Anti-nuclear Protestors Reject Former Indian President’s Assurances

November 08, 2011: Unconvinced anti-nuclear protesters on Monday dismissed former Indian president’s claim that the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in South India has “adequate safety measures”. They continue their campaign against the plant in Tamil Nadu. The US$3 billion nuclear plant designed to produce 2,000 MW of electricity is almost complete and scheduled to be commissioned next month.

On Saturday, scientist and former Indian president Abdul Kalam toured the nuclear facility and told reporters the plant “has advanced safety facilities and is designed to withstand a tsunami and other natural calamities.” He said people “need not worry about the plant.” Kalam’s assurances, however, failed to convince opponents of the plant.

“We do not accept these assurances of Kalam who claimed in a news article that the nuclear energy is clean energy even before he visited the plant,” said Jones Thomas of the Coastal Protection Front.

“We respect Kalam, but he is very pro-nuclear,” he said. The protests began on September 11 with hunger strikes in Idinthakarai, a Catholic fishing village next to the plant in Tirunelveli district.

However, the fasts were later called off after the state government offered assurances it would hold consultations with the federal government. The campaign resumed after talks failed to meet the protesters’ demands and now people from more than 80 nearby villages have joined relay hunger strikes.