Stalin against spent fuel storage facility at KNPP

 DMK President M.K. Stalin on Saturday demanded that the central and state governments scrap the decision to set up a spent fuel storage facility at the Kundankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP), owned by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).

In a statement issued here, Stalin said the Supreme Court in 2013 allowed the setting up of nuclear power reactors in KNPP. Of the 15 conditions laid down, one was setting up a spent fuel storage facility away from the reactor complex within five years, he said.

Stalin said the five-year deadline ended in March 2018 and the NPCIL was interested in seeking an extension instead of taking steps to set up the spent fuel storage facility.

He said the NPCIL has proposed to build the storage facility inside the KNPP complex near the 1st and 2nd 1,000 MW units instead of building it away from the reactors.

The NPCIL has called for a public hearing on this Rs 538 crore project at Radhapuram in Tirunelveli district on July 10.

Stalin said the party's lawmakers will register their views against the proposed project orally and in writing at the public hearing. IANS