After 57 days of continuous operation, the first reactor of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) and its turbine were on Monday stopped “for a few tests”.
Sources in the KKNPP said the reactor, which was in operation to generate around 400 MWe, was stopped following the manual stopping of turbine at 12.42 p.m.
“This is not an abnormal or unforeseen development as the turbine and the reactor have been stopped only for conducting a few tests at this stage. The reactor will be operated again within two or three days,” said the sources.
After the turbine was synchronised with the southern grid at 2.45 a.m. on October 22, it was stopped manually at 5.40 a.m. on the same day for mandatory tests. During the 175-minute-long operation, it generated around 160 MWe that was transmitted to the grid. It was resynchronised at 9.43 p.m. on October 25 and power generation continued until it was stopped again on October 29 at 8 p.m.
Following completion of tests stipulated by the Indian and Russian engineers as well as the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, the turbine was resynchronised at 4.11 p.m. on November 4. However, officials were forced to stop it the next day at 11.30 a.m. after they detected a “minor malfunction” in the rotary engine.
After the malfunction was rectified, the turbine was resynchronised with the grid at 1.30 a.m. on November 10. The reactor and the turbine were in operation till Monday afternoon.
