CHENNAI: Members of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) on Wednesday put forth its views on the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) before Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and expressed their grouse that the fourmember expert committee appointed by the State had submitted a biased report on the plant ignoring the views of the local people.Answering a volley of questions after meeting Chief Minister at the Secretariat, S P Udayakumar, convenor of the PMANE, said, “We are not just bothered about the building that houses the atomic plant at Koodankulam.Even the daily routine emissions from the plant would affect the local people.There are different claims about the emissions by S K Jain, Kasinath Balaji and former President APJ Abdul Kalam. No one has given facts.” Udayakumar said the local fishermen would lose their employment opportunities when the hot radiated water from the atomic plant flows into the sea. The Atomic Department has refused to speak about the impact when the plant is decommissioned.He said more than 15 lakh people living in the 30 km area around the project site would be affected in the event of any emergency. It would be very difficult to evacuate them.“PMANE is a genuine, apolitical, people’s organisation and we have no political aspirations ... we are not harbouring any desire to contest for becoming members of Assembly or Parliament ... or we are not spearheading this agitation for money-making,” Udayakumar asserted.Dr Ramesh, who was also present at the meeting, said, “We informed the Chief Minister about the volcanic hazards in Koodankulam area and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited not looking into the geological issues seriously. The NPCIL had not conducted any volcanic hazard study as small volcanic eruptions had taken place in 1998, 1999, 2001 and in 2005. The closest eruption occurred at just 26 km away from the KKNPP site,” he said.
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