Has Russia taken India for a ride by supplying low quality machines for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant? Some of the machineries meant for Kudankulam were found damaged even before their installation, according to a top nuclear engineer.
“A team of Russians was flown in to get the machines repaired. The fact that the new machineries got faulty even before the reactors became operational is disturbing,” said a nuclear engineer with Bhabha atomic research centre, Trombay.
The engineer, who has nearly four decades of experience in the department of atomic energy (DAE), said the machineries were imported from Russia over the last ten years. Managers of the KNPP were unavailable for comments as many of them are on Diwali holidays.
In spite of the agitation by the locals against the nuclear power plant, the last couple of weeks saw Russian technicians and engineers escorted by commandos of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) entering the pant. This has given rise to speculation among Kudankulam residents that the reactor was being loaded with the real fuel. The DAE officials are on record saying the trial-runs with dummy fuel were a success.
The agitation against KNPP has reached its peak over the last one month. The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), spearheading the agitation, wants the Centre to close down the 1000 MW nuclear power plant. The agitators have been on a relay fast since October 18. The state government headed by the AIADMK, too, has come out in the open against the plant asking the government to address the concerns raised by the agitators.
Mohan Raj, convener of Green Movement, Tamil Nadu, said there was nothing surprising in the machines getting damaged. “They are being transported through sea and there is every chance of them getting damaged during the journey and shifting,” said Raj.
Pushparayan, leader of the PMANE said work at Kudankulam has come to a standstill following the agitation. “The scientists and technicians are virtually under house arrest because of our arrest,” he said.
Meanwhile, leaders of various anti-nuclear energy movements and environmentalists are assembling at the border town of Thekkady in Kerala next week to chalk out plan for a nationwide agitation and an awareness programme against nuclear power plants.
