The Centre asserted that the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant was safe enough to withstand a Fukushima-type disaster but the Supreme Court said it would not hesitate to stop the project, irrespective of the amount of money spent on it, if the installation was found wanting in safety aspects.
During the hearing on a petition filed by G Sundarrajan alleging that 17 safety recommendations by the Centre’s own task force had not been fully implemented, the petitioner’s counsel Prashant Bhushan told the bench that the government’s only concern was to make the nuclear power plant operational as it had spent a huge amount of money on the project.
The bench said, “Spending of huge money is not a constraint for the court to stop the project if it finds that the installation posed a threat to the lives of people.”
When Bhushan raised safety issues, additional solicitor general Mohan Parasaran said the Madras High Court had considered these concerns in detail before allowing commissioning of the plant. But the bench said, “It is a serious matter and we have to consider all the issues related to the safety aspects.” It posted the matter for further hearing on October 4.
In an affidavit, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, which runs the plant, said, “The plant is completely safe when it comes to washing away of the safety units due to flooding, as it happened in the case of Fukushima.”
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