N-activists tick off government scientists

CHENNAI: Representatives of people opposing the Kood­ankulam Nuclear Power Project, who called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday, were taken aback when the Centre made a concerted effort to convince them that the plant was safe.Soon after memoranda were submitted by the Tamil Nadu government delegation led by Finance Minister O Panneerselvam, representatives of the Koodankulam agitators led by S P Udayakumar and CPI national secretary D Raja, Manmohan Singh spoke about the Centre’s commitment to ensure the safety of the people while implementing such projects.Then, Chairman and Mana­ging Director of Nuclea­r Power Corporation of India Limited S K Jain and Chairm­an, Atomic Energy Commission Srikumar Banerjee broke into a sermon on the safety of the Koodankulam project.Anton Gomez of the Anti Nuke Confederation in Koodankulam and other representatives from the area then intervened, saying: “This is not the place to convince us about the atomic plant. We have come here to express our grievance to the PM”. Udayakumar said they did not expect such an argument during their meeti­ng with the PM. A couple of delegates, express­ing displeasure, said: “We had gone to seek some concrete steps. We’re not satisfied with the announcement on the formation of a commi­ttee (to address safety concerns).”