Reviving their anti-nuclear stir, leaders of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy on Friday began an indefinite fast at Idinthakarai to press for implementation of some of their demands including scrapping plans to set up units 3 and 4 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.
Russia on Monday made very clear to India its unhappiness over two key bilateral issues-- Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant 3 and 4 and investments by its telecom company Sistema in the country, saying rules of the game should never be reconsidered till it is over.
The protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project on Tuesday spread to Chennai with members of various parties and outfits being arrested for staging road blockade in various parts of the city.
"During the second quarter of this year we expect to deliver fuel to the first reactor at the Kudankulam," head of the Russian Automic Energy Agency Sergei Kiriyenko told reporters as he visited the construction site of the plant.
Acting tough against anti-nuclear activists demanding closure of Kudankulam nuclear power plant, five key functionaries of a body spearheading the movement against KNPP were arrested at the plant site on Monday.
Modi said Kudankulum 1, an Indo-Russian project, was an important addition to the continuing efforts to scale up production of clean energy in India.
The assessment of government in New Delhi is that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha will, eventually, support the Indo-Russian joint venture Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project.
As engineers race to commission the nuclear power plant at Kudankulam, the government has given its nod to build two more such units of 1,000 MW at the site in Tirunelveli district of power-starved Tamil Nadu.
India's nuclear establishment is continuing its march of folly at the expense of safety in the false belief that atomic power is the energy of the future. It's not. Nuclear power is in relentless global decline, says Praful Bidwai.
Stepping up their protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, spearheading the stir, would lay siege to the sea at about 500 meters away from the KNPP on Monday.
The attack also refreshed the memories of a virus attack on an Iranian nuclear facility.
Around 2,000 anti-nuclear activists were arrested on Monday as they thronged the streets in Chennai in an attempt to lay siege to the state assembly as mark of protest against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant.
With the much-delayed Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project expected to be commissioned by April, anti-KNPP activists on Monday revived their protest by laying a siege to the plant through sea.
The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response of the Centre and the Department of Atomic Energy for allegedly exempting the Russian company involved in setting up of Kudankulam nuclear power plant from paying damages in case of an accident.
Taking a leaf from 'Jal Satyagraha' activists in Madhya Pradesh, the activists of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy stood in the waters close to the shores in a new turn to their year-long protests.
The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a plea seeking a stay on commissioning of the Kudankulam nuclear plant till all safety measures are put in place.
"We have reviewed all concerns raised by the protestors in our report. We also analysed the central expert group committee's report, which has answered all 44 questions raised by protestors. We found the report satisfactory," Srinivasan, former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, told PTI
In what is suspected to be the handiwork of anti-nuclear activists, a car of a contractor working at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project site was found gutted on Wednesday, as protesters met to draw up a strategy to oppose loading of fuel in the reactor.
Protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project that have led to delay in its commissioning are "gimmicks and games" of those who do not want to see India emerge stronger, Russian Ambassador to India Alexander M Kadakin has said.
Continuing his fast against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, convener of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy S P Udayakumar on Monday said the protesters were "ready" for talks.
The crucial nuclear deal on the construction of four more additional reactors for the nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu was due to be signed in Moscow in November 2007 during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Moscow visit.
Intensifying their campaign against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, activists on Wednesday sought the support of the international community for scrapping the project and making the world 'nuclear free'.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa regarding the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant after meeting an all-party delegation from the state.
There was reorganisation and consolidation of Russian nuclear industry as part of the global nuclear renaissance to control nuclear supply chain, which also contributed to the delay
The first 1,000 MW unit of the much-delayed Kudankulam nuclear power project could be commissioned in the next few days and every step is being taken to ensure safety, a senior official said.
India's first 1000 MW atomic power plant built with Russian collaboration at Kudankulam is just two steps away from going critical, a top official said on Friday.
The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant suffers from lack of safety measures and is plagued by several other "serious issues". It must not be commissioned till they are resolved, anti-nuclear activists told the Supreme Court on Thursday. Appearing before a bench of Justices K S Radhakrishanan and Deepak Misra, they submitted that the safety measures recommended by the Atomic Energy Regulation Board have not been put in place.
Scaling up their protest against loading of fuel at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, anti-nuclear activists and fishermen on Saturday laid siege to the port in Tuticorin but work was not disrupted, officials said.
Controversy-embroiled Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project will once again miss the target as the time frame of commissioning of the first unit has now been revised to the new year.
As protests rage in Kudankulam and reach a crescendo, V Ponraj, scientific advisor to Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, speaks about the report he and the former Indian President prepared in this interview with rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
Asserting that the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant belonged to the "highest safety category" of plants currently in operation in the world, the Centre on Tuesday sought dismissal of petitions in the Madras high court against the Rs 14,000 crore Indo-Russian project.
The Supreme Court on Thursday wanted to know from the Centre as to what would be the guarantee that there would be no radio active substance in the spent fuel to be stored at the controversial Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu to prevent any accident.
Suspecting foreign hand behind protests against Kudankulam nuclear plant, the government has launched a probe into functioning of six non-government organisations in Tamil Nadu and a notice has been issued to them seeking explanation of utilisation of funds received from abroad.
Russia has completed delivery of nuclear fuel for India's Kudankulam Atomic Power Plant, which is in its final stages of construction in Tamil Nadu. According to Russian nuclear energy industry Atomenergoprom's website, the nuclear fuel rods consisting of not more than 4.1 per cent uranium-235 have been delivered strictly under the IAEA guidelines and contractual obligations. The fuels will suffice for the physical launch of one reactor.
There is a secured system to tackle cyber attacks and there is a segregation of nuclear generation from the administrative segment, There is a secured system to tackle cyber attacks and there is a segregation of nuclear generation from the administrative segment, he said.
The first unit of the controversy-hit Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, with a capacity to produce 1,000 MW, is expected to start commercial operations in August. The first unit has attained 99.3 per cent of physical progress as on April and commercial operation is likely by August, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited said.
Expressing unhappiness over the Supreme Court order which gave the green signal for commissioning of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, anti-nuclear activists on Monday termed the decision as "unjust" and said protests will continue.
The shutdown will affect the power supply to Tamil Nadu during the peak of summer.
Minister of State in PMO V Narayanasamy said the 'cold run' of the power plant will begin in the presence of Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission officials within ten days time and the tests will go on for 15 days from then.
Legal hitches appear to have cropped up in the plans to set up two new reactors in the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project and a commercial agreement on it is unlikely to be signed at the Annual Summit between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday.
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