"This inspection will take about 10 to 12 days. The report of inspection will be submitted to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board for its review and obtaining clearance for fuel loading," Nalinish Nagaich, Executive Director, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) said.
The inspection is a key step in the run-up to the commissioning of a nuclear plant before the regulator grants permission for loading the fuel.
The reactor pressure vessel, which houses fuel assemblies, is the heart of any nuclear power plant and a detailed inspection before commissioning is necessary as it cannot be opened once the reactor starts functioning.
"This pre-service inspection will provide the reference base line data for future, apart from validating functioning of automatic inspection machine," Nagaich said.
He said the RPV will be inaccessible after start of operation and subsequent inspections will be carried out remotely using the same machine.
During the life-time of the plant, inspections would be carried out once in four years.
Earlier this week, NPCIL Chairman-cum-Managing Director Kailash Chandra Purohit had said the first unit of KNPP was in final stages of commissioning and he expected the fuel to be loaded in the nuclear plant by end of July.
The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project had run into a rash of protests after a goof up by the NPCIL, which had failed to warn people living in the vicinity of the plant about the pre-commissioning tests. (MORE)
