-The Hindustan Times The fragile peace at Kudankulam lasted through Sunday, but elsewhere in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Kerala, it was a day of protests and arrests. In Tuticorin, around 250 protesters on way to Kudankulam were arrested. They included Periyar Dravida Kazhagam leader Kolathur Mani and leaders of Naan Thamilar Iyakkam and Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam. In Kerala's Parassala, police stopped a "solidarity march" by cultural leaders to Kudankulam. For Tamil...

-The Telegraph All environment-related roadblocks relating to government projects will be handled by the Prime Minister’s Office, finance minister P. Chidambaram has told a review meeting of infrastructure projects. His remark suggested the government is in a hurry to complete all infrastructure projects in time for the elections. Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan and her team appeared to be everyone’s favourite punching bag at the meeting, attended by all core infrastructure ministries, including those...

-The Hindu Based on ground-level report of the 7-member AERB teams carrying scrutiny at the plant The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) on Thursday said the fuel loading at the first 1000 MWe unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) had not yet begun owing to last minute checks. The AERB would give the final clearance for fuel loading only after a review of the ground-level report of its seven-member team carrying...

-The Hindu In an atmosphere of mistrust of the government, only an independent safety regulatory mechanism can counter the scaremongering against civilian nuclear power I work at an institution funded by the Department of Atomic Energy (which, however, does no nuclear research: the DAE funds a wide variety of institutions and areas in science). About a year ago, I had an e-mail from a journalist who wondered why scientists (including colleagues at...

-PTI The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay loading of fuel for the nuclear Power Plant at Kudankulam but agreed to examine the risk associated with the project, saying safety of people living in its vicinity is of prime concern. “Public safety is of prime importance. There are poor people living in the vicinity of the plant and they should know that there life would be protected,” a bench of justices...