Top scientists warn PM over Kundunkulam N-plant
15 May 2013 7:00 AM IST
Scientists from various marquee institutions of the country have written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, along with chief ministers of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, expressing their concern about the use of substandard components in the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tiruneveli in southern Tamil Nadu. The Supreme Court, in a ruling on 6 May, gave its nod for the commissioning of the plant. Another copy of this letter was sent to the department of atomic energy (DAE).
According to the scientists, four valves in the crucial safety system were found to be defective. ‘As the chief minister of the states, hosting and neighbouring the nuclear power plant, the two of you have a responsibility to satisfy yourself and the residents of Tamil Nadu and Kerala that the plant has been constructed to the highest safety standards,’ the letter read, signed by 60 scientists.
It further added, ‘Any exercise to assure oneself of the quality of components used will have to be done before the plant is commissioned. Once commissioned, the radioactive environment in sections of the plant will make it impossible to access and test some potentially critical components’.
The letter was signed by scientists from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras and Bombay, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) and several other research institutes.
According to the scientists, four valves in the crucial safety system were found to be defective. ‘As the chief minister of the states, hosting and neighbouring the nuclear power plant, the two of you have a responsibility to satisfy yourself and the residents of Tamil Nadu and Kerala that the plant has been constructed to the highest safety standards,’ the letter read, signed by 60 scientists.
It further added, ‘Any exercise to assure oneself of the quality of components used will have to be done before the plant is commissioned. Once commissioned, the radioactive environment in sections of the plant will make it impossible to access and test some potentially critical components’.
The letter was signed by scientists from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras and Bombay, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) and several other research institutes.
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