Kudankulam N-plant 'perfectly safe'

Making a strong pitch for nuclear power, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government R.Chidambaram today said all safety measures had been examined by the AERB committees at the Kundankulam nuclear power plant which is "perfectly safe"
"Not only Kudankulam..So many reactors are operating throughout the world.. All are safe," he told reporters on the sidelines of a convocation at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) here.
The first unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant attained criticality on July 3. Commissioning of the Indo-Russian joint venture in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli district was delayed due to anti-nuclear protests doubting the safety of such plants.

He said nuclear power is not only important but inevitable to meet the growing energy demand for the country. Even China was now accelerating nuclear power generation. The UAE had set up four nuclear power plants of 1400MW each.
He claimed India would not become a developed nation unless the per capita electricity consumption increased by six to eight times from the present level. "So, all the energy options are necessary and important."
In the next 20 years, he said growth will come on account of substantial reduction in coal consumption by thermal power plants with development of new technologies.

A consortium of IGCAR, BHEL and NTPC were working on developing new technologies for the purpose.