By Arvind Padmanabhan, IANS,
On Board Air India One : An expert panel on safety at the Kudankulam nuclear plant will be formed by Thursday and a letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on the subject was indeed sent, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Wednesday.
“I do feel we can give reasonable satisfaction to all the stakeholders who are worried about the safety of the atomic energy plant at Kudankulam,” the prime minister said while returning from Pretoria after the India-Brazil-South Africa Summit.
“For that matter I have offered to the chief minister (Jayalalithaa) that we will set up a high-level group to interact with the state government and with the local population. That will be set up today or tomorrow,” he added.
The prime minister said he was aware of the comment by the Tamil Nadu chief minister that the relevant letter had not reached her and said he was sorry to learn about that.
“I had sent the letter. When I go back I will look at my office as to why the letter that was sent did not reach her in time.”
Villagers and anti-nuclear energy activists have been protesting the setting up of the Kudankulam atomic unit near Tirunelveli on safety issues, prompting the chief minister to demand the central government’s stand on the issue.
(Arvind Padmanabhan can be reached at [email protected])