Koodankulam: Centre & state committees to meet on Tuesday

"We have with us experts constituted by the government of India and we will meet those whom the state government wants us to at Tirunelveli tomorrow," K Balu, a member of the central committee, told reporters here.

Apparently unhappy with anti-nuclear protestors not accepting former President A P J Abdul Kalam's assurance of KNPP's safety, he said it is unfortunate and sad they do not feel satisfied even after he inspected the plant. "It's unfortunate and sad... but then it is necessary for us to find out what the problem is."

Balu, former Director of Nuclear Waste Management Group, BARC, (Nuclear Waste Management) said waste treatment at Koodankulam was similar to that of other reactors in India.

He pointed out that KNPP was not the first nuclear reactor being built in India and that waste treatment here was no different from that in Tarapore or Rajasthan. "There are so many operational reactors in India and we have been managing the waste for over 40 years."

The fact was that proper communication of safety measures incorporated "has not trickled down" to locals in a convincing manner, he said.

Balu said "our mandate is to look at the science and technology aspects of the safety of the installation to allay the fears of the people. Anything beyond that is beyond our mandate."

Meanwhile, representatives of protestors are preparing their draft which will be presented to the Centre's expert panel when both sides meet at the Tirunelveli District Collectorate at 11 AM tomorrow.

"We are preparing our draft and will discuss with the Centre's committee tomorrow," M Pushparayan, one of the two representatives from the protestors in the six-member state government committee, told PTI over phone.