Atomic Energy panel chief fails to meet Jayalalithaa

Amidt uncertainty over the completion of 2,000 Mw Kudankulam project due to ongoing agitation by villagers, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Srikumar Banerjee and Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) chairman and managing director S K Jain on Saturday failed to get audience with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

Banerjee and Jain had sought Jayalilathaa's appointment in a bid to seek her intervention so that NPC's scientists and engineers were able to enter into the plant for carrying out essential and maintenance services. The work at the plant has come to a halt since October 12. Jain told Business Standard, "We did not meet the Tamil Nadu chief minister. We had sought her appointment to apprise her the situation but we did not get the confirmation."

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Jain, however, said Bankerjee and he met the convenor of the 15 member expert group appointed by the government to interact with the official of Tamil Nadu government and spokespersons of people in the neighbourhood of Kudankulam project. "We explained the current state of affairs to convenor of the expert group. We now expect the state government to get an appropriate platform for holding deliberations between the expert group and people from the area."

Jain said a minimum activity was necessary to maintain Kudankulam plant's health and it cannot be shut like a car manufacturing factory. NPC chief informed that in view of the blockade the employees and scientists were unable to reach the site and maintain the systems. He warned that this may cause serious damage to the computer, electronic and ventilation systems. He admitted that the work has been stopped at the plant but reiterated that entry of the maintenance and surveillance staff into the plant was necessary to keep the system running.

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NPC official argued that during the construction of the project the entire effort is made to ensure that release of any radioactivity or radiation in the public domain affecting the public and the environment is minimized to be well within the prescribed regulatory limits. The reactor building containment has withstood the structural integrity and leak rate test at the test pressure, which is much higher than the design pressure. The design of Kudankulam reactors also incorporates features such as core catcher, hydrogen management system to mitigate severe accident scenario as witnessed at Fukushima in Japan.

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However, the steering committee of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, says scrapping of the project is non-negotiable and the government should use the site for solar and wind power.

On the other hand, many local people admit the project has led to a spurt in economic activity in the nearby areas, evident from the increasing number of small scale units, petrol stations and construction projects. Three petrol pumps have come up around the Kudankulam project alone. Y Rajesh, who works with a three star hotel, notes that the realty sector is on roll. "Land price, which was just Rs 300-400 per cent (100 cent is equal to one acre) earlier, has gone up to Rs 1-4 lakh in just four years.

M R Srinivasan, former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, blames the "ill-informed" protests to NGOs from Germany, Finland, US, France, Australia and Norway. "This is clearly a campaign against India. This is also to run down the Russian VVER-1000 reactors which have been deployed in the Kudankulam project," Srinivasan says. E N Dudkin, head of the Russian specialist group at the Kudankulam project, says he is "plain amused" by the sudden protest by villagers. "The VVER-1000 reactors have four active safety system and they are designed to withstand the fall of any flying object including plane crash and also high- magnitude tsunami," Dudkin says.