June 28, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 12, 1428

NEW DELHI, June 27: As angry Indian groups braced to protest against the proposed visit to Chennai by US warship Nimitz next week, New Delhi sought on Wednesday to allay fears over its nuclear safety.

USS Nimitz, which will be the first US aircraft carrier to make a port call to India, will anchor off Chennai from July 1 to 5 in what has been termed as yet another landmark event in the growing warmth between Washington and New Delhi.

Left parties have objected to the government allowing the ship to dock in Chennai, saying Washington was using New Delhi to counter China and

Iran. The parties have planned to organise protests in Chennai during the port call.

“This is not the first visit by a nuclear-powered ship to an Indian port,” the Indian Defence Ministry said in a statement.

“Nuclear-powered ships and submarines from France, the United Kingdom and the United States have visited Indian ports. “The Indian Navy has operated INS Chakra, a nuclear-powered submarine, from 1988 to 1991,”

it said.

The ministry's environment safety panel listed steps which include allowing the ship to move only during the day and in good visibility, and not letting any other ship to be berthed within a radius of 200 metres.

“Accordingly, a standing Environmental Survey Committee has carried out a detailed survey at Chennai and cleared the visit of USS Nimitz from a radiation hazard point of view,” the statement said.

The US embassy in New Delhi said: “The nuclear safety record of US nuclear-powered warships is outstanding”, adding that there has never been a nuclear accident in their nearly six-decade history.