Fri, 2012-09-28 01:36 — editor
From R. Vasudevan—Reporting from New Delhi
New Delhi, 28 September (Asiantribune.com) :
The Supreme Court on Thursday made it clear that it can stop
commissioning of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant if it finds that the
mandatory safety requirements for it have not been in place.
A bench of justices K.S. Radhakrishanan and Deepak Misra said the safety
of plant and the people living in its vicinity is its prime concern and issued
notices to the Centre and the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board on a plea
challenging the environmental clearance given to the controversial project.
“We will not hesitate to stop the plant if we find that the mandatory
safety requirements have not been taken care of at the site,” said the bench
while posting the case for further hearing on October 4, 2012.
The court earlier had refused to stay loading of the fuel in the plant
but had agreed to examine the risk associated with the project.
The court was hearing an appeal by social activist G. Sundarrajan
against the Madras High Court’s decision refusing to impose any restraint
against the plant.
The petitioner contended that after last year’s nuclear disaster in
Fukushima in Japan, the Atomic Energy Regulation Board (AERB) had recommended
17 safety measures for the plant which have not been put in place. It said till
now only six safety measures have been adopted and the government will take two
years to implement the rest of the recommendations.
- Asian Tribune -
