NEW DELHI, February 1 (Itar-Tass) —— The special committee composed of 15 members from the Indian government was dispatched to the southern Indian state Tamil Nadu, where the Kudankulam nuclear power plant is under construction. It is the main project of Russian-Indian nuclear cooperation. The committee completed its work on Tuesday, confirming that Russian reactors are safe for operation, the IANS news agency reported.
The Indian People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (one of the organizations, which stages protests in Tamil Nadu) now can present the results of the report made up by the committee to the people in order to dispel their fears, a representative of the committee Muthunayagam said. If some additional explanations are needed the committee can send an expert, Muthunayagam said.
The arguments of the committee did not convince the opposing party. A coordinator of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy Udaya Kumar noted that the organization does not believe in negotiations.
The launch of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant was delayed for two months as a result of the protest actions against the use of nuclear power that took place. In the middle of October the protests resumed, the demonstrators blocked the road leading to the nuclear power plant, preventing engineers and builders from accessing the plant.
Russia’s Atomstroyexport assists in the construction of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. The Kudankulam project is based on the agreement between the former Soviet Union and India signed in November 1988. The agreement envisages bilateral cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear power. The Kudankulam construction was launched after the general agreement on the Kudankulam construction and the memorandum on the basic principles of cooperation and mutual commitments were signed in November 2001. Russia committed to provide technical support for the project, the supplies of equipment and materials, as well as the training of the Indian personnel of the nuclear power plant.