“At 11 P.M., local time, the devices showed the beginning of nuclear reaction at unit 1 of the NPP, – says the source at the station. – Now the specialists are to conduct a series of experiments and tests for NPP preparation for power connection”. According to R.S. Sandar, the station’s Director, quoted by “The Hindu”, the capacity of the unit will be raising gradually. The closest key stage is the synchronization with power net of Southern India with capacity of 400 MW(el.). This is expected within 30-45 days after the MCP. Further the unit capacity will be gradually rising to 50%, 75%, 90%, and, finally, to its nominal capacity. After its start up the Kudankulam NPP will become the 21st working power unit in India. The total capacity of Indian atomic park, after the launching, will grow up to 5,78 GW (el.). Also, this is the first unit with pressurized light water reactor in India.
As we remember, the first unit of the NPP was supposed to be launched as early as December 2007, the second – December 2008. Earlier the supreme court of India had rejected claims of antinuclear activists, struggling against the station’s launch. The court held that the object’s safety complied with the requirements. The station was pronounced necessary for “for public ends and country’s economic growth”.
The first unit construction, conducted in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement of 1988 and an addendum to it of 1998, had been completed. Then the second unit followed, with the agreement upon it having been made between India and Russia in 2008.
Russian and Indian experts have almost got approval for the project report for the second preference construction. The parties are ready for further cooperation. There are agreements made for construction of 16 units based on Russian projects in India.
The Kudankulam project is based on serial power units with B-320 reactor system, having been operated for a long time in Russia and Eastern Europe, and on AES-92 project, certified in accordance with the EUR technical requirements. The project’s main feature is combination of active and passive safety systems, its adaptation to tropical climate. The project belongs to APWR class of the third generation and meets international standards for atomic stations to be launched after the year 2000. It includes the construction of two VVER-1000 light water reactors, using uranium dioxide as fuel and light water as coolants and moderator. The AES project, developed by Atomenergoproyekt, boasts augmented safety performance, this qualitative step forward achieved due to maximum use of passive safety systems.
