The first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) built with Russian collaboration has been dedicated to the India-Russia friendship on Wednesday. In a first of its kind event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa via video conferencing to dedicate the 1,000 MW nuclear power reactor to the age-old India-Russia
friendship and to the nation.
While Prime Minister Modi addressed the gathering “live” from his office in New Delhi, President Putin joined in from Moscow. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who made the opening remarks, joined the function from her office at Fort Saint George in Chennai.
The scientists and engineers belonging to India and Russia greeted the top leaders of their countries from the control room of the reactor at Kudankulam.
In what could be the first of its kind event in the history of India and Russia, the 1,000 MW Unit-1 of the KNPP was dedicated to the Indo-Russian friendship and cooperation. The plant was built with Russian collaboration and has been feeding the National Grid since December 31 2014.
Prime Minister Modi described the Kudankulam reactor as the largest single unit of power in the country and termed it as a “celebration of our partnership with Russia”. “India-Russia nuclear plant collaboration is a celebration of our friendship. We plan to build a series of nuclear reactors. Today’s event is a joyful event for the team of engineers in India and Russia. We salute them for their relentless work. In dedicating Kudankulam nuclear power plant we mark another historic tie between India and Russia,” said the Prime Minister. He also said six nuclear reactors, each of 1,000 MW would be set up at Kudankulam with Russian assistance and collaboration. What stood out in the Prime Minister’s speech was his emphasis on nuclear power which he described as clean and green energy.
President Putin described the dedication of the reactor as a “big event for our Indian partners and for all of us”. “It is not just construction and commissioning of the power plant. It is well known that Russia is one of the world leaders of nuclear technology and we are glad to share our technology with our Indian colleagues,” said the President. He offered all help for the four more reactors, each of 1000 MW, to be set up at Kudankulam.
Jayalalithaa described the dedication of the Kudankulam power plant as a major milestone in India-Russia friendship. She said the nuclear power as the clean and green form of energy. Recalling the agitation launched by some opponents of nuclear power, the Chief Minister said she had set up a high power committee of experts to study the concerns expressed by the people who were opposed to the project . “The Tamil Nadu Government allocated Rs 500 crore for launching a series of measures to develop the infrastructure of the region,” said Jayalalithaa. Out of the 1,000 MW generated at unit-1, Tamil Nadu stands to get 500 MW, while the rest is shared between Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry.
The construction work for the first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant began in March 2002 and the plant started supplying power to the National Grid on December 31, 2014. The works got delayed for many months due to an agitation launched by anti-nuclear activists under the label of People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy. The melt-down of the Fukushima Nuclear Reactor in Japan following a tsunami in March 2011 came in handy for the agitators who were reported to have received funding from international agencies for preventing the works of the reactor.
The 1,000 MW second unit at Kudankulam has gone critical in July 2016 and is expected to yield power to the National Grid in another three months. The two units together cost the Nuclear Power Corporation of India ltd Rs 17, 270 crore.