Kudankulam commercial operation to be delayed

Power production at KNPP was stopped due to technical snag

Commercial operations at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) are likely to be delayed further as power generation at Unit-I, which was shut down recently due to a problem in its turbine, is expected to resume only in the last week of December.

The KNPP commercial operations were scheduled to begin from January 2015. However, in a major setback, power production was stopped at Unit-I due to a technical snag in the turbine.

“The unit has been shut down to inspect turbine and its associated components before putting it for commercial operation. Though it was expected to be back in service by six to eight weeks time, the observation is in progress after certain equipment was replaced in turbine,” sources from KNPP told Deccan Herald on Sunday.

The turbine has been operated for 4,701 hours so far. It has generated 282 million units of electricity and supplied power to the southern grid since October 2013. “The turbine was opened and its various components have been inspected. The required repair job, in accordance with the recommendations of the Russian manufacturers, is nearing completion. Efforts are on to make the turbine ready for the start up on or before December 21,” KNPP sources added.


KNPP officials also informed that measures are being taken to avoid recurrence of such events in Unit-II, which is being commissioned and prepared for hot run. Sources said about 90 per cent of the works in Unit-II were completed.

The construction works for Unit-III and IV, for which India signed an agreement with Russia recently, has commenced. The project cost is Rs 33,000 crore. A general framework agreement was signed between the NPCIL with representatives of Russian-based Rosatom.
DH News Service