India Work resumes at Kudankulam nuclear plant

By S Venkat Narayan
Our Special Correspondent

 NEW DELHI, March 20: Work resumed at the controversial Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday amid tight security a day after the state government gave the go-ahead to the Indo-Russian project.

Officials at the plant in the state's Tirunelveli district said they hope the first unit will be commissioned "as soon as possible".

"We are happy that the state government is with us. All our 1,000 employees, including Russian specialists, have moved to the site. We started our work yesterday itself," KNPP Site Director M Kasinath Balaji told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency at the site of the plant.

"We will put all our efforts to make up for lost time and try to commission the first unit as soon as possible," he said. Work was stopped in September last year after locals went on a fast protest on the grounds that the nuclear plant poses a threat to their lives and livelihood.

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Dr Sukumar Banerjee said there is no damage to the plant after work came to a standstill following eight month-long protests by locals, spearheaded by the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) over safety concerns.

"We are very happy work has started again and there is full force today. The plant is definitely very safe. There is no damage to the plant," he said.

Russian engineer Marinev Alexander said, "Today is a special day for us."

PMANE convenor SP Udayakumar and associate M Pushparayan along with some others have been on an indefinite fast in Idinthakarai, the epicentre of the protests, opposing the arrest of 10 of their activists on Monday. Police launched a crackdown on the protesters arresting 180 of them since Monday.

Describing as unfortunate the clearance given to the plant, Udaykumar complained that people in the 30 km radius of the nuclear plant have not been given any disaster or evacuation training.

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