Power generation resumes at Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant

Chennai, Nov 11: Power generation at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu, which was temporarily suspended last week, has resumed after the turbine of the first unit was resynchronised with the Southern grid, a top official of the plant said.

"At 1.31 AM (on Sunday morning) we resynchronised the 1000 MWe first unit with the Southern grid. Today we are producing about 230 MWe of power and will gradually increase it to 300-330 MWe," Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant Site Director R S Sundar told PTI.

The 1000MWe first unit was shut down on October 29 for the second time in a week for some tests as mandated by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). Power at KNPP will be increased towards the 1000MWe benchmark by December this year once the unit attains operational stability. Unit-1 attained criticality on July 13 this year after much delay following protests against KNPP by anti-nuclear activists in areas around the complex, citing safety reasons.

Nuclear Power Corporation of India is constructing two 1,000 MW units at KNPP jointly with Russia at Kudankulam in Tiruneveli district, about 650 kms from here.

PTI