Tamil Nadu's two n-plants to restart operations soon

Two nuclear power units of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) in Tamil Nadu are expected to restart operations this week, said officials.

The two units are part of the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) at Kalpakkam, around 70 km from here, and the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in Tirunelvelli, around 650 km from here.

"Our first unit is all set to restart operations on Tuesday and get connected to the grid on Wednesday," MAPS director T.J. Kotteeswaran told IANS on Monday.

The unit was shut down on September 16 following the tripping of its primary circulating pump.

The MAPS has two atomic power units of 220 MW each.

On the other hand, the first 1,000 MW unit at KNPP is expected to restart on Sep 23 as per the Power System Operation Corporation Ltd.

However, NPCIL officials not wanting to go on record told IANS that the unit may go on stream by this month-end.

The unit was shut down on June 24, 2015 for annual maintenance.

The first unit was connected to the southern grid in December 2014. The unit was operating at 60 percent capacity for some time before it was shut down for annual maintenance.

At the time of its shut down in June, NPCIL said the unit will restart after 60 days post annual maintenance and refuelling.

Despite several attempts by IANS, R.S. Sundar, site director, KNPP was not available for clarification.

The NPCIL is setting up two units at KNPP with Russian equipment. The second unit on which work has been completed to the extent of 98.44 percent is expected to start the fission process in November 2015.