Replying to a question on the maintenance of the plant,
PTI | 02:01 PM,Jan 28,2012Balu said all equipment need to be maintained to ensure satisfactory and long performance. "In so far as Koodankulam is concerned, whatever...that is essentially required, that is being attended to. But this needs to improve and more and more people should be allowed to go to work there. So that maintenance of equipment can be done in a more sustained manner," he said. Asked whether the 15-member central expert group will meet the expert panel set up by the protesters, as demanded by them, he said, "It is the government which decides that the expert group of the central government will meet the Tamil Nadu representatives on a particular day. So they have decided that there will be a meeting on (Jan) 31st." Balu hoped that the meeting would bring about a resolution to the issue. "But to say that with a sense of finality, it is difficult at this point of time, because we have been answering all their questions and in our minds we have addressed all issues raised by them already, as far as the expert group is concerned. And if they have more questions, we will be happy to answer them," he added. The previous three rounds of talks between the panels held on November 7, 18 and December 15 last year failed to make any headway towards commissioning of the first unit at the KNPP located in Tirunelveli district as local people protesting against the project were not satisfied with the answers given by the expert group to their queries. The Indo-Russian joint venture ran into trouble with anti-nuclear activists and local people going on protest citing safety concerns in the wake of the Fukushima disaster early last year.
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