Says A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at the 9th Annual Nehru Memorial Lecture at JNU

“India will go for nuclear power; there are 542 nuclear power plants all over the world and nuclear energy is a clean energy….Compare this to other forms of energy.…people riding motorbikes release an enormous amount of carbon dioxide for every litre that is used…” – thus replied former President A.P.J Abdul Kalam when questioned by students of Jawaharlal Nehru University here on Wednesday about his stand on the controversial Kudankulam nuclear power plant.

Several “good practices” too at atomic plant, to be shared with global nuclear industry

The safety review of units 3 and 4 of the atomic power station at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has ended with the inspection team identifying certain deficiencies in the operations of the units. The team has found problems in the maintenance of the fire doors and electrical cables and has flagged a need for improvements in certain aspects of the surveillance-testing programme and the system for root cause analyses.

This is first of country's 20 nuclear plants and IAEA's 171st globally

International Atomic Energy Association’s (IAEA) 12-member operational safety review team (OSART) would complete on Wednesday its operational safety performance of 3&4 units of Rajasthan Atomic Power Stations (RAPS). This is IAEA’s 171 st OSART review across the globe since the programme´s inception in 1982 and first of any nuclear power plant in India.

JAIPUR: Raising doubts over the inspection by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) in Rawatbhata, anti-nuclear activists on Friday demanded safety examination by an independent body. Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) and People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL) claimed that the exercise is a mere eyewash and power generation through nuclear plants is hazardous for people.

The activists fear that the IAEA will give clean chit to Rawatbhata nuclear plant where implementation of proper safety measures is still under a cloud.

The Centre on Wednesday maintained in the Supreme Court that for establishment of a desalination plant for Units 1 and 2 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, no fresh environmental clearance was required.

Additional Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran made this submission before a Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra, hearing the Kudankulam case.

The anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project protestors have decided to stage a road roko on two arterial highways in December demanding the closure of the ready-to-be-commissioned nuclear reactors.

A decision to this effect was taken in the meeting held at Idinthakarai, on Tuesday, in which representatives of a few political parties and some organisations participated along with activists.

The debate over nuclear energy will go on, but the issue with the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) is one of the several illegalities on which it is founded.

In 1988, India inked the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant deal with the former Soviet Union. Two key elements in it were: the highly dangerous and toxic “Spent Nuclear Fuel” (SNF) would be shipped back to the Soviet Union; and the massive volumes of fresh water required to cool the plant would be supplied from Pechiparai dam, in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) formally granted approval on May 9, 1989 on this basis. But there was no further progress until 1997.

Commissioning of first unit of KNPP was scheduled for Dec last yr but has been delayed due to year-long protests

Seeking to take their campaign against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant to a global level, anti nuclear activists today sought support of the international community in their efforts to scrap the project and make the world 'nuclear free'. In a letter to various Foreign Missions in New Delhi and here, People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) said though global nuclear industry tries to promote nuclear power as the answer to global warming and climate destruction, the global community knows for sure that "poisoned Earth with nuclear waste cannot be the answer for polluted air".

Nearly 1,800 agitators, including party leaders, arrested and released later

Hundreds of anti-nuclear activists, including many owing allegiance to different political parties, were arrested here on Monday after they attempted to march towards the Secretariat. The protesters alleged that the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project posed a grave threat to the safety of the people and demanded its closure.

A 12-member team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan on Monday for carrying out an in-depth safety review of two units of the atomic power station in the town. This is the first operational safety review team (OSART) mission in the country being conducted at the Union government’s request.

The team comprises experts from the nuclear power plants of Canada, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden. The OSART mission will stay at the Rawatbhata plant till November 15. The review will check adherence to the nuclear regulator’s safety standards and proven good practices.

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