INTRODUCTION

A nuclear power station currently under

construction in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Construction began in 1997 Owner: Nuclear Power Corporation of India ltd. KKNPP has been built on the sea coast like any other electricity generating station including the coal-fired plants.

HISTORY(25 years of sweat and toil)

An Inter-Governmental Agreement on the project was

signed on November 20, 1988 by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev , for the construction of two reactors. The project remained in halt for a decade due to the political and economic upheaval in Russia after the post-1991 Soviet breakup. US also objected on the grounds that it didnt meet the 1992 terms of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) Environmentral impact of nuclear power & its threats

REASONS OF CONTROVERSIES :
The KKNPP reactors are being set up without sharing the

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Site Evaluation Study and Safety Analysis Report with the people. More than 1 million people live within the 30 km radius of the KKNPP which far exceeds the AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) stipulations. It is quite impossible to evacuate this many people quickly and efficiently in case of a nuclear disaster at Koodankulam. It would be emitting Iodine 131, 132, 133, Cesium 134, 136, 137 isotopes, strontium, tritium, tellurium and other such radioactive particles into our air, land, crops, cattle, sea, seafood and ground water. The important issue of liability for the Russian plants has not been settled yet. Defying the Indian nuclear liability law, Russia insists that the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA), secretly signed in 2008 by the Indian and Russian governments, precedes the liability law and that Article 13 of the IGA clearly establishes that NPCIL is solely responsible for all claims of damages.

 The March 11, 2011 disaster in Fukushima has made it all

too clear to the whole world that nuclear power plants are prone to natural disasters and no one can really predict their occurrence. The Tamil Nadu Government G.O. 828 (29.4.1991 Public Works Department) establishes clearly that area between 2 to 5 km radius around the plant site, [would be] called the sterilization zone. This means that people in this area could be displaced. But the KKNPP authorities promise orally and on a purely adhoc basis that nobody from the neighboring villages would be displaced. This kind of adhocism and doublespeak causes suspicion and fears of displacement. The coolant water and low-grade waste from the KKNPP are going to be dumped in to the sea which will have a severe impact on fish production and catch.

SALIENT SAFETY FEAUTURES OF KKNPP

Passive heat removal system to provide cooling for

the removal of decay heat using atmospheric air. Higher redundancy for safety system. Double containment. Additional shut down systems like quick boron and emergency boron injection systems to ensure absolute safety for shut down of the reactor, when needed. Core catcher to provide safety in the unlikely event of fuel melt-down Passive hydrogen re-combiners which do not need any power supply to absorb any hydrogen liberated inside the containment.

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
Reactors under construction

4 X 1170 MW 2 X 1000 MW Water-cooled, water-moderated power reactors.[ Four more reactors to be added to the plant under a memorandum of intent signed in 2008. Advanced safety features like passive heat removal system, double containment, Core Catcher, and hydrogen re-combiner instead of conventional systems.

CONTROVERSIES
As of October 2011, thousands of protesters and

villagers living in southern Tamil Nadu protested and demanded its closure due to fear of the disasters Environmental impact of nuclear power Radioactive waste Nuclear accident similar to the radiation leak in March at Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster. Advanced countries like Germany decided to shutdown all its 17 Nuclear reactors which contributes to 23% of the countrys energy. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed against the governments civil nuclear program at the apex Supreme Court.

FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR DISASTER

Series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns,

and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant six separate boiling water reactors originally designed by General Electric (GE), and maintained by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) At the time of the quake, Reactor 4 had been defuelled while 5 and 6 were in cold shutdown for planned maintenance Several hydrogen explosions occurred. Release of radioactive radiations.

CURRENT SCENARIO
Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said the

Kudankulam nuclear plant was absolutely safe but failed to convince the agitation against the commissioning of the plant , located 650km from Chennai.

 According to Former Atomic Energy Commission

(AEC) chairman,M R Srinivasan nuclear energy is the only option to meet the country's energy needs.
The Tamil Nadu State government-constituted

experts committee on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project issue began its visit to Tirunelveli on 18.02.2012 and held talks with the representatives of protesters.