Kudankulam N-plant in danger? Supplier held for shoddy parts
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Kudankulam N-plant in danger? Supplier held for shoddy parts
Monday, 08 April 2013 | Kumar Chellappan | Chennai
Against the backdrop of the arrest of Sergei Shutov, a director of Zio-Podolsk, a subsidiary of Rosatom, on charges of corruption, fraud and supplying cheap Ukrainian steel blanks and steam generators in nuclear reactors, former chairman of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Dr A Gopalakrishnan has demanded an immediate investigation into the safety of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India as it was Podolsk that had supplied components for the reactor.
He demanded constitution of an independent body of nuclear engineering specialists to ascertain the KNPPs safety.
This is the first time in the history of the Indian nuclear establishment, a former chief regulator, who is respected all over the nuclear world for his no-nonsense approach, has questioned the claims of the Government that the plant is foolproof and greener than even green.
Gopalakrishnan, a nuclear power engineer with more than five decades of experience, said nothing was right with the 1,000 MW reactor built with Russian assistance. The inordinate delay in the commissioning of the plant and the silence of the countrys nuclear regulator, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, has substantiated our doubts about the safety and security of the plant, said the countrys former chief nuclear regulator.
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