An uncertain future stares at the first unit of the 1,000 MW Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant near Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, according to nuclear reactor engineering experts. The plant, which started commercial operation on December 31, 2014, had to be shut down for “maintenance” in June 2015. The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) officials are tight-lipped about the date on which the plant would resume power production. Source-based media reports say that the production would resume by December-end.
RS Sundar, director, KNPP, had told mediapersons that the plant would resume power generation by September 15, but there is no sign of the KNPP coming alive and Tamil Nadu getting its quota of power. The State is entitled to 563 MW of power out of the 1,000 MW power produced by the plant. Building the two units cost the exchequer a whopping Rs18,000 crore.
“There is something seriously wrong with the first unit of the KNPP. It is unusual for a brand new state-of-the-art plant to be shut within five months of it starting power production. Now that the plant has been shut for more than five months, the regulating agencies like the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board have to be convinced that the plant is safe and secure,” said a veteran reactor engineer who has put in nearly four decades of his professional life setting up nuclear reactors.
He pointed out that with the KNPP being a Pressurised Water Reactor, Indian nuclear engineers may find the going tough as our engineers have expertise in Heavy Water Reactors only.
The construction and commissioning of unit one of the KNPP took 12 long years. The construction began on March 31, 2002 and the plant started commercial power production on December 31, 2014. Even before the plant completed five months of operation, it had to be closed down for maintenance. The seriousness of the situation could be understood from the fact that Chief Minister Jayalalithaa wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 7, 2015, expressing her concerns over the delay in the plant resuming production. Jayalalithaa also requested the Prime Minister to instruct the Nuclear Power Corporation of India officials to expedite the commercial operation of unit 2 of the KNPP.
“The NPCIl is yet to clearly indicate when the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant Unit-I will recommence production. As the wind season for Tamil Nadu has drawn to a close, it is crucial for the Kudankulam Unit-I to resume power generation immediately,” Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said in her letter.
Though the work on unit 2 of the KNPP began in July 2002, it is nowhere near completion. The website of NPCIl says the plant may start commercial production sometime in 2016-17.
There were apprehensions and reservations expressed by nuclear engineers and scientists about the quality of the components used in the construction of the KNPP.
“The seriousness in the delay in commissioning unit 2 and the frequent failure of unit 1 should be seen in the backdrop of the fact that the entire plant, components and fuel were imported from Russia. All we had to do was to assemble the components. If we take this much time for assembling an imported reactor, there is something serious about the reactor itself,” said the engineer who has played crucial role in the setting up at least ten nuclear power reactors.