Allay peoples fear, says expert

CHENNAI: The government should try to allay the fears of people who are protesting against the Koodankulam nuclear power project instead of confronting them, an expert on hazardous waste management said here on Friday.Former chairman of the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Waste Management, Dr G Thyagarajan, told Express that after the nuclear meltdown in Japan following a tsunami, there has been a rising fear among the people and it is time the government listened to them.He said although the nuclear industry in India did not have any accident, it doesn’t mean that accidents would not happen. “India requires renewable energy and the nuclear industry should now create awareness and allay the fears of people instead of going in for confrontation,” he added.Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on ‘Technological Solutions for Environmental Issues’ organised by Chemical Industries Association here, Thyagarajan said that nuclear reactors should not be concentrated at one place.Thyagarajan also slammed the proposal of reviving the shipbreaking yard in Valinokkam in Ramnad. At the seminar, the Chemical Industries Association rued the lack of hazardous solid waste disposal facility in the State.