Jaya appeals PM to temporarily put on hold Koodank'm nuclear plant

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that work on the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project be halted till the fears of the people in the area are allayed.

Amid mounting protests against the project, Jayalalithaa's missive came three days after she sought to allay the fears of local population that the Indo-Russian joint venture in Tirunelveli district has adequate safety parameters and appealed to agitators to end their fast.

She said the plant was safeguarded even from a tsunami and was located in a zone not prone to earthquakes.
With barely three months left for the commissioning of the first of the two 1x1000 MWe reactors set up at the coastal village of Koodankulam District, Jayalalithaa said the scope and magnitude of the issue was creating a fear psychosis among people and villages surrounding the project area.
"I request you to kindly issue suitable instructions to the concerned authorities that further work on this project may be halted, until this issue is settled," she said.
Singh spoke to Jayalalithaa after she sent a letter to him seeking a halt to the project, being constructed with Russian help, till safety concerns are addressed, sources said.
Narayanasamy will meet the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary to get an idea about the protests which are going on at the project site for some time, the sources said.
He will also meet leaders of the agitating people and those on hunger strike, if needed, they said.
On Wednesday, a presentation will be made to the Chief Minister on the safety measures put in place at the project site, they said.
The agitation against the project has intensified since late last month after the authorities announced that the first of the two 1x1000 MWe reactors set up at the coastal village of Koodankulam would be commissioned in December.