High court dismisses plea against running of 2 units at Kalpakkam atomic plant

CHENNAI: The Madras high court on Monday dismissed a writ petition seeking a direction to restrain the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) from running Unit I and Unit II at Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS).
In his public interest litigation, advocate M Vetriselvan said the units were being operated without implementing the safety and security measures.
He cited four accidents at MAPS.In 1999, seven people suffered high degree radiation because of water leakage at the plant. In 2001, a worker suffered internal contamination. Next year, a worker was burnt when he picked up a radioactive substance. In 2003, five workers suffered high radiation dose, he said. He said an unforeseen disaster like the one happened at Fukoshima in Japan could happen in Kalpakkam too.
Additional solicitor general P Wilson countered the arguments and said the recommendations of the task force would be implemented in a phased manner. "Compliance and action reports are being submitted to NPCIL and AERB and it can not be said that no action has been taken in the event of any unforeseen disaster,” he said.
The first bench of Chief Justice R K Agarwal and Justice M Sathyanrayanan said the “apprehension of the petitioner was unfounded."
"The court hopes and trusts, in the event of unforeseen mishap or disaster, all measures are in place,” said the bench directing MAPS and DAE to “ensure all safety mechanisms are in place."