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On Thursday, India and Russia signed two pacts to set up two more nuclear reactors (Unit 3 and 4) at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, where the Nuclear Power Corporation is setting up the country's largest nuclear power plant. The plant's site director, R S Sundar, spoke to T E Narasimhan on the cause of delay and the future plans.
What will be the capacity of Unit 3 and 4? What will be the cost of the project?
Each of the units will have 1,000 MWe and the project cost is estimated at around Rs 39,000 crore as of now, against Rs 17,000 crore for Unit 1 and 2. It would take around 69 months for the projects to get completed from the time construction starts. Concrete placement will start in early 2016. The agreements, a general framework accord and contracts to order main equipment, will enable us to place orders for long manufacturing cycle equipment worth Rs 10,000 crore. These would take around two-and-a-half years to design, fabricate, test and deliver at the site. These are mainly nuclear steam supply system, which will be around 320 tonnes.
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What is the status of the Unit 1 & 2?
Unit 1 reached the 1,000-MWe stage a few days back. For Unit 2, hot run test will start in a week and commencement of power production will be post-March 2015.
What are the key lessons from the Unit 1 & 2, which will help you in expansion?
Besides handling external factors (anti-plant agitations), KNPP's engineers know how to construct, commission and operate the plant. So our dependency level of other people will be less.
Does it mean the indigenous level will be high in the new reactors?
Yes. We are looking at around 20-25 per cent, against almost nothing in the first two reactors. The two new reactors will see indigenisation in electrical and cooling systems and others.
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There are a lot of allegations floating about the plant, some of them relate to safety, about the components and others. The anti-KNPP campaigners’ have alleged that a number of facts had been hidden. What is your response?
This plant is very safe. This was made clear and explained by NPCIL, KNPP, AERB, Centre and state governments, experts and various leaders in different levels through media, public forum, campaigns and other modes. The awareness among students has gone up substantially. We regularly conduct awareness programmes and allow people to come to the plant on a regular basis. A large number of women are showing interest in these programmes. In the last two years, we reached out to around 2 lakh people.
