<p>Anti-nuclear activists have sought details of the emergency plan from the authorities to check their preparedness in evacuating people living within the 16-km radius of the Tamil Nadu's 1,000 MW Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP), an activist said Tuesday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"According to the atomic energy project norms, the 16-km radius from a nuclear power plant is defined as evacuation zone or emergency planning zone. In case of any nuclear accident, people living within that radius have to be evacuated. <br /><br />"We want to know the preparedness of the three district administrations in mass evacuation as the Kudankulam plant is said to be ready for commissioning," M. <br /><br />Pushparayan, a leader of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which has been opposing setting up of the KNPP told IANS by phone from Tirunelveli.<br />Pushparayan said there were around 40-50 villages within the 16-km radius of the KNPP.<br /><br />According to the PMANE activist, a Right to Information (RTI) application with 14 queries was filed with the Kanyakumari district administration Tuesday.<br /><br />Similar applications will be filed with the district administrations of Tuticorin and Tirunelveli Wednesday.<br /><br />The RTI applications seek information like whether the district administration officials and police were consulted about the KNPP's off-site emergency preparedness plan (EPP), or about ways and means of dealing with possible emergency situation at the KNPP. <br /><br />They also want to know whether the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) had given the district and police officials any detailed action plan to tackle any emergency; whether any off-site emergency response coordination committee exists; and whether the authoritis have stocked iodine tablets.<br /><br />While giving its nod for the KNPP recently, the Supreme Court had laid a condition that the NPCIL and the Tamil Nadu government "...based on the comprehensive emergency preparedness plan should conduct training courses for on-site and off-site personnel". <br /><br />Such personnel include state government, police, fire service officials, medicos, and other emergency services officials.<br /><br />In June 2012, NPCIL and the Tirunelveli district administration conducted an emergency exercise at Nakkanery village, around seven km from KNPP, which PMANE termed as sham and deceptive.<br /><br />India's atomic power plant operator NPCIL is setting up the KNPP in Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu, around 650 km from here, with two Russian-made VVER 1,000-MW reactors.<br />KNPP is an outcome of the inter-governmental agreement between India and the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1988. However, construction began in 2001.<br />Fearing for their safety in the wake of nuclear plant accident in Fukushima in Japan, villagers in the vicinity under the banner of PMANE have been opposing the project.<br />The project, however, got delayed mainly due non-sequential supplies of components from Russian vendors.<br /></p>
<p>Anti-nuclear activists have sought details of the emergency plan from the authorities to check their preparedness in evacuating people living within the 16-km radius of the Tamil Nadu's 1,000 MW Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP), an activist said Tuesday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"According to the atomic energy project norms, the 16-km radius from a nuclear power plant is defined as evacuation zone or emergency planning zone. In case of any nuclear accident, people living within that radius have to be evacuated. <br /><br />"We want to know the preparedness of the three district administrations in mass evacuation as the Kudankulam plant is said to be ready for commissioning," M. <br /><br />Pushparayan, a leader of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which has been opposing setting up of the KNPP told IANS by phone from Tirunelveli.<br />Pushparayan said there were around 40-50 villages within the 16-km radius of the KNPP.<br /><br />According to the PMANE activist, a Right to Information (RTI) application with 14 queries was filed with the Kanyakumari district administration Tuesday.<br /><br />Similar applications will be filed with the district administrations of Tuticorin and Tirunelveli Wednesday.<br /><br />The RTI applications seek information like whether the district administration officials and police were consulted about the KNPP's off-site emergency preparedness plan (EPP), or about ways and means of dealing with possible emergency situation at the KNPP. <br /><br />They also want to know whether the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) had given the district and police officials any detailed action plan to tackle any emergency; whether any off-site emergency response coordination committee exists; and whether the authoritis have stocked iodine tablets.<br /><br />While giving its nod for the KNPP recently, the Supreme Court had laid a condition that the NPCIL and the Tamil Nadu government "...based on the comprehensive emergency preparedness plan should conduct training courses for on-site and off-site personnel". <br /><br />Such personnel include state government, police, fire service officials, medicos, and other emergency services officials.<br /><br />In June 2012, NPCIL and the Tirunelveli district administration conducted an emergency exercise at Nakkanery village, around seven km from KNPP, which PMANE termed as sham and deceptive.<br /><br />India's atomic power plant operator NPCIL is setting up the KNPP in Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu, around 650 km from here, with two Russian-made VVER 1,000-MW reactors.<br />KNPP is an outcome of the inter-governmental agreement between India and the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1988. However, construction began in 2001.<br />Fearing for their safety in the wake of nuclear plant accident in Fukushima in Japan, villagers in the vicinity under the banner of PMANE have been opposing the project.<br />The project, however, got delayed mainly due non-sequential supplies of components from Russian vendors.<br /></p>