Hardening its stand, an anti-nuclear forum spearheading the stir against Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tirunelveli today said a series of protests had been planned there in the coming days, including a “wailing protest” on 30 January, death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. “We are fighting for our right to life and livelihood and we will continue doing it till its logical conclusion,” said Mr SP Udayakumar, coordinator of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy,spearheading the five-month stir against KNNP. There was no change in demand for KNPP's closure,he said. The group had decided to hold protests at Thiruchendur and Chettikulam, both in Tirunelveli district, on 22 and 26 January, including a day-long fast. “We also plan to burn copies of the model of the plant.” They were also opposed to setting up of Neutrino observatory at Theni district, he told reporters here. Mr Udayakumar said they did not have the “smallest of confidence” in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,a day after he sought support from women chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal for their movement. He slammed the Centre for “ignoring” Tamil Nadu on many issues and “remaining silent” on issues like state's demand for 1000 MW from central grid and allocating funds to generate power from alternative sources of energy. On Union minister V Narayanasamy's contention over funding to the protest,he said the movement was largely supported by voluntary donations from local fishermen, beedi workers and other locals. To a question, he expressed satisfaction over Miss Jayalalithaa handling the issue, saying she had been sensitive to their concerns. On the meeting between the protestors and the Central team of experts,he said the members tried to convince them without giving any scientific explanation to some key issues like ecological concerns and plant wastage. Locals in Koodankulam in Tirunelveli district have been agitating since September last demanding scrapping of the Indo-Russian project, citing safety concerns following the Fukushima disaster. French nuke regulator’s nod for Jaitapur NPCIL today said a safety review by the French nuclear regulator has made no comments on having additional systems EPR reactors proposed for the Jaitapur nuclear project, setting he stage for restarting negotiations on the delayed venture. “A quick scan of the ASN report shows that there are no clear comments on any system that has to be added to the EPRs,” SA Bhardwaj, director (technical), Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) told reporters here. He said a detailed review of the report of the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) would take a week and the NPCIL would like to restart negotiations by the end of this month. The talks on signing a commercial agreement between NPCIL and French company Areva had been stalled after the Fukushima nuclear accident. The Indian nuclear operator was awaiting a report on the safety aspects of the Evolutionary Pressurised Reactor (EPR) which was reviewed by ASN along with the 58 nuclear power units under operation in France. Post-Fukushima, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) had carried out a similar safety review of all 20 operational nuclear power plants in India and suggested some additional safety measures. On the Koodankulam project, Mr Bhardwaj said the first unit of the nuclear power plant could be started three months after the ongoing agitation is called off. He said a number of contract employees at the Koodankulam nuclear power project have taken other jobs elsewhere as the anti-nuclear protestors were not allowing them inside the plant premises. Mr Bhardwaj admitted that the nuclear establishment had been unable to allay fears of the local people about the safety aspects of nuclear power. He said NPCIL presentations on nuclear power had only one slide on nuclear safety as the focus was on growth. “We have made changes now and we talk more on nuclear safety and radiation,” he said.