The Tamil Nadu chief minister, M K Stalin, on Friday asked Prime Minister Narenda Modi to take action to transport back the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at the Kudankulam Nuclear Project located in Tirunelveli district to Russia, in the interest of public safety, health and welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu. In case this is not a feasible option, the spent fuel may be permanently stored in a deep geological repository (DGR) in an uninhabited and ecologically non-sensitive area, he requested in a letter sent to the PM.
Six nuclear power reactors of 1000 MW are envisaged in Kudankulam Nuclear Project and out of the six, units 1 and 2 have already been commissioned, units 3 and 4 are under construction and units 5 and 6 are yet to be established. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India proposes to construct ‘Away from Reactor’ facilities in the nuclear power plant site itself for the storage of the SNF generated from all six reactors.
Stalin’s move to approach the PM comes close on the heels of the opposition to the ‘Away from Reactor’ (AFR) facility at Kudankulam nuclear power plant in the state by the locals, environmentalists and politicians.
Stalin said that when the ministry of environment, forests and climate change had earlier accorded permission to units 1 and 2, the agreement was to collect and store the spent fuel temporarily within the unit’s premises and then send it back to the country of origin, Russia. However, it was subsequently decided to store the SNF permanently in the Away from Reactor (AFR) facility to be located within the unit premises. The chief minister said this decision was taken without consulting the state government.
“ In this connection, I share and convey the deep concern and apprehensions of the people of Tamil Nadu including various political parties regarding the hazards and potential danger of the AFR storage facility of the SNF within the plant premises. Several such facilities across the world have faced accidents leading to disastrous impacts on the environment and the people residing in and around such plants. The local people are apprehensive of the fallouts and have been protesting against the AFR facilities within the complex,” Stalin said.
