 "Kundankulam Nuclear Plant likely to attain commercial production in 2 months")
KNPP's Site Director R S Sundar has said that the unit touched 1,000 MWe at 13.20 hours on Saturday and its in the final stage of testing, following which approval from AERB will be sought.
"So far 195 crore units produced from the plant and commercial production of the plant is expected in the next 1.5-2 months", Sundar told a local news channel.
"There was no tension as we have been operating the unit at 950 MW in the morning", he said. Preparations for carrying out the hydro-test - a crucial test before fueling the reactor- at the second unit is expected to start sometime next week.
It may be noted commissioning of the first stage of the the plant was originally scheduled for late 2011 was delayed by mass protests, by cross section of fishermen from the neighbouring village, that demanded its closure.
The plant will be operated at 1,000 MWe for a couple of days following which further tests technically called dynamic tests - would be conducted and the reports will be submitted to Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).
He stated that the plant need to get permission to connect with the Southern Grid to carry out the dynamic tests as the power levels would be reduced during the testing period.
On the Unit II, he said, after hydro test and hot run filling of Uranium will be operational, all these are expected to be end of this year.
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KNPP is a nuclear power station at Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is setting up two Russian made 1,000 MWe atomic power plants here at an outlay of over Rs 17,000 crore.
After attaining criticality on July 13 last year, the first reactor went through series of tests stipulated by the AERB and also by Atomstroy exports, the technology provider.
The original plan was to commission the first of the 2 X 1,000 MWe reactor within five years from the date of first pouring of concrete, but due to protests from cross section of fishermen from the neighbouring village, technical issues, delayed supply of components, incorporation of additional safety measures delayed its completion.
Unit I of the plant started operations and has been connected to the grid after the Supreme Court gave its nod last year subject to few conditions by various agencies like NPCIL, AERB, Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), Tamil Nadu government and others.
India is planning to build 19 nuclear power units with a combined capacity of 17,400 MWe by 2017. Eight of them will be built in cooperation with other countries. It was reported that Russia will help to build units 3 and 4 at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant. Each will have a capacity of 1,000 MWe.