The Japanese disaster has also triggered concern over the safety of existing nuclear facilities lining the country?s shoreline. Of the 20 nuclear power plants in the country, five are located in Tamil Nadu, with the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) located on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, 80 km from Chennai. Residents of Kalpakkam, where the plant is located, have faced the 2004 tsunami and remember how the wall raised along the sea coast to protect the plant was smashed down by the raging waves.
Pugazendhi, a doctor and social activist spearheading a campaign on safety of nuclear plants at the local level at Kalpakkam, says they are demanding that the government set up a modern radiation detection facility to study radiation levels in the environment, besides periodic testing. SP Udaya Kumar of the People?s Movement against Nuclear Energy is concerned about the safe disposal of radioactive toxic waste.
S Muthu, an autorickshaw driver, says it for the general public when he points out that the plant is a high-security area where civilians are not allowed. ?We can?t know about what happened to the plant during the 2004 tsunami. But watching what happened at the Japanese nuclear station has raised our fears afresh,? he says.
