The Kudankulam plant--the project to build it will cost Rs. 17,120 crore--is due to open within weeks and will provide two gigawatts of electricity -- enough to power millions of Indian homes and relieve a power crisis in Tamil Nadu. More nuclear plants are planned. In this picture, a government bus that was vandalised during a protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, in Chennai. (PTI Photo)
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The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board last month gave clearance for fuel to be loaded into one of the Kudankulam plant's two reactors, one of the last steps before it can begin producing power. In this picture, women wail during a protest against the Kudankulam Atomic Power Project, near the project site. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
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Fishermen staging railroko in Tuticorin against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project. Kudankulam Atomic Power Project is a nuclear power station under construction in Kudankulam in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. (PTI Photo)
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The situation in Tamil Nadu's Idinthakarai village, the epicentre of the movement against the Kudankulam nuclear project in Tirunelveli district, was under control on Wednesday after three days of protests. On Monday, police opened fire to clear a highway blocked by demonstrators protesting against the country's largest nuclear power project. A fisherman was killed in the police firing. Why are protesters opposed to the nuclear plant? What's the government response to their objections? Click through the gallery to know key facts about the controversy:
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First conceived in 1988, Russian-built Kudankulam was supposed to have gone into operation last year, but protesters surrounded the compound after an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, causing radiation leaks and forcing mass evacuations. The protesters fear a similar accident could happen in southern India, a region that was hard hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. In this picture, a woman cries during a protest against Kudankulam Atomic Power Project, near the project site. An activist on September 11 moved the Supreme Court challenging the Madras HC decision refusing to restrict the Union government from commissioning the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
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India is struggling to meet surging demand for electricity and suffers from a peak-hour power deficit of about 12 percent, which has become a significant drag on the economy. A grid failure on two consecutive days this summer caused one of the world's worst blackouts. In this picture, protestor Gita Malla sits with a dressing on her nose after being injured in a protestagainst the Kudankulam Atomic Power Project. Centre justified Tamil Nadu government's decision to stamp out protests for the plant's safety and termed the protest as illegal as High Court has cleared the plant. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
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The government plans to add 63 gigawatts of nuclear power by building 30 reactors by 2032. Nuclear accounts for less than 3 percent of total capacity. It aims to increase power capacity over the next five years mainly through coal, which already accounts for 60 percent of India's energy generation. Environmental concerns and mismanagement have slowed growth there as well. In this picture, women participate in a protest against the Kudankulam Atomic Power Project, near the project site. Protests on September 10 were the most dramatic act since anti-nuclear activists started an agitation in August last year. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
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There have also been protests in coal fields in other parts of the country, while hydro power projects in the Himalayas have faced opposition from local groups. In this picture, activists of MDMK during a protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Coimbatore. In the first casualty in the year-long agitation against the Kudankulam nuclear power project, a fisherman was killed in police firing in Tuticorin on September 10 even as protests at the plant site turned violent. (PTI Photo)
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The protests against the Kudankulam nuclear plant are spearheaded by People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which desribes itself as Gandhian and non-violent. PMANE leader S P Udayakumar has rejected government assurances that the nuclear plant is earthquake- and tsunami-safe. He has also dismissed as "empty assurances" the certificates of safety issued by the department of atomic energy, scientists such as Dr Abdul Kalam, politicians and bureaucrats.In this picture, MDMK activists are seen during a protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, in Chennai. The Madras high court on August 31 gave all-clear to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project while asking the government to set up hospitals and schools for locals. (PTI Photo by R Senthil Kumar)
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The year-long protests were earlier confined to Kudankulam and Idinthakarai villages in Tirunelveli, but on Monday spread to Tuticorin following a clash between protesting fishermen and the police on the beach at Kudankulam around 11.30 am. MDMK activists during a protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, in Chennai. In March 2012, police said they had arrested nearly 200 anti-nuclear protesters objecting resumption of work of building one of two 1 GW reactors, a day after the local government restarted work on the project. (PTI Photo)
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The situation erupted after plant officials announced that enriched uranium fuel would be loaded in the first of the two nuclear reactors around Sep 11.In this picture, police detain a protester during a protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, in Chennai. The Tamil Nadu needs at least 3000-3500 MW of power to meet existing demand. Government in the wake of the acute power shortages in the state ordered in favour of the commissioning of the plant. (PTI Photo)
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Woman wails during a protest against the Kudankulam Atomic Power Project, near the project site. Anti Kudankulam protestors slammed safety report, charging it with hiding crucial information from people. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
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Policemen patrol after clashes with activists of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) during a protest near Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tirunelveli. A center panel constituted by the Government of India, which did a survey of the safety features in the plant, said the Kudankulam reactors are the safest and fears of the people are not based on scientific principles. (PTI Photo)
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Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa had justified the police action. She also announced compensation of Rs.5 lakh to the kin of the protester killed. In this picture, police charge activists of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) during a protest near Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tirunelveli. PM Manmohan Singh blamed foreign based NGOs for fuelling and funding protests at the power plant. (PTI Photo)
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Police charge activists of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) during a protest against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tirunelveli district. Government sees the nuclear power plant as a solution for the growing energy crisis. (PTI Photo)
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Activists of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) clash with the police near Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) during a protest in Tirunelveli district. SP Udayakumar, convenor of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), claims that "the nuclear plant is unsafe" and "the safety analysis report and the site evaluation study have not been made public. No public hearing was held. It's an authoritarian project that has been imposed on the people." (PTI Photo)
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India's atomic power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is building two 1,000 MW reactors with Russian help at Kudankulam since 2001.In this picture, security personnel detain a woman activist of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) during a protest near Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tirunelveli. The protesters base their objection by saying that "more than 1 million people live within the 30 km radius of the KKNPP which far exceeds the AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) stipulations. It is quite impossible to evacuate this many people quickly and efficiently in case of a nuclear disaster at Koodankulam". (PTI Photo)
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Villagers under the PMANE banner have opposed the project for the past one year, fearing for their safety, especially since the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in Japan March 2011. In this picture, security personnel during a protest by the activists of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) near Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tirunelveli. Construction was delayed due to anti-nuclear protests by the locals and People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy. (PTI Photo)
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PMANE had decided to take its fight against the Rs.17,120 crore project near the plant and away from Idinthakarai village near Kudankulam. In this picture, children hold placards during a press conference by the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) in Chennai. First conceived in 1988, Russian-built Kudankulam was supposed to have gone into operation last year, but protesters surrounded the compound after an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, causing radiation leaks and forcing mass evacuations. (PTI Photo)
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Police charge activists of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) during a protest near Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tirunelveli. The Kudankulam plant is due to open within weeks and will provide 2 gigawatts of electricity -- enough to power millions of homes and relieve a power crisis in Tamil Nadu. (PTI Photo)
