Fake Commissioning Planned at Koodankulam?

NONVIOLENCE, ENVIRONMENT, ACTIVISM, ASIA--PACIFIC, ENERGY, BRICS, JUSTICE, DEVELOPMENT, KUDANKULAM ANTI-NUCLEAR SATYAGRAHA, INDIA, 20 May 2013

People’s Movemenmt Against Nuclear Energy – TRANSCEND Media Service

May 12, 2013

With a view to freeing up Russia from supplier liability, charges of theft and abject project failure, the Indian nuclear establishment has begun to claim that the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) is not a Russian turnkey project.

Following the Supreme Court’s verdict, the Indian nuclear authorities are announcing various dates to fake-commission the project and trying to protect their own self interests and save the Russians from all the embarrassing and serious charges. Instead of answering the component-related concerns, financial improprieties and liability commitments in an earnest manner, they are spreading irresponsible rumors and conjectures as they have been doing since 2005 about commissioning the Koodankulam project.

In fact, the KKNPP authorities do not even allow journalists anywhere near the Koodankulam reactors for fear of their smelling any of the fishy things that have been happening there. In an interview to rediff.com, Mr. R. S. Sundar, the site director of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), has claimed that they are facing difficulties with the media. Here is Mr. Sundar’s confusing answer to Mr. A. Ganesh Nadar’s specific question:

Why do you not allow the media anywhere near the plant?

We are restricting the media because of the difficulties we are facing with the media. The public have been visiting the plant regularly. The public is knowledgeable. They ask as many questions as journalists. We have faced tough questions from them, clarified their doubts and convinced them.

The Indian government, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), and the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) do not even want to walk the extra mile of assessing the quality and safety of the components with a team of independent scientists, engineers and journalists. No one in India knows anything about the omissions and the commissions of the KKNPP, NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.), AERB, DAE, AEC (Atomic Energy Commission) and their Russian counterparts and suppliers. Even the Indian courts seem to accept the establishmentarian views in spite of the fact that they have laid down fifteen recommendations in their recent judgment. They all want commissioning (no pun intended). Even if it is a fake one! So all the thefts, untested technology, unsafe components and the overall failure could be buried in radioactive contamination and inter-governmental cover up.

But we, the ordinary citizens of India, have decided to turn to our fellow citizens and Mother Nature to protect the interests of our country and people. We will persist with our campaign and we shall overcome.

The Struggle Committee
People’s Movemenmt Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE)
Idinthakarai 627 104
Tirunelveli District
Email: koodankulam@yahoo.com

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 20 May 2013.

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