The Centre has announced the setting up of a 15-member group of experts to interact with stakeholders in a bid to allay widespread apprehensions about the upcoming Kudankulam nuclear power project.

The Department of Atomic Energy’s decision to constitute the expert group, which is being seen as a neutral body with no representation from the Atomic Energy Commission, is specifically aimed at “interacting with the officials of State Government of Tamil Nadu and spokespersons of the people in the neighbourhood of the Kudankulam project,” an official statement said.

At the project site in coastal Tamil Nadu, two 1,000 MWe (mega watt electric) nuclear reactor units being built with Russian collaboration are in advanced stages of completion. The project has run into large-scale protests as it approaches final stages of commissioning, with concerns being raised over the larger environmental impact and radiation fears in the wake of the Fukushima accident in Japan earlier this year.

The panel will “explain the factual position on various aspects of the project and will also dispel apprehensions of some sections of the local people", the statement issued on Thursday said. The Group comprises renowned academicians, scientists, doctors and engineers specialising in sectors such as environmental science, radiation safety, nuclear reactor design, nuclear reactor safety, nuclear regulatory aspects, nuclear waste management, oncology, oceanography, fisheries, thermal ecology and seismology.

> anil@thehindu.co.in

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