Japan crisis underlines need to revisit N-strategy: Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said that the nuclear crisis in Japan has underlined the need for revisiting strategies for safety of atomic plants and that he has already ordered a "thorough review".

"The tragic nuclear incidents in Japan in the aftermath of the recent earthquake and tsunami should make us revisit strategies for nuclear safety, learning lessons from these experiences," he said addressing the India Today Conclave here.

"I have already ordered a thorough review by the department of atomic energy," he said.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), that operates all the nuclear power plants in the country, said it was undertaking a review of the safety measures at all the plant sites and would augment the same, if required.

In Chennai, NPCIL chairman-cum-managing director SK Jain said there would be no compromise on safety measures at any of the nuclear plants.

At the same time, he pointed out that Indian nuclear power plants had successfully withstood the strongest earthquake at Bhuj in Gujarat and the devastating tsunami that hit parts of the southern coast in December 2004.

He said the nuclear power plants being build at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu had several additional safety measures that enable immediate shutdown of even in the absence of plant operators.