After being shut down for 81 days, the first unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project began power generation again on Sunday night around 10 p.m.
The reactor, that attained its maximum capacity of 1,000 MWe on June 7 last, was stopped for tests on July 16 before it was taken to the commercial power generation phase. The unit was commissioned again on August 31 after the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board gave its nod for commercial power generation, but generation was stopped on September 13 after a “technical malfunction.”
It was started on September 15 and was stopped within 48 hours after a “vital component” in the turbine section got unscrewed and hit the turbine at high velocity causing “significant damage.”
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Though the project administration was trying to find a domestic company to fabricate the component, it had to replace the damaged component with the fresh one fitted in the second reactor.
After replacing the damaged component, the reactor was commissioned at 9.59 p.m. on Sunday and power generation stood at 69 MWe around 10.45 p.m.