The Union Government will take steps to commission the stalled Koodankulam nuclear power plant ‘as early as possible’, Union Minister of State in the PMO V. Narayanasamy said on Sunday, adding it was incurring a Rs. 750 crore loss per month by lying idle.

"In coordination with the Tamil Nadu Government, the Union Government will jointly work out the mechanism to open the Koodankulam nuclear power plant as early as possible," he said in a brief chat with reporters at Karaikal.

The PM’s Take on Agitation.

Russia's ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin has said that his country's stand on American non- government agencies (NGOs') stalling the Kudankulam nuclear project in Tamil Nadu has been vindicat

The Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) has stepped up its plan to reachout to villagers in the vicinity of the upcoming Kudankulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu, in a bid to remove their misunderstandings and explain to them the safety features of the proposed 2,000-Mw plant.

A similar drive has been launched at the 20 nuclear plants across the country, NPC executive director N Nagaich said on Friday. Apart from meeting villagers individually, the state-run corporation lays emphasis on organising plant visits, holding scientific meetings and interactive sessions.

With Tamil Nadu reeling under acute power shortage, the Chief Minister, Ms J.

Nuclear energy still has a role in India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said as he appeared to blame some US-based NGOs for difficulties at the Kudankulam nuclear plant.

The safety of people and environment has always been the priority of the nuclear industry, stressed M. Kashinath Balaji, Director of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, here on Thursday.

He was inaugurating an interactive session, ‘National summit on nuclear safety' organised in connection with Conjura-12, the annual technical and cultural festival of the TKM College of Engineering. “The global nuclear industry, with 430 reactors operating, has clocked a cumulative experience of 14,000 reactor years of safe operation. Indian reactors have clocked 350 reactor-years,” he said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has criticised non-governmental organisations that receive support from abroad for stalling the use of genetic engineering in agriculture and leading protests against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.

In an interview published in the latest issue of journal Science, Dr. Singh pointed to the potential of biotechnology, saying “in due course of time we must make use of genetic engineering technologies to increase the productivity of our agriculture.”

Senior official hopes to commission the first unit by August
There finally seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel with regard to the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu.

A senior official of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited on Wednesday expressed confidence that the situation could return to normal within the next four to six weeks, paving the way for its commissioning in August.

Pressure is mounting on the Indian government to commission the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) at the earliest.

Officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) carried out an inspection of the KNPP on Monday in order to ensure that the nuclear fuel kept in the storage room was not being diverted for purposes other than generation of power.