Kudankulam n-plant in southern India to be commissioned in 40 days

New Delhi, Apr 23 (PTI) The first unit of the Kundankulam nuclear power project in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu is expected to start generating electricity in the next 40 days, Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy said today. He said India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) officials were at the Kudankulam project site and inspecting the plant. "The first reactor of 1,000 MW will be operational within 40 days from today," Narayanasamy told reporters here. He said the AERB was expected to give its certification to the plant in about a week after which uranium -- the fuel for power generation -- will be loaded in the plant. "We will have a trial run for 20 days after which the first reactor will start generating power," Narayanasamy said, adding the second unit of 1,000 MW was expected to be commissioned within two months of the first one. He said over 2,000 engineers, from India and Russia, were working day and night for the purpose of power generation from the project. "We are fast moving into the direction of generating electricity from Kundankulam Nuclear Power Project," he said. The government of the state of Tamil Nadu was cooperating with the Centre with regards to the project, Narayanasamy said. The Rupees 158.24 billion (about USD 3.1 billion) project had witnessed eight-month-long protests from anti-nuclear power groups and some locals who had apprehensions on the safety aspects of the plant. The work on the plant was suspended in October last year soon after the hot-run to test the reactor systems and pipelines using dummy fuel. PTI