Koodankulam plant will generate power by March end, 2008

Chennai, Feb 9 (UNI) The 2,000 MW Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP), set up in Tirunelveli district with Russian assistance, will commence power generation by the end of March 2008, Tamil Nadu Power Minister Arcot N Veerasamy said today.

About 80 per cent of work had been completed and the remaining would be over by March next year, he told mediapersons here.

He said Tamil Nadu would receive 925 MW from the project and the rest would be distributed to neighbouring states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Tamil Nadu's total power generation capacity was 10,112 MW against its requirement of 8,600 MW. About 1,600 MW was being supplied to Punjab and Maharashtra, he added.

Mr Veerasamy said Prime Ministers of India and Russia had recently signed a memorandum of intent for installation of four more light water reactors with a capacity of Rs 1,000 MW each.

Stating that people in Koodankulam and neighbouring villages had opposed the proposed capacity addition at KNPP, he asserted that the existing infrastructure would be utilised for the addition of nuclear reactors and there would be no futher land acquisition.

KNPP Director S K Agarwal would allay the apprehensions of the people, he added.

Mr Veerasamy said the plant structure would be so strong that even a tsunami could not affect it. Also, free insurance scheme would be offered to people living within a 20 km radius of the KNPP, he added.

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