Phase I of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu might be commissioned any time now, principal scientific adviser to the government R Chidambaram said on Saturday. "Phase I of the nuclear power plant may be commissioned any time now after the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) is satisfied with the tests done by Nuclear Power Corporation," Chidambaram told reporters on the sidelines of an event at Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata.
Dispelling the notion that nuclear power plants were unsafe, Chidambaram, a nuclear scientist closely associated with the Pokhran nuclear test in 1974, said that India had a clean safety record. "The common person will have difficulty in understanding the probabilistic safety assessment analysis. Nuclear power is safe and green," he said. With the phenomenon of climate change affecting the lives of millions, he said that nuclear power was a good alternative to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
He said that out of the 66 nuclear reactors which were being constructed across countries at present, seven were in India. "In India, they take absolute care to make everything safe," Chidambaram said. Commissioning of the unit was delayed largely due to anti-nuclear protests doubting safety of such power plants. The power plant was built with Russian technology having two 1000 MW reactors. Chidambaram said he had urged ISI to carry out statistical data analysis of climate change with regional forecasting modules.
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