Allaying fears of Fukushima like nuclear disaster at Kudankulam nuclear power plant, former atomic energy commission chairman  M R Srinivasan said it was absolutely safe and the sustained opposition by people against the plant was the result of misinformation spread by an organized anti nuclear lobby. 

“The fear about the safety of the plant is misplaced and we need to educate the public about it,” he said on the sidelines of Green Power conference in the capital today.  Admitting the failure of the atomic energy commission and its scientists in clearing the misconception of the public about the plant coming up in Tamil Nadu, he said there was need to address the communication gap between the locals and scientists. “What happened at Fukushima was the result of an earthquake that was nine on the Richter scale followed by Tsunami. But at Kudankulam the possibility of an earthquake beyond 6 on Richter scale was almost negligible,” he said. 

 Advocating for the need of the nuclear energy for the country, he said it was important to increase its percentage in the overall production of power from the present 2 to 3 percent to 30 percent by 2040. “There is a limitation in the use of solar and the wind energy as it cannot be used in running a factory or the metro system. Therefore it is important that we expand the ambit of the nuclear energy,” he said.