Flagging the “deep concern and apprehensions” of the people of Tamil Nadu over the disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) in Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to take action for transporting back the SNF to Russia. He said that he was making the earnest appeal on behalf of the eight crore citizens of Tamil Nadu.
“I request that in the interest of public safety, health and welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu, action may be taken to transport back the SNF to Russia. This must not only be for units 1 and 2, but also for the subsequent four units. In case this is not a feasible option, the spent fuel may be permanently stored in a Deep Geological Repository (DGR) in an uninhabited and ecologically non-sensitive area,” Mr. Stalin wrote to Mr. Modi.
The first two of the six 1,000 MW each nuclear power reactors planned in Kudankulam have been commissioned, while two others are under construction and the remaining two are yet to be established. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited proposes to construct an ‘Away from Reactor’ facility on the nuclear power plant site itself for storing the SNF generated from all six reactors.
