Questions of safety resurface after accident in Kudankulam nuclear plant

Spillage of hot water at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant has injured at least six workers – three department personnel and three contractual workers, raising questions of safety again.

The accident comes just under a week after the Supreme Court denied a petition challenging the safety measures taken at the plant.

RS Sundar, Kudankulam Station Director, confirmed the incident, adding that the injured workers were given first aid, shifted to a hospital and were out of danger.

However, activists alleged that the company was trying to downplay the safety concerns.

“If there is hot water spillage it raises certain questions about the quality of equipment used and safety measures in place,” said environmental activist Nityanand Jayaram, adding that the apex court accepted the statements by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) on face value.

On Wednesday, the injured workers were first given first-aid treatment at the plant before being moved to a hospital 30 km away in Nagercoil. Jayaram said this also raised questions on the preparedness of the plant in dealing with a bigger accident.

According to disaster management guidelines, a fully-equipped multi-specialty hospital should be located within 5 km of the plant. However, the plant, which started operations in October last year, still doesn’t comply with this rule.

Sundar said a multi-specialty hospital had been constructed at the cost of ₹10 crore, but isn’t operational yet. The Government is in the process of procuring medical equipment, he said.

G Sundararajan, a Chennai-based activist and petitioner in the cases lodged against the Kudankulam plant, said, “We stand vindicated. We urge the Tamil Nadu Government to set up an independent committee to look into the safety measures at the plant.” He said this accident opens up a case for filing a review petition with the Supreme Court.

He said some scrutiny was also required into the quality of equipment used at the plant. Questions had earlier been raised about sub-standard equipment being imported by NPCIL from a Russian company ZiO-Podolsk, which is alleged to have supplied sub-standard equipment to several countries, including India, Bulgaria, Iran and China, Sundararajan said.

Activists also raised questions on the lack of response from the company itself.

“This accident doesn’t come as a surprise, especially since both, AERB and NPCIL, seem to be in a hurry to commercialise a technology that is inherently dangerous. The plant and the state authorities refused to share something even as basic as the Emergency Plan, citing security considerations. They seem to be more interested in hiding behind supposed security reasons than the safety of its employees,” said Hozefa Merchant, anti-nuclear energy campaigner, Greenpeace India.

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