Chennai: Tamilnadu Assembly Speaker M Appavu and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) have opposed the Centre’s decision to set up the Spent Fuel storage facility on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) site, with the former citing China’s increasing presence in neighbouring Sri Lanka posing danger to it.
The Centre has decided to set up the spent fuel storage facility for KNPP Unit 3 and 4 at Kudankuilam site.
Talking to reporters at Radhapuram, from where he was elected to the State Assembly, Appavu urged the Centre to reconsider its decision to set up the spent fuel storage facility at Kudankulam.
Stoutly opposing the Centre’s decision, he said the situation was different as along Sri Lanka was a friendly-country. But the increasing Chinese presence in Lanka poses a danger to KNPP, he said.
Stating that at a time when it was not known where the spent fuel of KNPP Unit 1 and 2, which has been generating power, are stocked, he took objection to the Centre’s decision in finalising the location to set up the spent fuel storage facility for the Units 3 and 4, which are still under construction.
Pointing out that the southern districts of Tamilnadu and southern parts of Kerala would be affected in the event of any untoward incident, Appavu pointed to the presence of ISRO’s Liquid Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri, about 25 km from Kundankulam, and urged the Centre to shift the Spent Fuel storage location from Kudankulam.
Appavu wanted it be shifted to a place uninhabilited by people and suggested the unused Kolar Gold Mines in Karnataka or Thar desert of Rajasthan as the choice of location.
PMK Youth Wing leader and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Anbumani Ramadoss also objected to the setting up of the facility at Kudnakulam and termed it as ‘dangerous’ as the entire southern districts of Tamilnadu will be severely affected in the event of a radiation leak.
Urging the Centre to drop the move and shift the location to areas where it was not inhabited by the people, Dr Anbumani, in a series of tweets, said it was a violation of the Supreme Court order which had stated that the spent fuel storage facilities of the two units has to be located at other place.
He also claimed that the spent fuel of the first two Units of KNPP were stored only in Kudankulam.
Meanwhile, anti-nuclear activist G.Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal also objected to the Centre’s decision and demanded immediate stoppage of further nuclear power generation in Units-1 an 2 and construction works for Units 3 and 4 at Kudankulam till the Supreme Court orders on storage of spent fuel was adhered to.
He also condemned the clearance given by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) last month for setting up the spent fuel storage facility or Away From Reactor (AFR) spent fuel storage facility at Kudankulam for the 1000 MW each third and fourth units which were under construction.