Over 700 scientists and technicians who reached KNPP for their morning shift could not enter the reactor premises, which brought the routine work to a grinding halt.
The agitation against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant (KNPP) near Tirunelveli reached a feverish pitch on Thursday with over 10,000 activists laying siege to all the entry points to the project site. Over 700 scientists and technicians who reached KNPP for their morning shift could not enter the reactor premises, which brought the routine work to a grinding halt.
“The maintenance work was carried out by the staff on overnight duty who could not come out of the plant because of the road blockade,” a senior executive of KNPP told DNA.
This is for the first time in the country that work in a nuclear reactor was hit due to agitation by local residents.
The People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) intensified its agitation within 12 hours of the prime minister’s letter to chief minister J Jayalalithaa asking her to help the Centre to implement the project as scheduled. However, Jayalalithaa on Thursday said her government would respect the sentiments of locals on the project. “I will be one among you in the issue,” she told a rally in Tuticorin for the civic polls.
Pushparayan, the second-in-command to Udaya Kumar, who heads PMANE, said the agitation would continue in a peaceful manner till the reactor was shut down. “Today (Thursday) morning’s road block is an indication that our agitation has entered a critical phase. We will not allow anyone to enter the KNPP premises,” Pushparayan said.
The road block which began at 8 am on the East Coast Road was shifted to vantage points near KNPP. “Ours is a Gandhian style agitation and we do not want to create any inconvenience to the people. But this will continue till the government orders closure of the plant. We do not want the nuclear reactors,” he added.
Even NK Balaji, project director, KNPP, could not enter the plant. “I was asked by the district administration to stay put in my house since the roads have been blocked,” he said. Both the Tirunelveli collector and superintendent of police were unavailable for comment. “Both of them are busy with election duties and conferences,” the personal assistant to the collector said.
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