[Reader-list] Protest against Koodankulam N-plant

[T Peter]

*Protest against Koodankulam N-plant *

*Date:03/10/2009* *URL:
http://www.thehindu.com/2009/10/03/stories/2009100358700300.htm*
Special Correspondent

   Thiruvananthapuram: Fish workers and anti-nuclear activists took out a
protest demonstration in the city on Friday as part of a nation-wide
agitation against the Koodankulam nuclear plant under construction in Tamil
Nadu. The protest was organised by the National Alliance of Anti-nuclear
Movements (NAAM).

The protesters said that the nuclear plant would lead to pollution in the
near shore areas, affecting fish stocks. They alleged that this would impact
on the health of fish-eating people in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.

Surendranath, a prominent anti-nuclear activist, inaugurated a dharna in
front of the Secretariat. He said the nuclear energy plant at Koodankulam
would trigger cancer and genetic disorders in the area. He proposed a
State-wide awareness programme to highlight the dangers of nuclear energy
and the proposed Indo-U.S. nuclear deal.

Addressing the dharna, T. Peter, president of the Kerala Swatantra
Malsyathozhilali Federation, said the discharge of sea water after cooling
the nuclear reactor would affect fish stocks and impact on the livelihood of
fish workers.

“The traditional fishing community has always lived and worked with deep
respect for the marine ecology and environment. We can never accept a
destructive technology like nuclear power,” he said. He appealed to fish
consumers in Kerala to join the protest. A.S.K. Nair, scientist, said the
scientific community was yet to come up with a safe nuclear waste management
system. Citing the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl in the erstwhile Soviet
Union and Three Mile Island in the United States, he warned that a similar
accident would threaten the lives of the people in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka and
Kerala for generations.

A pressnote issued here said a protest rally was taken in Delhi also.