Kudankulam yet to commence production: Centre

Govt had earlier said plant will go on stream in April

The Centre, which has been saying that power generation at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu will go on stream in April, has now said that the production has not yet started. It added that both the units are expected to be functional within this financial year.

Meanwhile, a frest petition has been filed at The Supreme Court to direct the Centre not to commission the Plant or bring reactors.

In a reply to Lok Sabha, Union Power Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Thursday said power generation from Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (2x1000 MW) has not started so far. It is expected that both the units are likely to be functional within this financial year.

It may be noted, earlier this month V Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office said that power production at the KNPP will start in the month of April. His statement came after officials from the KNPP told the Union Minister that all the parameters are working very well.

However, on April 19th, Nuclear regulator Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) in a statement said they found four valves to be "deficient" during a series of tests ahead of starting the reactor.

"During testing of thousands of valves installed in the plant, the performances of four valves of a particular type were found deficient," said the AERB.

The project, which was suppose to go on stream in September 2007, witnessed a series of protests by the local fishermen, who alleged that the project will affect their livelihood.

The delay in commissioning of KNPP has pushed the project cost by around 14%. When the construction started in September 2001, the Government which joined hands with Russia to set up the project pegged the project cost at Rs 13,600 crore. But according to the Government, till January 2013 expenditure on KNPP was Rs 15,454 crore.

States to be benefited from the Plant are Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.

Meanwhile, four months after the Supreme Court reserved verdict on a petition seeking implementation of mandatory safety parameters in the Plant, a new petition was filed at the Apex Court, in an attempt to stall commissioning of the project. It was alleged that use of sub-standard equipment had rendered it unsafe.

"The issue concerns use of sub-standard equipment imported by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd from corrupt Russian nuclear suppliers in the said plant," the petitioner said, adding that this was the reason why the commissioning of the plant was delayed.

The petitioner requested that the Court to direct the government not to take any steps towards commissioning of the plant or bringing the reactors to initial criticality stage till it comprehensively examined the issues of use of sub-standard equipment and its possible impact on safety of the plant and the public.