With the completion of the loading of enriched uranium fuel assemblies into the second unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Station, commissioning of the reactor is in the final stages. “We are in the advanced stage of the commissioning of the reactor,” said S.K. Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL). The Russian reactor, VVER-1000, built by the NPCIL, has a capacity of 1,000 MWe. The first unit, with a similar capacity, reached criticality on July 13, 2013.
Loading of 163 enriched uranium fuel assemblies into Kudankulam-II began on May 11, 2016 and it was completed on May 19, 2016. Light water is the coolant in the reactor.
“We are pressing ahead with the commissioning of the second unit,” Mr. Sharma said. He was confident that the reactor would reach criticality in 15 to 20 days from now.
N. Nagaich, Director (Human Resources), NPCIL, said the reactor would be commissioned in two weeks — between the third and fourth week of June. “We are completing all functional tests. The integrated leak test of the reactor building has been done. The reactor building has been found to be completely leak-tight,” said Mr. Nagaich.
When contacted, S.A. Bhardwaj, Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), said “We are reviewing the progress after the fuel loading was completed in the second unit” and that “everything is going ahead on expected lines.” Asked whether the AERB had given permission to the NPCIL for the first approach to criticality for the unit, he said. “We are reviewing what has been done” and the NPCIL had to conduct some more tests on the reactor. “There are no issues,” Mr. Bhardwaj said.
Russia has agreed to provide the fuel — enriched uranium fuel assemblies — for the life-time of the Kudankulam reactors.
A total of six Russian reactors including these two — all to be built by the NPCIL — will come up at Kudankulam.
The total cost of Kudankulam-3 and 4 reactors, each with a capacity of 1,000 MWe, is Rs. 39,500 crores.
