INTRODUCTIONA nuclear power  station currently under

construction in Koodankulam  in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian  state of Tamil Nadu.

Construction began in 1997Owner: Nuclear Power Corporation of India

ltd.KKNPP has been built on the sea coast like

any other electricity generating station including the coal-fired plants.

HISTORY(25 years of sweat and toil)An Inter-Governmental Agreement on the project

was signed on November 20, 1988 by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev , for the construction of two reactors.

The project remained in halt for a decade due to the political and economic upheaval in Russia after the post-1991 Soviet breakup.

US also objected on the grounds that it didnt meet the 1992 terms of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)

Environmentral impact of nuclear power & its threats

REASONS OF CONTROVERSIES : The KKNPP reactors are being set up without sharing the

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Site Evaluation Study and Safety Analysis Report with the people.

More than 1 million people live within the 30 km radius of the KKNPP which far exceeds the AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) stipulations. It is quite impossible to evacuate this many people quickly and efficiently in case of a nuclear disaster at Koodankulam.

It would be emitting Iodine 131, 132, 133, Cesium 134, 136, 137 isotopes, strontium, tritium, tellurium and other such radioactive particles into our air, land, crops, cattle, sea, seafood and ground water.

The important issue of liability for the Russian plants has not been settled yet. Defying the Indian nuclear liability law, Russia insists that the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA), secretly signed in 2008 by the Indian and Russian governments, precedes the liability law and that Article 13 of the IGA clearly establishes that NPCIL is solely responsible for all claims of damages.

The March 11, 2011 disaster in Fukushima has made it all too clear to the whole world that nuclear power plants are prone to natural disasters and no one can really predict their occurrence.

The Tamil Nadu Government G.O. 828 (29.4.1991 – Public Works Department) establishes clearly that “area between 2 to 5 km radius around the plant site, [would be] called the sterilization zone.” This means that people in this area could be displaced. But the KKNPP authorities promise orally and on a purely adhoc basis that nobody from the neighboring villages would be displaced. This kind of adhocism and doublespeak causes suspicion and fears of displacement.

The coolant water and low-grade waste from the KKNPP are going to be dumped in to the sea which will have a severe impact on fish production and catch.

SALIENT SAFETY FEAUTURES OF KKNPPPassive heat removal system to provide cooling for

the removal of decay heat using atmospheric air.Higher redundancy for safety system.Double containment.Additional shut down systems like quick boron and

emergency boron injection systems to ensure absolute safety for shut down of the reactor, when needed.

Core catcher to provide safety in the unlikely event of fuel melt-down

Passive hydrogen re-combiners which do not need any power supply to absorb any hydrogen liberated inside the containment.

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTIONReactors under construction 4 X 1170 MW 2 X 1000 MW Water-cooled, water-moderated power

reactors.[

Four more reactors to be added to the plant under a memorandum of intent signed in 2008.

Advanced safety features like passive heat removal system, double containment, Core Catcher, and hydrogen re-combiner instead of conventional systems.

CONTROVERSIESAs of October 2011, thousands of protesters and

villagers living in southern Tamil Nadu protested and demanded its closure due to fear of the disasters

 Environmental impact of nuclear powerRadioactive wasteNuclear accident similar to the radiation leak in

March at Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster.Advanced countries like Germany decided to

shutdown all its 17 Nuclear reactors which contributes to 23% of the country’s energy.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed against the government’s civil nuclear program at the apex Supreme Court.

FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR DISASTER

Series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant

six separate boiling water reactors originally designed by General Electric (GE), and maintained by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)

At the time of the quake, Reactor 4 had been de-fuelled while 5 and 6 were in cold shutdown for planned maintenance

Several hydrogen explosions occurred.Release of radioactive radiations.

CURRENT SCENARIO

Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said the Kudankulam nuclear plant was absolutely safe but failed to convince the agitation against the commissioning of the plant , located 650km from Chennai.

According to Former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman,M R Srinivasan nuclear energy is the only option to meet the country's energy needs.

The Tamil Nadu State government-constituted experts’ committee on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project issue began its visit to Tirunelveli on 18.02.2012 and held talks with the representatives of protesters.