Hopes to begin generation by June or early July

The Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC), which is working on a war-footing for the commissioning of first phase (1,000-Mw) of Kudankulam nuclear project, has achieved yet another milestone. The state-run entity responsible for the generation of nuclear power for electricity has completed the prerequisites for opening the reactor pressure vessel.

A team of nearly 2,000 Indian and Russian engineers are working round-the-clock to commission the Koodankulam nuclear project’s first 1,000 MWe reactor unit in a tightly compressed time schedule of

Responding to chief minister J. Jayalalithaa’s repeated demand for 100 per cent allocation of power from the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), Atomic Energy Commission chairman, Sreekumar Banerjee and NPCIL chairman, S.K. Jain assured at a joint press conference on Thursday that they would recommend an increase in Tamil Nadu’s share of power from KKNPP.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office V Narayansamy said on Monday that the first reactor at the Koodankulam nuclear power plant will start producing electricity in the next 40 days.

The first unit of the Kundankulam nuclear power project is expected to start generating electricity in the next 40 days, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy said on Monday.

He said the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) officials were at the Kudankulam project site and inspecting the plant. "The first reactor of 1000 MW will be operational within 40 days from today," Narayanasamy told reporters.

Instead of coercing the people fighting against injustice and life-threatening projects like Kudankulam Nuclear Power Projects, these people should be protected in a democratic set-up, social activist Neeraj Jain said.

Speaking to reporters here on Thursday, Mr. Neeraj, who was here to deliver lecture at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, told reporters that countries like India and China alone were ambitiously pursuing nuclear power programmes even as nuclear energy was gradually losing its popularity in other countries across the globe, especially in Europe, after several nuclear disasters, particularly after Fukushima accident.

Expressing satisfaction over the progress in preparing the first reactor of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project for commissioning, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) Chairman and Managing Director S.K. Jain has said the KKNPP was waiting for the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board's clearance for the opening of the reactor pressure vessel for inspecting the internal components' performance and subsequent loading of enriched uranium fuel rods.