JOIN USIn view of reports on supply of alleged sub-standard equipment to Kudankulam nuclear power plant, a fresh plea was filed on Tuesday in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, seeking direction to the Centre to restrain the commissioning of the project.
G Sundarrajan, an anti-nuclear activist, pointed out some “disturbing” developments. He is one of the PIL petitioners, who had earlier raised safety concerns over the plant.
A bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra reserved its verdict in the matter on December 6, last.
In an application filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan, the petitioner alleged that the Russian security agency, the Federal Security Service, had arrested Sergei Shutov, the procurement director of Rosatom subsidiary Zio-Podolsk, which had supplied equipment to the plant, on the charges of sourcing sub-standard steel blanks.
“Equipment manufactured with cheap Ukrainian steel have been used in nuclear reactors built by the Russians in Russia, Bulgaria, Iran, China and India. The dangers of such substandard equipment and construction became evident on July 17, 2011, when the containment building of the Leningrad NPP-2 reactor that was under construction collapsed exposing the crumbling of steel structures,” it stated.
The application contended that delay in the commissioning of the plant was happening primarily due to these facts but the government has refused to share any information.