SC refuses to stay fuelling at Kudankulam plant

Though concerned over the safety of a large number of people who are opposed to the Kudankulum nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court on Thursday, refused to stay its fuelling scheduled for Friday.

Deferring to September 20 the hearing in a lawsuit filed by G Sundarrajan which challenges a Madras High Court judgment which had refused to impose any restraint against the plant, the court observed “public safety is of prime importance”.

“There are poor people living in the vicinity of the plant and they should know that their life would be protected,” a bench of justices KS Radhakrishanan and Deepak Misra said, as the petitioner’s lawyer Prashant Bhushan said that the government hasn’t put in place all the 17 safeguards prescribed by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).

While refusing to stay the fuelling of the plant, the bench said it would examine the various judgments and the various regulations before taking a final call on an issue that’s led to a massive agitation called the jal satyagrah.

Affirming that they are neither against the nuclear power generation plant nor the petitioner who has raised the issue of public importance, the judges clarified that they want to see whether all the recommendations made by AERB have been implemented.

A battery of government solicitors led by attorney general Goolam E Vahanvati were all vigilant to protect the Centre’s resolution relating to setting up the controversial plant off the TN coast.

AG contested the plea for staying the loading of nuclear fuel and contended that the plant is “completely safe”. He claimed all the safeguards recommended by the AERB couldn’t be put in place together. However Vahanvati assured that all the safeguards would be put in place within two years.