APJ ABDUL KALAM VISITED KUNDANKULAM PLANT

APJ ABDUL KALAM

VISITED KUNDANKULAM PLANT

Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Sunday,5^th,November,2011, visited the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu and said the plant was totally safe and a 'boon to the people'.The government also sought to remove apprehensions about the plant's safety in the face of agitation by villagers from neighbouring areas with Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V. Narayansamy asserting that the plant was among safest in the country and there was no need to worry. Kalam told reporters at the site that the third generation nuclear reactor is totally safe and is a boon to the people.

'The nuclear plant is built at a correct height and there is no threat of tsunami (damage to it),' he added.He said electricity is necessary for India's economic growth. Kalam also said his visit to the plant was 'purely as a technologist and scientist and not to mediate with the protesters, and to verify the safety features incorporated in the nuclear power plant located on the Indian coast'.He viewed the safety features of the two Russian reactors being set up in Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from Chennai. Kalam also met a group that wants the plant to start generating power.

'He is fully satisfied with the active and passive safety features of the nuclear reactors in Kudankulam. The passive safety system is working very well. The reactor heat removal system is the most modern in the world,' Kalam's adviser V. Ponraj told IANS on phone.He said Kalam was satisfied with the core catcher safety feature, whereby in the event of an accident, the reactor core will be contained.'The fears of people are unfounded as everything at the plant is perfect,' Ponraj said.

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) chairman and managing director S.K. Jain accompanied the former president during his visit. Meanwhile, Narayanasamy said Kudankulam project was one of the saftest in the country.'In fact, all the features of safety measures have been taken care of. We have got four-layered safety measures,' Narayanasamy told reporters. He said Kudankulam was a place which can even withstand the effect of a tsunami.He said the nuclear reactor has to be kept in cool position whatever the circumstances.

'All the safety positions for the purpose of keeping the plant in a cool position have been maintained. Therefore, no need to worry as far as safety is concerned. This is our scientists view, my view, this is our government's view,' Narayanasamy said.NPCIL is building two 1,000 MW nuclear power reactors with Russian technology and equipment in Kudankulam.The first unit is expected to go on stream in December. The project is estimated to cost around Rs.13,160 crore (over $2.5 billion).However, villagers fear for their lives and safety in case of any nuclear accident and the long-term impact it would have on the population.Their agitation has put a stop to the project work thereby delaying the commissioning of the first unit by several 
months.

 The 39-page report has been authored by Kalam and his advisor V. Ponraj. It will be submitted to the state and central governments, Ponraj told IANS.The report asks New Delhi to link Kudankulam and other villages in Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from here, with Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Madurai.Industries that can provide direct employment to around 10,000 people should be located within a 30-60 km radius of Kudankulam and youth should be extended subsidised loans for starting their own business ventures, suggest Kalam and Ponraj.

They also suggest the building of 'green houses', apartments for people living along the shores of Kudankulam and neighbouring areas.For the benefit of fishing community small jetties, fish processing units, cold storages should be built.On providing drinking water to the populace, Kalam, a former nuclear and missile scientist, has suggested setting up a one million litres per day desalination plant and also bringing water from Pechiparai dam for drinking as well as agricultural use.The report has also recommended building a 500-bed hospital in Kudankulam area, setting up tele-medicine hospitals in all villages and two mobile hospitals with facilities to carry out diagnostic tests.

The setting up of five state board and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) stream schools with hostel facilities, provision of broadband connections and disaster management centre and provision of higher education with proper training to selected youth and placing them in a permanent job are the other suggestions.According to the report, the government should also start other schemes in consultation with the local populace.It should allay fears of the people about the Kudankulam nuclear power plant by providing them proper information.The report went on to say that the central government should join hands with the state government to start generation of power at Kudankulam that houses the safest reactors in the world.

India's nuclear power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is building two 1,000 MW nuclear power reactors with Russian technology and equipment in Kudankulam.The first unit is expected to go on stream in December. The project is estimated to cost around Rs.13,160 crore (over $2.5 billion).
However, villagers fear for their lives and safety in case of any nuclear accident and the long-term impact it would have on the population.Their agitation has put a stop to the project work, thereby delaying the commissioning of the first unit by several months.According to the report, Tirunelveli district is expected to attract an investment of around Rs.20,000 crore with the setting up of the 4,000 MW (2,000 MW existing and 2,000 MW in the future) nuclear power plant which would feed the state nearly 50 percent of the power produced.

                                                                                               Prof. John Kurakar