Hope work on 5th, 6th units of KKNPP will start next year: Sekhar Basu

CHENNAI: The work on the fifth and sixth units of Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) is likely to start by next year as the negotiations for these units are on full swing, Atomic Energy Secretary Sekhar Basu today said.

Excavation work in Units 3 and 4 were going on and that "concrete pouring" will start shortly, Basu told reporters at the airport here.

"Negotiations for fifth and sixth reactors are going on in full swing. I hope by middle of next year work will start on that also. We are doing everything possible in terms of power for Tamil Nadu," he said.


The KKNPP is an Indo-Russian joint venture where the first unit has already gone critical while Unit 2 was synchronised with the southern grid in August this year.

Basu noted the first reactor was "operating at full power" while the second one had been "taken out" for safety reasons.

"Second reactor was connected to grid and it has been taken out for some safety inspection," he said adding it was expected to be re-connected in two weeks or maximum by this month end.