Fuel loading commences at Kudankulam N-plant

Regulatory body to continue monitoring every steps

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has started loading nuclear fuel in the first unit of the 1,000 Mwe Russian-origin nuclear reactor at Kudankulam.

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) gave its final approval on Tuesday night and fuel loading began the next day, reliable sources in the government said on the condition of anonymity.

Despite repeated attempts by Deccan Herald, officials at NPCIL headquarters and Kudankulam nuclear power plant were not available to comment on the new developments, possibly apprehending adverse reaction from the apex court. The Supreme Court, however, stated earlier that it would not come in the way of loading the nuclear fuel if all necessary approvals from the regulatory authority are in place. A team from AERB is stationed at Kudankulam and supervising the fuel loading process on a day-to-day basis.

The regulatory body will continue to monitor every step in the power generation process in the controversy-ridden nuclear plant. The fuel loading is expected to be completed in the next 10 days. The NPCIL can announce a date on the commissioning after receiving the AERB approval. The Supreme Court too will have to decide on the petition that sought to close down the nuclear power plant, before the Kudankulam unit starts generating electricity commercially.

India has already informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that the operation of the first 1000 Mwe unit of the Kudankulm Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu “is expected to commence shortly.”

On September 19, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Dr Ratan Kumar Sinha informed the on-going 56th General Conference of the IAEA in Vienna that the “work on the construction of the first of the two 1,000 Mwe Light Water Reactors (LWR) in Kudankulam is complete”.  According to the Department of Atomic Energy website, the AEC chief told the IAEA meeting that the “commissioning of the second unit (at Kudankulam) is expected to follow early next year (2013).”  Intense agitation by locals and anti-nuclear activists for almost an year shot up the project cost of of the Kudankulam Nuclear power plants by Rs 4,099 crore.

“The cost of KKNPP, units 1 and 2 is estimated to go up from Rs 13,171 crore to Rs 17,270 crore due to delay in starting the plant,” the UPA government had recently informed the Parliament.