Tamil Nadu: Activists threaten legal case after two Kundankulam nuclear plant units are given clearance
- Chennai-based NGO Poovulagin Nanbargal has been fighting the clearance given to units three and four in the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant
- The activists claim the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) granting ‘first pour of concrete’ (FPC) to the units is a violation of its own guidelines
- An Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for the units was done by Engineers India Ltd, a non-accredited agency to do EIA for nuclear power plants and it is under Supreme Court's review
FollowAnti-nuclear activists are up in arms again after the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) granting ‘first pour of concrete’ (FPC) to units three and four in the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP).
Chennai-based NGO Poovulagin Nanbargal has been fighting the clearance given to the two units. The activists claim the regulatory body has overlooked its own guidelines and the clearance is illegal.
According to a report by The New Indian Express, The AERB has given the FPC order on June 19, 2017. The activists say that the Criteria for regulation of health and safety of nuclear power plant personnel, the public and the environment, 2001, states that total population in the sterilised area should be small, preferably less than 20,000.
However, the KKNPP units 3 to 6 have three villages with a population of above 23,000 within a distance of five km. And the clearance is a violation by the AERB of its own code.
The NIE report also states that the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance granted to units 3 to 6 of Kudankulam is based on an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) done by Engineers India Ltd, a non-accredited agency to do EIA for nuclear power plants and it is under the Supreme Court review.
Â
