1,000 MWe from Kudankulam by November-end: Site Director

CAPTION : FOR DAILY : TIRUNELVELI : JULY : 31/07/2013 : Site Director, KKNPP, R.S. Sundar (second from right) handing over cirtificate to one of the student who complete disaster management training course conducted by Indian Red Cross at Palayamkottai on Wednesday. Photo: A_SHAIKMOHIDEEN;CAPTION : FOR DAILY : TIRUNELVELI : JULY : 31/07/2013 : Site Director, KKNPP, R.S. Sundar (second from right) handing over cirtificate to one of the student who complete disaster management training course conducted by Indian Red Cross at Palayamkottai on Wednesday. Photo: A_SHAIKMOHIDEEN

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project Site Director R.S. Sundar has said that the reactor would generate 400 MWe by August-end.

"After obtaining the mandatory approvals from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) at every stage, we’ll gradually increase power generated from the reactor to its maximum capacity (1,000 MWe) by November-end," Mr. Sundar said.

Distributing disaster management training certificates to the students who underwent the training organised by the Indian Red Cross Society here on Wednesday, Mr. Sundar said the first reactor was performing exceptionally well, as was predicted after criticality on July 13. As part of the mandatory exercise, the reactor had been shut down and started again on five occasions, after criticality, to test the performance of the equipment.

With state-of-art technology incorporated in the reactor, it could be shut down within three seconds. The entire process was being closely monitored by Russian experts from the Kurchatov Institute and AERB.

All parameters pertaining to ongoing operations and tests of the first reactor were well within the permissible level. Therefore, the AERB will soon give its nod to take the operations to the next level.

On the disaster management training being imparted by KKNPP experts with the help of the district administration to villagers living around the project site, Mr. Sundar said the training programme had covered around 20 villages so far and was proceeding without a hitch.

He said the second reactor, which had been loaded with dummy fuel assemblies, would undergo a ‘hot run’ within the next 90 days as the Integrated Leak Grade Test had been conducted in the reactor containment.

The KKNPP Site Director said escalation in project cost from Rs. 13,171 crore to Rs. 17,200 would reflect in the unit cost of power, and would fall between Rs. 3 and Rs. 3.50.

He said around 30 per cent of the components to be used in the third and fourth reactors of KKNPP would be fabricated locally which would result in a major saving for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India.