Tamil Nadu to get power from Kudankulam nuclear power plant's second unit in few months

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu can expect to draw power from the second unit of Kudankulam nuclear power plant in next few months, a top official said today.

" Kudankulam Unit II has been taken through a process of heating. After that dummy fuel was loaded. This exercise is over. All the pumps have been operated and the exercises have been completed," Atomic Energy Commission chairman R K Sinha told reporters here.

He said some "maintenance" activities are going on at the Kudankulam Unit II.

"We will be soon approaching the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board for loading the actual uranium fuel. This process can take about two months. Afterwards, we will take further operations like criticality..", he said.

The first 1,000 MWe unit of the Indo-Russian joint venture in the state, which faced prolonged protests from anti-nuclear activists, commenced its commercial operations last year.

The second 1,000 MWe unit has got clearance for the hot run (releasing of steam into atmosphere) from Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and this process has been in progress since February 28.

Early this year, members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Undertaking visited Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.