nuclear-news

Sedition charges for anti nuclear hunger striker?

Locals Resume Anti-Nuclear Protest, WSJ, March 21, 2012,    “…….. protesters, mostly fishermen and villagers who live in coastal areas, are still worried that nuclear waste from the planned seaside nuclear power plant may damage the ecosystem and ruin their livelihoods.

S.P. Udaykumar of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy, a Tamil Nadu-based anti-nuclear power group that is spearheading the protest, is concerned the nuclear site could endanger those who live in close proximity to it. “People have not been given any disaster training…Both central and state government will be held responsible if
any untoward incident happens in the area,” Mr. Udaykumar told India Real Time Wednesday.

Mr. Udaykumar, who started an indefinite hunger strike on Monday in protest, is under investigation on charges that include sedition for his role in the agitation.

Local police officer Vijendra Bidari on Wednesday told India Real Time that more than 150 people have been arrested since Monday in Idinthakarai, the epicenter of protests against the proposed Kudankulam nuclear power plant…

Mr. Bidari said that, to maintain law and order in the state, further protests in the area have been banned.

The news was welcomed by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.,
which is building the plant in Kudankulam with Russian support….

March 22, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | civil liberties, India