Chennai: With the inordinate delay in resumption of generation in the unit-I of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, chief minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to instruct the concerned officials in the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited to immediately restart generation in the 1,000 mw unit which is under shutdown since June 23.
“The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited 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. I, therefore, request you to kindly instruct the concerned officials in the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited to immediately take necessary action to recommence power generation in Kudankulam Unit-I,” she said in a letter to Mr Modi.
Tamil Nadu has been allotted about 563 MW of power from the total of 1,000 MW produced by the Unit-I of KKNPP.
“The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant which had started commercial operations on December 31, 2014, has been shut down for maintenance for the past 90 days,” she said.
Ms Jayalalithaa’s letter came in the wake of Tangedco’s chairman and managing director and Tantransco’s director wrote separate letters to NPCIL on September 9 and August 19 seeking to bring back unit I into the service.
A senior Tangedco official said that there was no clear indication of when the unit will be brought back to service. “Initially, they said the delay was due to refuelling for the first time. Now they are saying that Unit - I could be brought on bar only after inspection by Russian authorities and with their consent only,” the official said. However, the efforts to contact Kudankulam officials proved futile.
Chief minister also asked Mr Modi to instruct the officials to expedite the commercial operation of Kudankulam Unit II. “We have been informed that Kudankulam Unit-II is undergoing final stages of commissioning activities and awaiting approval from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) for full commercial production. I request you to kindly instruct the concerned officials to expedite the commercial operation of Kudankulam Unit-II, so that another 563 MW of power can be added to the Tamil Nadu Grid at the earliest. May I request an immediate response in this matter?” she wrote.
