Blaming the Centre's "inaction" for the stalemate over the Koodankulam nuclear power plant issue, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday said her government was firm on suspension of the work on the controversial project till people's concerns were addressed.
The plant was earlier scheduled for commercial operations in December but it was deferred to March next due to the stir by locals and resultant stand-off between them and government. The commercial operation of the second unit to produce another 1000 mw is now expected by February 2013, the NPCIL said.
In the letter, they have demanded the halting of the construction of the plant claiming that it violated the International Atomic Energy Agency safety guidelines as 'the nuclear plant is in a tsunami and earthquake prone region, which has also experienced small volcanic eruptions and is affected by water shortages".
The Centre is looking into Tamil Nadu's demand for allocation of entire power to be generated from the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant, Minister of State in the PMO, V Narayanasamy on Friday said.
Carrying different views on the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project, a delegation of Tamil Nadu Government and activists opposed to the plant will discuss the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Friday.
In an exclusive conversation with rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar, KNPP director K Balajee says his team worked 15 hours a day to get the plant ready, and now they are sitting idle thanks to the escalating protests.
'We have launched a massive outreach programme, not only at Koodankulam but at all operating projects and those proposed. You will see the change, though this needs time and some healing,' says Kailash Chandra Purohit, the new chairman and managing director of Nuclear Power Corporation
Officials of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited are inspecting the first unit of Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tirunelveli district after removing dummy fuel from the reactor prior to getting clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory board to upload the real fuel.
Anti-nuclear activist S P Udayakumar, spearheading the stir against Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant on Tuesday sent a legal notice to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his comments on the funding of the protests against the project.
India's nuclear regulator on Friday said it has granted permission for loading of fuel into the much-delayed Kudankulam atomic power plant.
Experts from Atomstroyexports, the Russian firm which supplies equipment to the nuclear power plant at Koodankulam in the district, had left the site as permission was not granted to them by police to visit the area due to ongoing protest by locals against the project.
Union Minister V Narayanasamy on Saturday said it is the responsibility of the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government to allay fears of locals over the Koodankulam nuclear power plant and asked religious groups not to instigate anti-nuclear protesters.
The Union Home Ministry has referred two cases of Tamil Nadu-based Non-Governmental organisations for investigations for FCRA violations. The two NGO's have been organising demonstrations against setting up the Koodankulam nuclear power plant in the state.
The condition of five persons including S P Udhayakumar, who are fasting for the last eight days as part the Koodankulam agitation, worsened on Tuesday with doctors advising shifting them to a hospital, officials said.
Fuel is being loaded in the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Outside, the agitation continues, though to most observers it seems futile -- the fishermen continue to fast, stand in knee deep water one day and neck deep water the next day. A Ganesh Nadar reports
Talks to break the logjam over the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project made no headway on Friday with protestors terming as "failure" the discussions with the Central government's expert committee on the issue.
In an exclusive conversation with rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar, KNPP director K Balajee says his team worked 15 hours a day to get the plant ready, and now they are sitting idle thanks to the escalating protests.
Amid public resistance to nuclear power projects at Jaitapur and Koodankulam, the Department of Atomic Energy has said the work on both plants will be completed but their could be delay.
Check to see how!
R S Sundar, the site director of KNPP, on how the plant is producing 1,000 MW of nuclear power, the largest in the country.
Demanding that the Centre immediately scrap the Kudankulam Nuclear power project, social activist Swami Agnivesh on Thursday sought a high-level enquiry and public hearing to 'expose' corruption in the energy sector.
In one village, a woman asks, "They are always showing cash seizures on television, you think some of it will escape and we will get money as usual?" "Only 1 percent of cash is actually seized, the rest has arrived, you don't worry," a party worker assures her. Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar reports on the election in the southern-most tip of the country.
The Centre has zeroed in on Kovalam village in Kanyakumari district for a new port, but fishermen's protests could derail this plan.
'I don't think we will need to support or get support from the Congress. I hope there is no such political exigency. The Congress will be gone from the political scene. There is no lesser evil. The BJP and Congress are the two sides of the same evil coin,' anti-Koodankulam nuclear plant activist and new AAP member S P Udaykumar tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar.
Anti-nuclear activist S P Udayakumar, who has been called a threat to the economic security of India by the Intelligence Bureau, speaks to A Ganesh Nadar.
Muzzling NGOs is unbecoming of a democracy. Self-confident democracies encourage, indeed applaud, the involvement of citizens' associations, including NGOs, in social and political decision-making and development planning. Instead, our paranoid government bullies and terrorises them, says Praful Bidwai.
The government must justify why we need to buy foreign reactors when we have developed up to 700 MWe unit-size pressurised heavy water reactors, a design which can be easily extended to 900 to 1000 MWe unit size. Why can't the 'Make in India' philosophy apply to indigenous nuclear reactors, more than 18 of which have been designed, built, and being operated by Indian engineers, asks Dr A Gopalakrishnan.
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.
'We see different people bringing different resentments and we feel this is the result of the deprivation of an identity because of the reintroduction of Hindi, the Hindutva overtones in the national discourse, the betrayal of the Dravidian parties and even small things like the Devanagiri script in the Rs 2,000 note.'
'The government is using the Intelligence Bureau to go after NGOs.' 'It is not only the NDA, the UPA also didn't like NGOs.' 'NGOs predominantly work with the poor. So, when you cancel an NGO, the affected are the poor, the Dalits, the tribals, the street children and the marginalised.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances