Koodankulam: Russia calls protests unfortunate,says all norms in place

“What is happening in Tamil Nadu is unfortunate. It looks like that the protests will shadow the commissioning of the plant which is going to happen in December,” said Senior Counsellor Sergey V Karmalito in the Russian Embassy.

The protests have intensified against the project since the announcement late last month that the first of the two 1×1000 MWe reactors set up at the coastal village of Koodankulam would be commissioned in December,resulting in Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa writing to the Prime Minister seeking a halt on its opening.

Asserting that all safety norms were put in place,Karmalito said following the Fukushima nuclear disaster,all “new requests” by India about the safety of the plant have been taken into consideration.

“Last month we conducted the trial runs,which was very important step as we checked all safety measures apart from whatever was envisaged of the plant in terms of features and productivity,” he said.

It is not correct to compare the Fukushima plant with Koodankulam as the reactor in Japan was constructed decades ago and the one in Tamil Nadu is “one of the most powerful and modern reactors” in the world,he said.

The Senior Counsellor said the delay in commissioning of Koodankulam can have a cascading effect on other agreements and projects. “According to reports,what we understand is that the agitation is happening because they (protesters) want experts to explain and address safety issues relating to the power plant. We hope that Indian government and the atomic department will soon do so,” he said.

Given the fact that energy security is one of the most important issues in India,Russia hopes that this situation is addressed soon,Karmalito said.

However,he said given the “positive” past experience with India,the ongoing protests will not influence future cooperation between the two countries.

He said Russia has provided technical assistance to India and also critical expertise in the power plant project.