Kudankulam-I Nuclear Plant to begin Production this Month

The 1,000 MW first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu will start power production within this month, Union Minister V Narayanasamy has intimated. The plant has been implemented by the state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and the Russian nuclear energy company Atomstroyexport in the southern Tamil Nadu town of Kudankulam near Tirunelvel.

The plant should work earlier but certain ‘security considerations’ caused delay in beginning of the project. India’s atomic power plant operator, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd has set up the plant at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli district.

The said plant was hit by protests. Both the civil society and people of that area had been protesting for security reasons. However, Narayanasamy told reporters that Indian and Russian scientists had checked the parameters of the plant and the system was working well. The officials checked all the machines at the plant amid concerns with regard to safety raised by the protestors.

Second unit of the plant is likely to begin work in coming October this year. The Kudankulam plant had been figured during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the margins of the BRICS Summit in Durban, South Africa as per reports.