To decide on ‘pinnacle protest’ against project commissioning

The latest announcement from Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office V. Narayanasamy on the possible commissioning of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in mid-January has compelled the protesters to convene a meeting of community leaders on January 13 at Idinthakarai to decide on the future course of action against the upcoming nuclear park.

The much-delayed Kudankulam nuclear power project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu’s Tinulveli district is finally set set to be commissioned within the next two weeks as nuclear scientists have entered the fi

The much-delayed Kudankulam project is set to be commissioned within the next two weeks as nuclear scientists have entered the final lap of a series of tests on its safety and efficacy.

“Within this month 100 per cent. It will take about two weeks,” Ratan Kumar Sinha, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission told PTI in Kolkata on the sidelines of the 100th Indian Science Congress when asked about the commissioning of the first 1,000 MW unit of the project.

The joint venture companies are yet to decide on the quantum of the bond or external commercial borrowings

NPCIL-Nalco Power Company Limited — a joint venture between Nalco and NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd) to set up nuclear plants —will raise a term loan of up to Rs 1,500 crore over the next three months to fund the construction of power generation capacities. The joint venture’s board met in Mumbai last week to take stock of the progress of the plant’s construction. B L Bagra, director (finance), Nalco said, “Initially, we are looking for Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 crore funding from various banks. We are in talks with the banks and hope to complete the process in the next two-three months.”

Russia has told India that Kudankulam nuclear power plants 3 and 4 would cost “double”, after New Delhi decided that the next two reactors would come under the new civil nuclear liability law, and

In the last lap of its first approach to criticality, the first unit (1000 MWe) of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in Tamil Nadu is undergoing a battery of tests by engineers of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).

R.K. Sinha, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, told The Hindu that the NPCIL engineers were busy, performing “high pressure and temperature tests.”
Additional tests

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.

After taking away cheques for the compensation of their lands acquired for the proposed Gorakhpur Atomic Power Project (GAPP), farmers are now up in arms against the authorities for hike in the pay

Visakhapatnam: The department of atomic energy, under the aegis of the Prime Minister, has accepted the proposal of the Nuclear Power Corpo-ration of India Limited to increase capacity of the Kovvada Nuclear Park from 6,000 MW to 9,500 MW.

According to DAE’s earlier clearances, the nuclear park’s capacity was barely 6,000 MW, since the DAE had, in principle, allowed the capacity of each reactor to produce above 1,000 MW. With the aim of utilising the maximum capacity of the generation-II technology of GE reactors made in the US, which are to be installed in the Kovvada Nuclear Park, NPCIL authorities have recently held talks with the ministry of environment and forests to hike KNP’s capacity.