KKNPP may be commissioned by December 15

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project is likely to be commissioned by December 15, V. Narayanasamy, Union Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office, said here on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference, he said the trial run of the first reactor was in progress after an inspection by experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.

The fuel was loaded in the reactor in October. Almost 95 per cent of the work in the second unit of the plant was complete, he added.

Denying reports in a section of the media that he had urged the Prime Minister to give the entire power generated from the plant to Tamil Nadu, Mr. Narayanasamy said the power would be given as per the agreement between Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka and Kerala.

Vasan’s assurance

Meanwhile, Union Minister G.K. Vasan on Saturday said the State unit of Congress would take efforts to ensure that the first tranche of entire 1,000 MW of power generated at Kudankulam goes to Tamil Nadu.

The long hours of power outage had crippled the industrial activities and affected people of all sections of society in the State.

Making the Kudankulam nuclear power plant fully operational would help meet at least a part of the total electricity requirement, he told mediapersons after attending a marriage here.

Asking people in the State to support uninterrupted operation of the plant, the Minister said the Union government would take necessary steps to address the safety concerns and protect the livelihood of people in Kudankulam.