The Union Government is ready to talk to politicians in Tamil Nadu to resolve the impasse over the Kundankulam civil nuclear power project.
The Government will sit together with all the “enlightened leadership of Tamil Nadu” to find a practical and pragmatic solution to the problem, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, said late on Tuesday.
He said Tamil Nadu was the fastest industrialising State in the country. “But, quite honestly, this industrialisation can become a casualty if it (the State) is not self-sufficient in the field of energy. I am sure that leadership of all shades of opinion will recognise that a healthy mix should include an element of nuclear energy for safety and for security,” the Prime Minister said while speaking to newspersons on the flight back from the US.
Dr Singh conceded that there were anxieties, but added that some vested interests were playing on them.
Concerned about the safety of the plant, a section of people in the State had gone on a 12-day fast recently. The stir was called off last Thursday only after the Assembly passed a resolution urging the Centre to halt work on the Kundankulam plant, allaying the fears of locals.
Dr Singh said it was his “honest expectation” that sooner or later the world would recognise there is no alternative but to rely on atomic energy, as an essential component of the energy mix of a country.