Kudankulam plant to start commercial operations in August
May 18th, 2012 - 9:54 pm ICT by IANSChennai, May 18 (IANS) The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) Friday announced that the first of the two 1,000 MW units of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) is expected to start commercial operations this August and the second unit in March 2013.
The announcement on NPCIL’s website as to the expected month of commercial operation of the first unit has now eased the mental pressure on people at KNPP as the government has been saying that the first reactor would start operations in 20 days’ time.
For a long time, NPCIL officials had been telling IANS that they could not give any tentative month for the commissioning of the first unit as it would be like pressurising the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) in giving various permissions.
Meanwhile, work on the opening of the first reactor’s pressure vessel is progressing at good pace and the dummy fuel is expected to be taken out in a week’s time, a senior NPCIL official, who did not want to be identified, told IANS.
Dummy fuel is similar to the real fuel in terms of specifications but without the enriched uranium.
A team of nuclear experts from HRID Ltd, Croatia, will then inspect the reactor pressure vessel and other systems.
According to the NCPIL official, the AERB gives its clearances in stages. After studying the data submitted post removal of the dummy fuel, the AERB would decide on giving its consent for loading the real fuel.
Following that, permission has to be sought to increase the power generation in stages till the full capacity can be reached.
According to officials, while the focus is on commissioning the first reactor, some work is being carried out for completing the second unit construction.
- Removal of dummy fuel assemblies begins at Kudankulam - May 25, 2012
- Kudankulam n-plant a step closer to going on stream - May 12, 2012
- NPCIL inspection at Kudankulam to end soon - Jul 14, 2012
- Major pre-fuel loading exercise over at Kudankulam - Sep 12, 2012
- Work at Kudankulam quickens for first reactor - Apr 07, 2012
- With atomic regulator's nod, Kudankulam reactor being fuelled (Second Lead) - Sep 21, 2012
- Kudankulam inspections on after removal of dummy fuel - Jun 04, 2012
- Crucial NPCIL-atomic energy regulator meet Aug 3 - Jul 28, 2012
- Dusting, housekeeping major initial job at Kundankulam - Mar 21, 2012
- Plans to circulate coolant in Kudankulam reactor - Nov 19, 2011
- Atomic regulatory team inspecting Kudankulam reactor - Sep 10, 2012
- Fuel loading in Kudankulam reactor possible by February: Nuclear Corp - Dec 17, 2011
- Reactor pressure vessel inspected at Kudankulam - Jun 30, 2012
- Kudankulam reactor may get one year operational licence - Sep 08, 2012
- Kudankulam to comply with AERB stipulations - Sep 17, 2012
Tags: aerb, atomic energy regulatory board, chennai, commercial operations, croatia, india ltd, long time, mw units, npcil, nuclear experts, nuclear power corporation, nuclear power project, pace, power generation, reactor pressure vessel, unit construction, uranium