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Having been delayed by over a year,the first unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant is likely to get operational sometime next month,the government said on Wednesday.
Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office V Narayansamy told Parliament in a written reply to a question that all efforts were being made to commission units 1 and 2 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project by April 2013 and October 2013 respectively.
A top official of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India said that the first unit was likely to become critical by the end of this month or early next month. Achieving the critical stage is the last important stage before the plant becomes operational.
We are not very far away from achieving the critical stage. Some tests are being performed and subject to the satisfaction of the regulator Atomic Energy Regulatory Board,the critical state can be achieved by the end of this month or sometime next month, N Nagaich,executive director at NPCIL,which operates Indias nuclear power plants,told The Indian Express.
The critical stage is achieved when the nuclear reaction in the reactor starts generating steam that is used to run the turbines to generate power.
In view of major concerns expressed by activist groups regarding safety of the plants reactors,the AERB is proceeding with utmost caution in verifying the results of the tests being performed. NPCIL officials said every process and test were being performed more than once at AERBs request so that the data can be validated.
The two 1000-MW reactors are the biggest and the first of their kind being installed in India. The reactors,the first of which was to be commissioned in December 2011,have been the target of protests from villagers living nearby on safety fears. The protests were amplified in wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan in February 2011,and disturbed the schedule of the reactors. For about five months in 2011,no work could take place at the site.
Nagaich said it was extremely important to allay the concerns of the locals and that is why the AERB was treading with extreme caution. He said a second heat-up test had just been completed to see how the reactors behave at high temperatures and pressures,and another test to check the cooling system in the event of a power black-out was in the process of being performed.
