermen who fear that waste water discharged from the plant into the sea will ruin their fishing grounds blocked the road to the plant restricting the engineers and scientist to the premises of n- plant. The Russian-built plant has not yet started operations.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote to chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday saying that all precautions will be taken at the nuclear plant to maintain the “highest safety standards.” “The government fully shares the concerns of the people of the area and will take all steps to allay their fears,” Singh said in the letter.

India, which has 20 nuclear power plants, has ambitious plans to quadruple its present 5,000 megawatts of nuclear power to 20,000 Mw by 2020 to fuel the energy demands of its booming economy. Tamil Nadu is one of the most industrialized states, and the Koodankulam nuclear power plant is intended to help meet its growing power needs.

Anti-nuclear activists have stepped up their opposition to the plans for expanded nuclear power since an accident in March at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami released large amounts of radiation.

“Since the Fukushima accident, atomic energy authorities and the state-run company that operates Indian nuclear plants have conducted a series of safety checks on installations.

Singh has repeatedly given assurances that Indian nuclear reactors have an impeccable record.