Senior Supreme Court lawyer and Team Anna member Prasanth Bhushan has urged the Centre to conduct a fresh safety audit before giving its final nod for the Koodankulam power plant. He also said the CBI action against the activists in Kudankulam was politically motivated.
He told reporters here on Sunday that the three safety audits conducted so far, by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) in 1979, 1986 and 1995, had come to the conclusion that there were serious problems of safety with the existing plants. “But, these reports had not been put in public domain. This is despite the promises being made by the Prime Minister,” he said.
Bhushan wanted the government to set up an independent regulatory body for nuclear energy. The present AERB functioned as a department of the atomic energy commission, he said. “An independent expert committee had come out with scientific evidence of volcanic activity in the area. It is also an earthquake prone zone which can have a Tsunami as well,” Bhushan said.
He also termed the CBI cases framed against activists taking part in the Koodankulam agitation as politically motivated.
There had been several instances of the party heading the central government using the CBI for its political gains. The CBI should be delinked from the government control and brought under the direct control of the Lokpal, he said.