The State government will purchase additional 200 MW of power from Gujarat from January to meet the demand during the summer months, Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters here, Karandlaje said the State now purchases 1,280 MW from Gujarat, Chattisgarh and private producers to bridge the gap between demand and supply.

Unperturbed by protests against its proposed nuclear power plant in Jaitapur, Maharashtra, the French civil nuclear energy major Areva is now in the closing stages of striking an “early works agreement” with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited.

This agreement, which is actually a series of studies to ensure that the reactor is in conformity with local conditions, is likely to take nine months. “Areva’s discussions with NPCIL are on. We hope to achieve closure as soon as possible. We are eager to start [on the studies] so as to fully define the project,” said diplomatic sources.

Keen on avoiding community opposition of the kind seen for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) will launch a sensitisation initiative ahead of starting work on two more 500 MW reactors in Kalpakkam, IGCAR Director S. C. Chetal said on Wednesday.

Addressing the media on the sidelines of the three-day national symposium on radiation physics, hosted by the Indian Society for Radiation Physics (ISRP), Mr. Chetal said the series of public hearings would seek to address the often unfounded radiation-related fears in the minds of the local population before proceeding with the new fast-breeder reactors.

The progress of the Indo-Russian project has been hit by protests over safety concerns

Controversy-embroiled Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project will once again miss the target as the time frame of commissioning of the first unit has now been revised to the new year. Commercial operation of the 1,000 MW first unit, where 99.65% of the physical progress has been completed, is expected to take place in January next, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) said.

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project plans to establish monitoring stations in a few villages around the project site for measuring radiation, if any, according to a senior official of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).

Unlike thermal power stations, which emit huge amount of particulate matter, fly ash and bottom ash, nuclear plants do not emit effluents in large quantity. Though the waste produced from reactors is minimal, it will be highly radioactive. However, safety measures incorporated in reactors will not allow the radiation to be transmitted from the reactor core, the official said.

Kerala will get 266 MW power from Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu when the power plant is commissioned to its full capacity of 2x1000 MW, according to Kerala Electricity Ministe

Protesters opposing the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) on Monday demanded that the Union government organise a nationwide debate on the country’s energy policy, particularly on the ongoing as well as proposed nuclear power programmes.

Convener of the Anti-Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project Struggle Committee, S.P. Udayakumar, said the current agitation against the KKNPP would be suspended if voters chose to support the Congress overwhelmingly in the next Lok Sabha polls even after a transparent nationwide debate.

Asserting that “third generation plus” safety features had been incorporated in the reactors of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, Union Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office V. Narayanasamy on Sunday said the first 1,000 MWe reactor would start generating power by December-end.

He told reporters that the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), which were keen on guaranteeing the safety and security of the people living around the KKNPP site, had ensured the incorporation of state-of-the-art seven-tier safety features in the reactors.

‘Going by the experience of Chernobyl and Fukoshima, India should tread warily’

India has stopped taking its own decisions. Other countries are deciding what is good for our country. We are governed by somebody outside our boundaries, former Chief of Naval Staff Admiral (retd) L. Ramdas said at a seminar organised against setting up of nuclear power plant at Kovvada in Srikakulam district, here on Sunday. He said that authorities were turning authoritarian by branding those opposing Government policy as anti-nationals and enemies of State. This was defeating the true spirit of democracy, he said and referred to the agitation in Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu. He criticised the Centre for forcefully acquiring land from Dalits and Adivasis by antiquated colonial laws.

The Supreme Court today reserved its order on a plea seeking a stay on commissioning of the Kudankulam nuclear plant till all safety measures are put in place.