Power unit of India’s Kudankulam NPP put into operation

NEW DELHI, December 9. /TASS/. The first power unit of the major facility of the Russian-Indian nuclear energy cooperation, the Kudankulam NPP in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state, has been connected to the power system after repair works, a source close to India’s Nuclear Power Corporation said on Tuesday. “The first power unit has been successfully put into operation upon completion of the scheduled repair works,” the source said. “The unit is again supplying the south of India with electricity,” he said, adding that it is currently preparing to start commercial operation. The unit attained maximum capacity in June 2014. Until now, it demonstrated safe operation for over 4,000 hours and was at the stage of pre-commissioning tests aimed at checking the operations of the systems and equipment. In late October, the unit was shut down after a minor malfunction of the turbine work was found during the tests. In 2010, Russia and India signed a road map envisaging the construction of up to 14 or 16 Russian-design power units in India. This spring, the sides inked an agreement on building the second phase of the Kudankulam NPP. India plans to build 19 nuclear power units with a combined capacity of 17,400 MW by 2017. Eight of them will be built in cooperation with other countries. Read more