Kudankulam-1 likely to be commissioned by Apr: Govt

The much-delayed Kudankulam nuclear power project is expected to be commissioned by April, government told the Lok Sabha today.

"All efforts are being made to commission units 1&2 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project by April 2013 and October 2013 respectively," Minister of State in the PMO V Narayanasamy said in a written reply.

Of the 2,000 MW electricity to be generated by the two units, Tamil Nadu has been allocated 925 MW, Kerala (266 MW), Karnataka (442 MW) and Pondicherry (67 MW), he said.

"Government has also agreed to consider providing additional 100 MW power to Tamil Nadu," Narayanasamy said.

Some power generated by the two units has not been allocated.

In reply to a separate question, Narayanasamy said the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) had given clearance for the second heat up and full system tests of the unit-1 of Kudankulam nuclear power project on January 24.

Engineers of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) were carrying out a series of integration tests in the presence of AERB team, which has been camping at the project site for the past one-and-a-half month.

On the safety of nuclear plants, Narayanasamy said atomic power stations in the coastal areas were designed taking into account technical parameters related to earthquake, tsunami, storm surges, wave run-up, floods and tides.