New Delhi, Dec 5(ANI): Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Vaiko Gopalaswamy says plans to set up a nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu should be abandoned.
Addressing a news conference in New Delhi today, Gopalaswamy said that setting up a nuclear power plant in the state's Koodankulam district would be hazardous to local residents.
"The government should not attempt to commission the project of the Koodankulam nuclear plant. The entire area, where the plant is to be set up, about 30,000 people are living in and around Koodankulam. So it is always highly dangerous," said Gopalswamy.
The nuclear plant has become the centre of a wave of heated protests, with environmental activists and agitators voicing their ire at the government's apathy towards the dangers posed by nuclear energy.
In a bid to end the deadlock, the Central government has set up an expert panel to visit the project site and ease the fears of villagers.
Gopalswamy, however, says that nuclear energy is not economically viable for a country like India.
"To generate one megawatt through nuclear plant it costs Rs 21 crores. Whereas through other renewable energies like hydro-energy, it costs Rs.5 to 6 crores only. Only in solar energy it may cost Rs. 15 to 16 crores to generate one megawatt of electricity. But here Rs 21 crores has to be spent to generate one megawatt of electricity through nuclear plants," he said.
He further elaborated on the potential risks by relaying past disasters in Chernobyl in Ukraine and Fukushima in Japan.
"Apart from tsunami, there are accidents that take place inside the nuclear plants. And there is a serious danger of deadly radiation that has happened in Chernobyl. That is why we should not risk the lives of those people in and around the entire southern districts particularly Kanyakumari, Tirunelvelli. People will be terribly affected. So that is a risk for lives. So that is a lesson from Fukushima," he said.
The Koodankulam nuclear power project is a joint collaboration between India and Russia and aims to build two 1,000-megawatt VVER type reactors by end of this year.
However, in the wake of the Fukushima incident, several nuclear projects across India, such as one in Jaitapur in Maharashtra, have faced opposition from locals and activists.
India has a total installed power generation capacity of 164 gigawatts and aims to raise it to 187 GW by the end of March 2012. There are 20 reactors in operation in six power plants, generating over 4,000 megawatts of electricity while five other plants are under construction. (ANI)
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