Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko on Wednesday (April 8, 2026) urged the Union government to abandon the 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor project at Kalpakkam, citing safety concerns.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent social media post announcing that the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam attained criticality on April 6, Mr. Vaiko said in a statement that the Department of Atomic Energy began constructing the reactor more than 20 years ago, in 2004, and that it was originally scheduled to be commissioned in 2010.
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He said the technology used in this type of reactor to generate power had been tested in several countries, including the United States, Japan, and European nations, but had been largely abandoned due to safety concerns and high economic costs.
He said experts had raised concerns over the use of plutonium as fuel in such reactors and warned that the resulting nuclear waste could potentially be used to make nuclear weapons. He demanded that the Union government abandon the project with immediate effect.
