2nd unit of Kudankulam plant attains nuke criticality

Tirunelveli: The second unit of KKNPP at Kudankulam attained criticality by 8.56 pm on Sunday.

Kick-starting the fission activity at the VVEr type Russian designed 1,000MW second reactor of KKNPP, Satish Kumar Sharma, chairman of NPCIL, the project proponent, said, ‘The sustained fission reaction achieved in the second unit will be followed by series of tests and experiments before the unit achieve generation of 259MW in a month.’

He added that the power generation would be increased in stages to 40 percent, which is when the unit would be synchronised with the southern power grid and then generation would be increased subsequently to reach its fullest installation capacity in the next three months.

As the second unit is all set to produce power, Tamil Nadu is to get an additional 562.50MW in the next three or four months from KKNPP, whose first unit under operation is contributing 562MW to the state. The rest of the power generated from the unit would be shared among Puducherry, Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana.

The KKNPP site director, R.S. Sundar, who was present during the historic occasion, said that the first pouring of concrete for the third and fourth units of KKNPP would commence by the second quarter of next year. Mr Singha Roy, technical director, LWR and Mr Ivonishov Ivan, head of the Russian team, along with engineers from NPCIL were present when the unit went critical.    

TN will get 1,125 mw from KKNPP

The KKNPP’s second unit of 1,000 mw capacity attaining criticality marks start of controlled self sustaining fission chain reaction for the first time to generate power and getting connected to the grid. The unit will supply infirm power to the grid until it attains full load and then commence commercial operation.

Once it commences commercial operations, Tamil Nadu will get a share of 562 mw, while Karnataka, Kerala Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry will get 221 mw, 133 mw, 50 mw and 33.50 mw respectively. Overall Tamil Nadu would get 1,125 mw from both the unit I and II together as its share.

Russian controversy

The two 1,000 mw nuclear reactors at  Kudankulam Project are supplied  by  the  Russian atomic energy corporation, Rosatom ,through its subsidiary, Atomstroyexport. Anti nuclear activists are accusing Rosatom of supplying inferior quality equipment to Kudankulam that threatens the safety of the people living nearby following the arrest of top executive of Zio Podolsk, a subsidiary of Rosatom, that supplied several equipments to KKNPP.  “Teething problems” and shutdown of the unit I for several months after commencing commercial operation on December 31, 2014 added fuel to the charges of the activists.

Besides, the inordinate delay in commissioning of the nuclear projects led to steep escalation of costs. The excavation process for KKNPP unit I and II began on March 31, 2002 and the reactors were scheduled to start functioning in 2007 and 2008. But the first unit achieved criticality on October 22, 2013.

TN has highest nuclear generation capacity in India

With KKNPP Unit II achieving criticality, India’s operating nuclear reactor will go up to 22 and its total installed capacity would be 6,780 mw. Tamil Nadu will have highest installed capacity of 2,440 mw in the country. Another five reactors, including the 500 mw Pressurised Fast Breeder Reactor in Kalapakkam, are under construction and are expected to be commissioned in the coming year. Nuclear power accounts for mere 1.9 per cent of total installed electricity generation capacity.