Unit-I of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant would generate about 400 MWe by the end of August, said KKNPP site director R S Sundar.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the valedictory function of the disaster management training programme conducted by the Indian Red Cross Society on Wednesday, Sundar said, after the unit had gone critical on July 13, several tests were conducted and results were found satisfactory.
“The chain reaction tests were satisfactory and we conducted criticality 5 times,” he said. The test were conducted in the presence of a team from Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) and representatives of the Kurchatov Institute, Russia; the results were submitted to AERB, he added.
The KKNPP site director said clearance for power generation had been applied for. By the end of August, Unit-1 would produce 300 to 400 MWe and it would be connected to the grid. Clearance would then be given to increase power generation in steps. The reactor would produce 1,000 MWe by November, he said.
With regard to Unit-II, Sundar said 163 dummy fuel assemblies had been loaded and integrated degrade tests would be conducted with 4.5 kg pressure. A hot run would start in about 3 months, he added. He said the total cost of the KKNPP project had gone up to Rs 17,200 crore, against the initial estimate of Rs 13,171 crore.
He said, ahead of the reactor becoming fully functional, 20 villages had been trained in emergency preparedness. Allaying concerns of safety of the plant, he said, of the total cost of the project, 40 per cent was spent on safety features.