The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has given its consent to operate the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) last month.
TNPCB had by its notification dated July 23, 2012, granted consent to KKNPP under section 25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and section 21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, counsel for TNPCN, Rita Chandrasekhar, told a Madras high court bench of Justices P. Jyothimani and M. Duraisamy. According to the TNPCB notification, the consent will be valid till March 31, 2013.
The additional solicitor general, Mohan Parasaran, appearing for the Union ministry of environment and forests, argued that holding a public hearing for the first and second units of KKNPP, which were started as early as 1989, would serve no useful purpose now.
He also contended that adequate awareness was raised and various expert committees have gone into issues and concerns regarding the project.
Parasaran argued that the CRZ (coastal regulation zone) notification of 1991 was prospective in nature and could not be applied retrospectively for the KKNPP started in 1989.
The Prime Minister’s Office has clearly advised that the project should be exempted from CRZ regulations, he said and recalled that the 2001 CRZ notification exempted the projects of department of atomic energy from CRZ clearance.
Parasaran said spent fuel was buried deep in the earth in accordance with Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) norms and standards set by International Atomic Energy Agency.
Rita Chandrasekhar submitted that TNPCB had consented to the project after being satisfied by due inspections, while the special government pleader for the state, Inbardurai, said the AERB was also satisfied with the prescribed mock drill conducted there on June 9.