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Chennai: The third round of talks between the central and the state panel on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) at Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu ended on Thursday with the exchange of reports but evoked varying responses from the two sides. While the convenor of the central panel A.E. Muthunayagam termed the meeting as "satisfactory", People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy's (PMANE) representative M. Pushparayan, who is part of the state panel, told IANS that the talks were "unsatisfactory".
"Today's (Thursday) meeting went off well with the Tirunelveli District Collector (R.Selvaraj) having good control over the proceedings and the anti-nuclear activists. We gave a report and they in turn gave us a report," Muthunayagam told IANS.
Meanwhile, Pushparayan said: "The two-hour deliberations largely centred around the need for documents requested by us to make the discussions meaningful; quality of construction; sterile zone near the reactor; reactor waste and its disposal." According to him, the central panel members suggested the activists to get the documents through the provisions of Right to Information Act.
"We have tried that but were not successful. Even the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report was denied to us when it was sought under the RTI Act. But recently the report was uploaded on the NPCIL's website," Pushparayan said.
According to Pushparayan, the central panel members told the state panel that Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has tested the construction quality of the reactor building and there is no worry on that. "We expressed that that construction was sub-contracted and the quality is not up to the mark," he said.
"The central panel members declined to meet the people and our own expert panel saying that such proposals are outside their mandate. However the collector asked us to give a representation on this aspect which will be forwarded to the central government for consideration," Pushparayan said.
He said both the panels exchanged reports - the PMANE activists gave the central panel a 70 page report prepared by their expert team and the central panel in turn shared its 75 page report on the concerns raised by the anti-nuclear power activists about the Kudankulam project.
According to the report prepared by PMANE formed expert committee, there is a need for volcanic hazard, karst hazard and tsunami hazard studies on KNPP site before the reactors are commissioned.
As per the report, the areas around KNPP have experienced small volume of volcanic eruptions between 1998-2001 and in 2005 and the nearest eruption occurred at just 26 km away from the project site.
"One cannot rule out such eruptions at the site itself. Issues of subduction, fire and impact of high speed missiles emanating from the burst need to be addressed," the report warns.
India's nuclear power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is building two 1,000 MW atomic power reactors at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from here.
Villagers fear for their lives and safety in case of any nuclear accident. Their agitation has put a stop to the project work, delaying the commissioning of the first unit slated for this month and increasing the project cost from the budgeted Rs.13,171 crore.
The central and state governments have formed two panels on the issue. The state panel has representatives of PMANE that spearheads the protest against the project.
As per plans, the multi-disciplinary central panel would meet the state panel and explain the safety features and other aspects of the KNPP. The state panel will, in turn, allay the fears of the people.
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