Chennai:
The Centre today welcomed constitution of an expert committee by Tamil Nadu Government to look into the safety aspects of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant and allay the fears of locals which would help its commissioning.
"It is a welcome step. We hope that the committee will submit an early report," Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy told reporters at the airport here.
The state government constituted a four-member expert committee, headed by former Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission M R Srinivasan, to go into the safety aspects and address the fears of the locals who have been demanding scrapping of the project.
The more than five month long agitation, spearheaded by People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, has brought the work at the plant to a halt, delaying the commissioning of the first unit to May this year.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa took the latest initiative to break the impasse after a 15-member expert panel set up by the Centre could not convince the protesters to give up their stir.