Kudankulam's 2nd unit to be connected to grid by Sept

The third and fourth units - of 1,000 megawatt each - will be commissioned by 2022-23, with total investment of Rs 40,000 crore

Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) hopes the second unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in southern Tamil Nadu, with generation capacity of 1,000 megawatt (Mw), will be connected to the grid by September.

The first unit, also of 1,000 Mw, was commissioned on Wednesday. The third and fourth units, of 1,000 Mw each, will be commissioned by 2022-23, with total investment of Rs 40,000 crore.

NPCIL Chairman and Managing Director S K Sharma told this newspaper over telephone from the Kudankulam site: “The second unit attained first criticality (controlled self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction in the reactor for the first time) on July 10. Reactor power is being increased in stages to generate 1,000 Mw electricity. The unit will be connected to the grid by September and raise the contribution of nuclear power in the country to 6,780 Mw.”

Orders for the third and fourth units have been placed with Atomstroyexport of Russia. They will supply the reactors; other construction will be by NPCIL.

Kudankulam project site director R S Sundar said the power from unit-I was currently supplied to Tamil Nadu (562.5 Mw), Karnataka (221 Mw), Kerala (133 Mw), Andhra Pradesh (50 Mw) and Puducherry (33.5 Mw), at Rs 4 a unit. The share of power allocation from unit-II will be the same, except for Telangana replacing Andhra.

Sundar said the reactors would ensure the highest level of safety, in line with current global standards. These are Generation III+ reactors, incorporating a combination of active and passive safety systems.