"The exercise was conducted this morning. This is one of the mandatory drills prescribed by the AERB before loading real fuel in any nuclear plant. This is a biannual programme and the first time being done for Kudankulam," KNPP Site Director R S Sundar told PTI over phone.
Calling the exercise as a "regulatory requirement and a biennial programme," Tirunelveli District Collector R Selvaraj narrated the sequence of events in an official statement.
"Alert messages were sent to all the relevant officials including the NPCIL, DAE, AERB and District Collector and other district officials."
"Based on inputs from Environmental Survey Lab Team, the District Collector declared an offsite emergency and exercise of counter measures were carried out in three stages, as prescribed in the emergency plan," Selvaraj said in a statement.
The exercise, conducted at Nakkanery village, some seven kms from the plant site, was observed by the representatives from AERB, NPCIL and senior district officials, the statement said.
