Sept 29, Colombo: Responding to the local media reports in Sri Lanka that raise fears over the commissioning of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu, India has offered to discuss safety features of the reactor with Sri Lanka.

Indian authorities will include talks on Kudankulam safety in a dialogue between the two nations for cooperation on nuclear issues when a Sri Lankan delegation visits India in the coming months for discussions on the plant.

"The safety aspect will be a part of the broader agenda for talks over cooperation in nuclear energy but we are already telling them that India will abide by all international conventions over nuclear safety at Kudankulam,'' The Times of India quoting an official dealing with Sri Lanka said.

To allay the fears Sri Lankans have over the Kudankulam plant the High Commission of India in Colombo issued a statement on Thursday said that the plant in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli district has high safety standards and it is no threat to Sri Lanka and reiterated that the Indian government "assigns utmost attention to nuclear and radiation safety, including the safety of operating personnel, public as well as the environment."

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is a state-of-the-art plant that is compliant with the highest safety standards available in the nuclear industry today. The safety measures instituted at the plant are of the highest order, India has assured.

The statement further said that the safety is the overriding priority in all the activities associated with nuclear power plants, ranging from siting, design, construction, commissioning, operation to de-commissioning.

The Kudankulam plant in Tamil Nadu is just 250 km from Sri Lanka's northwest coastal town of Mannar.

In the event of a nuclear disaster in the South Indian plant, Sri Lanka would be in the direct path of the impact range and the disaster would wreak havoc in the tiny island as Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Authority does not possess adequate facilities to face a threat of nuclear accident.

The Times of India report says that India's vote for the US-sponsored resolution at the UN Human Rights Council against Sri Lanka has rallied anti-India elements in the country and the Indian officials have been surprised by the intensity of the anti-India campaign.

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