AERB governing body likely to take a final decision

With the Supreme Court removing the obstacles for commissioning the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), the first reactor is likely to go critical any time between May 13 and 20. Highly placed sources in the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), the project proponent, told The Hindu that a team of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board experts were going through the results of the tests conducted a few days ago and holding discussions on the results with the NPCIL technocrats.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Centre on the Tamil Nadu government’s writ petition challenging the Centre’s decision to reduce allocation of kerosene to the State by 55 per cent from June 2011, from 65,140 kilo litres to 29,060 KL.

A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices Vikramajit Sen and Kurian Joseph issued notice after hearing Additional Advocate General Subramonium Prasad, appearing for Tamil Nadu.

Water supplied once a week to colony with 2,000 families

With most parts of the town reeling under acute shortage of drinking water, more and more residents are taking to the streets demanding that the civic administration sort out the problem on a war footing. On Tuesday, more than 100 residents from Sathya Nagar resorted to a dharna in front of the zonal office of the civic body in Kasipalayam.

The city's garbage generation has increased by an astonishing 400 tonnes per day.

Rejecting the Supreme Court verdict in favour of the nuclear power plant in Kudankulam, the members of the protest committee have decided to continue with their stir. A meeting of community elders and leaders of neighbouring villages will be held on Thursday afternoon to discuss the issue.

On Monday, the SC had endorsed the view of the Madras High Court and allowed the commissioning of the power plant. The order included had 15 directions relating to safety, environmental safeguards and disposal of nuclear waste. It had also ordered the state to withdraw cases against agitators.

The Supreme Court on Monday directed that all criminal cases against the agitators opposing the Kudankulam nuclear plant be withdrawn to restore normalcy in the area.

Giving a series of directions, a Bench of Justices K. S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said: “Endeavour should be made to withdraw all the criminal cases filed against the agitators so that peace and normalcy be restored at Kudankulam and nearby places, and steps should be taken to educate the people of the necessity of the plant which is in the largest interest of the nation particularly the State of Tamil Nadu.”

The Supreme Court on Monday said there is no basis to the fear that the radioactive effects of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, when commissioned, will be far reaching.

A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said: “We are convinced that the KKNPP design incorporates advanced safety features complying with the current standards of redundancy, reliability, independence and prevention of common cause failures in its safety systems. Design also takes care of Anticipated Operational Occurrences (AOO), Design Basis Accidents (DBA) and Beyond Design Basis Accidents (BDBA) like Station Black Out (SBO), Anticipated Transients Without Scram (ATWS), Metal Water reaction in the water core and provision of core catcher to take care of core degradation.

CM says agriculture production in the state crossed 10 mn tonnes in 2011-12 and it had won the Krishi Karman award for 2012-13

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday announced schemes worth Rs 984.7 crore aimed at boosting agricultural production in the state besides ensuring fair prices for agri produce in the market. The state expects these projects to help it achieve self-sufficiency in foodgrain. Chief minister J Jayalalithaa said agriculture production in the state crossed 10 million tonnes in 2011-12 and it had won the Krishi Karman award for 2012-13.

Asks the authorities to withdraw all criminal charges against those who had been opposing the Russian-aided plant

The Supreme Court today allowed the controversial Kudankulam nuclear project in southern Tamil Nadu to be commissioned but also imposed tough preconditions to ensure the safety of people living around it and who have been agitating against it. It also asked the authorities to withdraw all criminal charges against those who had been opposing the Russian-aided plant. In a 250-page judgment, the bench headed by K S Radhakrishnan (the order was written on their behalf by judge Dipak Mishra) stated the plant should not be made operational unless the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and the Department of atomic energy accorded final clearance for ensuring the quality of various components and systems.