Kudankulam reactor start-up in April

Chennai: All appears to be set for the start-up of the first of two Russian nuclear power reactors built at Kudankulam by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd as part of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in Tamil Nadu.

Enriched uranium fuel bundles are expected to be loaded into the first reactor by the end of March and the reactor itself is expected to be started up in April.

The 'hot run' is due to start in a few days, according to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) chairman and managing director, SK Jain.

Speaking to media sources, Jain said that all the systems of the reactor have already been individually commissioned. Some systems were commissioned in an integrated fashion when the 'cold run' was done.

Jain also clarified that though the VVER-1000 reactor from Russia was the first-of-its-kind to be built in India, NPCIL had not faced any problem in the individual commissioning of the systems.

Two pressurised water reactors from Russia, each with a capacity of 1,000 MWe, have been built at Kudankulam by the NPCIL. The reactors are designed to use enriched uranium as fuel, and light water as both coolant and moderator.