Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power station currently under construction in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Project investment cost to India was estimated to be US$ 3.5 billion in a 2001 agreement.
Two 1 GW reactors of the VVER-1000 model are being constructed by the Nuclear Power corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Atomstroyexport. When completed they will become the largest nuclear power generation complex in India producing a cumulative 2 GW of electric power. Both units are water cooled water moderated power reactors. The first was scheduled to start operation in December 2009 and the second one was scheduled for March 2010. Currently, the official projections put unit 1 into operation in June 2011, and unit 2 in March 2012.
Four more reactors are set to be added to this plant under a memorandum of intent signed in 2008. A firm agreement on setting up two more reactors, has been postponed pending the ongoing talks on liability issues. Under an inter-government agreement signed in December 2008 Russia is to supply to India four third generation VVER-1200 reactors of 1170 MW. The nuclear project will be commissioned in April 2011.
When construction began, there was not much opposition against the project. Recently a slew of social workers and environmental activists have begun protests. They said the population density was too high . Protestors cite the examples like Chernobyl Russia.
They also quote the current Japan Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster during the Tsunami that affected Japan. The recent nuclear incident at Marcoule, southern France has further aggravated the protest. The protestors also say that, Germany and many other countries are reconsidering their nuclear energy policy. Japan has begun a similar discussion. The key debate will revolve around the question of relative risk posed by nuclear power plant in comparison to short and long term risk posed by current use of non-renewable energy sources such as coal.
There is also fear that the fish and other life inside the sea will be affected by the water discharged from the nuclear reactor into the Bay of Bengal]. The area around the Koodankulam reactor is home to a lot of small scale fishermen.The fear is that they might be affected[Reference Required]. However the health risk posed by nuclear reactor is taken seriously by the scientific community and safety mechanisms are being created and updated regularly to meet national and International standards,Renowned astronomer and former Greenpeace members like Patrick Moore have supported nuclear energy as a safe and clean alternative energy strategy to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The protest is as of now of a non-violent nature. However, the present Tamilnadu government have defended the Koodankulam project On September 22, 2011, the Tamil Nadu cabinet passed a resolution urging the Centre to halt the work on the plant until the fears of the local population over the safety of the plant are allayed.
People recently claimed that it would be very safe if the plant can be moved to a place near CHENNAI which has well locality near sea. so that the distribution of energy will be good enough and the loss will be minimal and this is under consideration by the government.
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