Koodankulam:Top nuke scientists to meet Jaya on Friday

With the standoff over the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant issue continuing, top atomic scientists will meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday to discuss ways and means to allay the fears of the locals who are insisting on scrapping the project.

Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Srikumar Banerjee and Nuclear Power corporation of India Limited Chairman S K Jain will call on the Chief Minister and state Chief Secretary Debendranath Sarangi, DAE sources said.

The meeting comes in the backdrop of the Centre constituting a 15-member committee to allay the safety fears over the Indo-Russian power project over which the local people are up in arms.

The committee, which held its maiden meeting last week, was tentatively planned to meet again on November 7, they said.

The project in Tirunelveli district has run into trouble following protests from locals demanding its scrapping, citing safety concerns in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in  Japan in March last.

The first of the 2x1000 MWe Russian reactors was earlier slated to be commissioned by the year end. Despite assurance from scientists and the state government and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's announcement of an expert team to allay their fears, the protesters have not relented and are continuing their stir.