Protests over Indo-Russian nuclear plant suspended for elections

Activists opposing the construction of a nuclear power plant in southern India have suspended protests to allow for a regional poll to go ahead. “We have decided to call off the agitation temporarily so that people could participate in the local body elections tomorrow,” a key protest leader told the IANS news agency on Sunday. Protests against the construction of the Koodankulam facility will resume on Tuesday, he said. Last week, protesters stopped construction work on the plant after blocking the road leading to the site. The reactor, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is being built by Russia. Last month, Russian nuclear chief Sergei Kiriyenko said the plant would begin low-level operation by December but Koodankulam head Kasinath Balaji said the protests could affect the plans. “If not for these protests, Unit I would have been commissioned by December,” Balaji told the Economic Times. A committee to explain about the safety of the plant has been set up in an attempt to allay the concerns of the anti-Koodankulam protesters, he said. “We have constituted a seven-member committee which will bring out booklets and pamphlets in Tamil to explain to the locals about the safety measures in the plant,” Balaji said.