Since the NPCIL and DAE authorities are tight-lipped about the current condition of the KKNPP, recurrent rumors are making rounds here in our area that that there have been some 40 deaths, that the contract workers at KKNPP have been asked not to report for duty, and that KKNPP-1 has been completely sealed. Southern Tamil Nadu is agog with such and worse rumors about the KKNPP as Union Minister Mr. Narayanasami makes terse, incomplete and irresponsible statements about leaks and repairs at the KKNPP without giving any details to the public. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Chief Dr. R. K. Sinha said on January 18 that there was "no major issue behind delay in Kudankulam commissioning." But he stopped short of telling the real truth about the project.