Kudankulam N-power plant yet to start commercial operation

The Kudankulam atomic power plant will take another month or two to start commercial operation of the first 1,000 MW unit.

Nuclear Power Corp of India (NPCIL), which will operate the plant, said it expected the plant to start power generation by February.

NPCIL said the first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project's (KNPP) will start commercial operation by February, followed by the second unit going critical in October.

KNPP, India's first pressurised water reactor in the light water reactor category, is setting two 1,000 MW capacity power plants using Russian reactors at Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.

The total outlay for the project is over Rs17,000 crore.

The first unit attained criticality July 2013, which is the beginning of the fission process. In August 2013, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) gave its permission to generate power up to 50 per cent (500 MW) of the rated capacity.

The first unit is generating 425 MW and is connected to the grid.

Towards the end of December 2013, NPCIL said it had to carry out certain mandatory tests prescribed by AERB at the first unit before the reactor power is increased.

According to NPCIL, the physical progress of the work is 99.81 per cent in the case of the first unit and 96.63 per cent in respect of the second unit in December 2013.