In a landmark achievement, the first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) was synchronized with the southern power grid in the early hours of Tuesday.
At about 2.45 a.m. this morning, the KNPP supplied electricity to homes in the southern grid for the first time, which marked a major milestone in the ambitious Indo-Russian nuclear collaboration in Tamil Nadu.
In August this year, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board had given its consent to increase the power generation to 500 MW, recording an increase by 50 percent.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India is in the process of constructing two 1,000 MW units at KNPP jointly with Russia at Kudankulam, which is approximately 650 kilometers from Chennai.
The power generation in the nuclear reactor is likely to be gradually increased in stages to reach its full capacity of 1000 MW by the end of the year.
The synchronisation with the southern power grid coincided with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's two-day visit to Russia, where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Expressing satisfaction with the progress in regard to the commissioning of Unit-1 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, India and Russia agreed to take necessary steps to speed-up the completion of Unit-2, and also agreed to expeditiously finalize the General Framework Agreement and the Techno-Commercial Offer for Units- 3 and 4 of the nuclear plant.
After talks between Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the two countries emphasized the need to facilitate cooperation among power sector companies of both the countries for modernization of existing power plants and construction of new power plants in India.
India and Russia also reaffirmed their earlier commitment to the agreement between India and Russia on cooperation in the construction of additional nuclear power plant units at Kudankulam site as well as in the construction of Russian designed Nuclear Power Plants at new sites in India.
Earlier in May this year, the Supreme Court gave a green signal for the KNPP to begin operations, and observed that since the government had set it up, its purpose had the welfare of the people and sustainable growth at the core of it.