SC clears Kundankulam nuclear plant as ‘safe, beneficial’
06 May 2013
In a blow to anti-nuclear activists but giving relief to the union and Tamil Nadu government, the Supreme Court on Monday approved the commissioning of the controversial Kudankulam nuclear plant.
''The Kudankulam plant is safe and secure and it is necessary for larger public interest and economic growth of the country,'' a bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said.
"Nuclear power plants are needed in the country for the present and future generations," the bench observed, clearly backing the authorities and giving no credence to the protestors.
The court had reserved the verdict following marathon arguments over the last three months on a batch of petitions was filed by anti-nuclear activists challenging the project on the ground that safety measures recommended for the plant by an expert body have not been put in place.
They also raised various questions pertaining to the disposal of nuclear waste, the plant's impact on the environment and the safety of people living nearby, besides other issues linked to the controversial plant.
The centre, the Tamil Nadu government and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, which operates the plant, had refuted all the allegations on safety and security aspects. They had submitted that the plant is completely safe and can withstand any kind of natural disaster or human attack.
The bench, at the first hearing on 13 September last year, had refused to stay the loading of fuel for the plant but agreed to examine the risk associated with the project, saying the safety of people in its vicinity is its key concern (See: SC refuses to stay fuel loading at Kudankulam).
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