Chennai: On the 150th day of the anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) protests on Thursday, the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) said it will reiterate its demand that the central government-appointed committee interact with their experts at the next round of talks.
"We have not been officially intimated about the fourth round talks between the Tamil Nadu government formed panel - in which PMANE has two members - and the central government appointed expert committee," M. Pushparayan, convener of the Coastal People's Federation and a PMANE member, told IANS. "We came to know from newspapers that a meeting is slated Jan 31," he added.
"We will reiterate our demand that the central government-formed expert committee deliberate with our own panel of experts on the issues raised by us. However, we will not boycott the next round of talks," Pushparayan said.
Villagers of Kudankulam, Idinthakarai and others in the neighbourhood fear for their lives and safety in case of a nuclear accident. Their agitation has put a stop to the project work, delaying the commissioning of the first unit slated for last month and increasing the project cost from the budgeted Rs.13,171 crore.
The central and state governments have formed two panels to allay the fears of the people. The state panel has representatives of PMANE that is spearheading the protest against the project. The multi-disciplinary central panel will meet the state panel and explain the safety features and other aspects of the KNPP. The state panel will, in turn, allay the fears of the people.
A.E. Muthunayagam, the convenor of the central panel, told IANS: "We are planning to have the next round of talks Jan 31 at Tirunelveli. We will submit our observations on the report submitted by PMANE activists."
According to the report prepared by PMANE's expert committee, there is a need for volcanic hazard, karst hazard and tsunami hazard studies at the project site before the reactors are commissioned. The report said the areas around KNPP have experienced small volume of volcanic eruptions between 1998 and 2001 and in 2005 and the nearest eruption occurred just 26 km away from the project site.
Muthunayagam said: "We have gathered data on that from various organisations. Six people are studying and preparing the response to the report submitted by PMANE members." Asked about PMANE's demand of the central panel meeting their expert committee, he said: "Our mandate is to meet and discuss with people chosen by the Tamil Nadu government."
Operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is building two 1,000 MW atomic power reactors at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from here.
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