Anti-nuke activists protest against power plants in TN

Chennai, Oct 7: More than 300 anti-nuclear activists today staged a protest here against the Koodamkulam atomic power plant in Koodankulam even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a state delegation that he would depute a panel to address the safety concerns of local population.

The protestors, under the banner of People's Coalition Against Nuclear Power Plants, also demanded that the Madras Atomic Power Station in Kalpakkam near here be gradually phased out.

"We want the Koodankulam project to be scrapped and the Kalpakkam plant to be gradually phased out. When the whole world is going for solar driven energy, why are we going behind nuclear which is not safe?" asked Convenor of the coalition S D Rajendran, who led the protest. He wanted the government to make public how Kalpakkam nuclear plant was handling it effluents.

"There are people including children who suffer from cancer in areas around Kalpakkam and the fish catch in the sea near the plant is dwindling," Rajendran alleged. The protest was held on a day when a delegation of Tamil Nadu Government and activists protesting against the Koodankulam plant met the Prime Minister in New Delhi. Singh told the delegation that a high level panel would address the nuclear safety concerns of the locals.

PTI