JOIN USAtomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman, Srikumar Banerjee addressed the experts group meeting at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai, emphasizing the need to “solve the problem by dispelling people’s fears about KNPP.”
The high-profile closed-door meeting was attended by 13 of the 15 members of the expert group from different disciplines, well informed sources told Deccan Herald on the condition of anonymity. Two of them could not make it to Chennai on Saturday due to prior commitments.
The experts group is composed of specialists from wide-ranging disciplines from environmental science, mechanical engineering and others. The group was constituted by the DAE on October 20, in the wake of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assurance that the local people’s concerns will be addressed with regard to the KNPP. The group hopes to interact with government and the agitators on an “appropriate platform” to be provided by the Tamil Nadu Government.
Though this was their first meeting, Banerjee addressed the issues raised by the protesters and other political parties, as well as the optional solutions left to them in earnest.
The experts group will make an in-depth study on each point of concern raised by the public representatives and “get ready with the answers” in the next ten days, sources said. Once the State Government facilitated the platform for interaction, they will “go to Kudankulam and interact with the people there; we can’t just speak from the streets,”.
One of the panel members told Deccan Herald, that they had realised that the protests on the ground were based on “inadequate information and inadequate understanding” of safety and related issues post-Fukushima disaster.
“Proper information is either not available to the people or it is plain misinformation; we will go into what their fears are, why they have these fears and try to dispel all apprehensions,” he said.
“Today’s meeting of the experts group is just the first cut,” he said, adding that there will be a delay in commissioning of the first 1000 MW unit at KNPP as “there is no progress in the work at all.” Meanwhile, the DAE has sought an appointment with Chief Minister J Jayalalitha and they hope to tie-up the modalities for interacting with the people in the next ten days.
Banerjee himself stressed that only “minimal maintenance activities at KNPP must be continued.”