The Tamil Nadu government on Friday opposed the Nuclear Power Corporation of India’s proposal to store spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant site and suggested it be sent back to Russia according to an earlier deal or be kept in an uninhabited area.
Chief minister M.K. Stalin flagged the issue before Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a letter.
Six nuclear power reactors of 1,000MW each are envisaged for the project in Tirunelveli.
Units 1 and 2 have already been commissioned while 3 and 4 are under construction and 5 and 6 are yet to be established, Stalin said.
“The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd proposes to construct Away from Reactor (AFR) facilities in the nuclear power plant site itself for the storage of the SNF generated from all six reactors,” the chief minister wrote.
“…When the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change had earlier accorded permission to Units 1 & 2, the agreement was to collect and store the spent fuel temporarily within the unit’s premises (At Reactor) and then send it back to the country of origin, Russia,” he said.
However, it was subsequently decided to store the SNF permanently in the AFR facility to be located within the unit premises. “This decision was taken without consulting the state government,” Stalin said. He told Modi that there was “deep concern and apprehensions” among the people of Tamil Nadu regarding the hazards and potential danger of the AFR storage facility within the plant premises.
Several such facilities across the world have faced accidents leading to “disastrous impacts” on the environment and the people residing in and around such plants, Stalin said. Local people are apprehensive of the fallouts and have been protesting against the AFR facilities within the complex.
“I request that in the interest of public safety, health and welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu, action may be taken to transport back the SNF to Russia. This must not only be for units 1 & 2, but also for the subsequent four units. In case this is not a feasible option, the spent fuel may be permanently stored in a Deep Geological Repository (DGR) in an uninhabited and ecologically non-sensitive area,” Stalin told Modi.