Power generation in Kudankulam nuke plant will take time, say officials

Coimbatore, Dec 17 (ANI): Reacting to a recent statement made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, officials from the controversial Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu has said that power generation from the project was expected to take 'some time.'

Since the past many months, Kudankulam has been the epicentre of a wave of heated protests, with environmental activists and agitators voicing their ire at government apathy towards the dangers posed by nuclear energy.

Despite repeated assurances, irate locals have stepped up their protests in the past few weeks, aiming to ratchet up pressure on the government to shutdown the Kudankulam project, fearing a possible recurrence of the recent disaster witnessed in the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.

Many experts believe that concerns of the locals are unfounded, highlighting the efficiency of existing nuclear safety and monitoring mechanisms put in place by the government. Owing to this, Prime Minister had revealed that the Kudankulam project would begin commission within two weeks.

However, Additional Chief Engineer (Civil) of the Kudankulam Nuclear Plant, R Suresh, disclosed that no work had actually taken place in the project till now.

"Prime Minister had only said that the plant would begin commissioning in two weeks. He never said power will be generated within two weeks. For the past two months, no work has been happening inside the plant, except that of minimum maintenance. Work at the plant will begin soon," Suresh told the media here.

Ramesh, the chief maintenance engineer of Kudankulam plant, further assured that the project officials would ensure that radiation leaks from the reactor would never exceed the prescribed amount.

"So far, no power generation has started in Kudankulam. Compared to other nuclear plants in India, the allowed percentage of radiation leak is 10 to 15 micro Sievert. If the Kudankulam plant starts to function in all 6 nuclear reactors in Kudankulam, we cannot allow more than 1000 micro Sievert of radiation leak per year...this is a regular standard fixed by the regulatory body and we will maintain these norms at any cost," said Ramesh.Established in joint collaboration between India and Russia, the Kudankulam nuclear power project envisages to build two 1,000 MW VVER type reactors by end of December 2011.

However, in the wake of the Fukushima incident, several nuclear projects across India, such as the one at Jaitapur in Maharashtra, have run into rough weather as protesting locals and activists argue that such plants could adversely affect the environment. (ANI)