It was not immediately clear what provoked the attack, which took place early Wednesday morning at a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) base in southern Tamil Nadu state, around 10 kilometres (six miles) away from the Kalpakkam power plant.
The CISF is tasked with guarding key government offices and monuments such as the Taj Mahal, as well as nuclear plants.
"They had assembled for morning duty when he opened fire," CISF spokesperson Hemendra Singh told AFP.
"We are looking into the matter and checking what triggered this. But we immediately detained him and handed him over to the police."
He said the officer, Vijay Pratap Singh, was highly experienced and "in shock" after the attack.
"It is not as if he is a new fellow, he has been doing this service for 24 years. After questioning there will be more clarity on why it happened," he added.
Operations at the nuclear power plant were unaffected, Singh said.
The Kalpakkam nuclear power facility was battered by a massive tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 that left 6,170 people dead in India.
Water seeped into the facility that is located on the coast after the tsunami hit. It resumed operations a year later.
India hopes to build many such plants as part of its ambitious plan to generate 63,000 megawatts of nuclear power by 2030 -- a near 15-fold rise from current levels, according to the Nuclear Power Corp.
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@Ammar:
Were you his buyer?
pls ma friends read news carefully then comment on it
pls ma friends ,,,its a news about nuclear production for energy not for war heads so pls read it carefully then reply
@Sidster:
"Yet Pakistan has a better bomb and bigger quantity with better tactical option than Indians, whom seem to cannot get Light fighter Aircraft and Main Battle Tank off the ground. "
That's wonderful. I believe you. Bravo!
Then why are still afraid, insecure and nervous?
Why do you still not invest in education and healthcare? Only half of your children go to schools and the number of polio cases is increasing.
Pakistanis are too gullible. Or may be they don't have much education. Or may be don't have much information or may be it is combination of all. 1. The shooting happened at a base about 10 km away from the nuclear plant. It was a personal grudge and not a shooting like Pakistani naval base which was an insider attack. 2. The guard belong to CISF ( central industrial security force) which provided basic security to industrial installation. It is not a nuclear plant specific security. 3. This nuclear plant generates electricity and not nuclear bomb. 4. India still have to see an AQ Khan who has opened his retail shop for selling nuclear parts and technology to other countries.
This is further proof of Indian irresponsibility concerning nuclear matters. India illegally diverted nuclear material provided for civilian purposes towards its first nuclear explosion in 1974, thus introducing the curse of nuclear weapons in South Asia. Then it continued to develop and stockpile nuclear weapons, and tested these again in 1998, thus making nuclear proliferation in South Asia virtually irreversible. India's reckless nuclear record is a danger not only to the region but to the rest of the world, and the world had better face up to its responsibility to stop India's nuclear aggression in its tracks before it pays a very heavy price for whetting Indian nuclear appetite.
@2019 ake bad: Yet Pakistan has a better bomb and bigger quantity with better tactical option than Indians, whom seem to cannot get Light fighter Aircraft and Main Battle Tank off the ground.
It is a serious matter at a most sensitive place point of worry for friend and foe.Let us see how friends like USA and EU react to India.
So these are the nut jobs who are guarding India's nuclear assets. I fear for the safety of Indian nukes.
@Ammar @pak patriot Good for nice masala Bollywood movies but still it doesn't cut the ice with NSG. And world still thinks Pakistan shouldn't get a nuke deal and they should sell Uranium to India. How sad of you. I can feel how it is be rejected by everyone.
That's just summed up the security of their nuclear assets. IAEA should take notice of this strictly.
Come on Indian Stupid Media, blame pakitan. The fires exchanged at LOC must have hit the plant. Lets enjoy Indian Logic!
Instead of wasting time on nuclear, these extremist Indians should work on building toilets so at least most of the population will stop the practice of open defecation
And India believes Paki nukes are unsafe? Its high time for India to put her own house in order, because a serious security failure has occured. That guard could have also stolen fissile materials from that plant. We dont for sure how many of these guards could still be a part of India's security edtablishment.
He was suppling nuclear item to black market and suddenly these three new comers stoped him so he had to do it He's in "In shock" that he has been detained! Why!!
PS: Sumgling is lawful according to prevailing laws in India.