By IANS,
Chennai : An official at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) said a noise emanating from the plant Tuesday was not a cause for worry and was due to letting off of steam.
“Thunderous noise were heard from KNPP at regular intervals. We do not know what is happening at KNPP,” M. Pushparayan, one of the leaders of People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), told IANS over phone from Iddinthakarai village near KNPP.
Officials of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) were not available for comment.
However, a source told IANS that the plant’s systems had heated up by the use of secondary power systems.
“Once the system is heated up, steam that builds up inside is let out, which makes a noise,” a source told IANS on the condition of anonymity.
India’s atomic power plant operator NPCIL is setting up the KNPP in Tirunelveli district 650 km from here with two Russian-made reactors with a generating capacity 1,000-MW each.
Fearing for their safety in the wake of the nuclear plant accident in Fukushima in Japan, villagers in the vicinity under the banner of People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) are opposing the project.
KNPP is an outcome of an inter-governmental agreement between India and erstwhile Soviet Union in 1988. However, construction only began in 2001.