KudanKulam Nuclear Power Plant

A nuclear power plant uses nuclear reactions to produce electricity or energy. This process releases energy from nuclear reactions between certain metals and isotopes in a reactor. The released energy is used to power the plant. The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is an Indian nuclear power plant located in Tamil Nadu. The power station is located on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, close to the town of Kudankulam. It consists of two units of 1,000 megawatts each, the largest units in operation in India. The plant is owned and operated by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), a public sector enterprise. 

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

One of the world’s largest nuclear power plants, Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP), is located in the Tirunelveli district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, about 280 kilometres from the state capital Chennai. It is primarily a plutonium production plant but also has a small uranium enrichment facility. The plant has six 1,000 megawatt nuclear reactors, which are the largest in India, generating a total of 6000-megawatt power. The units use water as the coolant and moderator. The plant is operated by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), which is a state-owned enterprise. The construction of this plant began in 2002. However, local fishermen opposed its construction and hence it faced many delays. 

Units of Kudankulam Power Plant

The KKNPP has six VVER-1000/V-412 reactors, also known as AES-92. The two units out of these are already commissioned. In October 2013, Unit-1 was brought in sync with the southern power grid and has been operational ever since with an electricity production capacity of 1000 MW. In July 2016, Unit-2 also gained criticality and became operational. A month later, it was also brought in sync with the electricity grid. The estimated expenditure for the construction and operation of two units was ₹13,171 crores, but the real expenditure cost came out to be ₹17,270 crores. Out of the net cost for the two units, Russia credited ₹6,416 crores in advance. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India declared in 2015 that the energy produced from this power plant would be supplied at a price of ₹4.29/kW.h.

The construction of unit-3 and unit-4 began in June 2017, after a year of its groundbreaking ceremony that took place on 17 February 2017. Due to many factors like advancements in technology, market inflation, and supplier insistence, the net expenditure of these two units came out to be more than twice of what it was for the first two units (₹39,849 crores spent). The permit for the construction of unit-5 and unit-6 was given in November 2018, and finally, their construction began in June 2021. They are expected to be operational by 2026 and 2027, respectively. The expected expenditure for unit-5 and unit-6 is ₹49,621 crores.

History

In 1988, Rajiv Gandhi (the then prime minister of India) and Mikhail Gorbachev (Soviet head of the state) signed an inter-government agreement (IGA) about the construction of two reactors. The project was paused in the middle since the Soviet Union was dissolved. Moreover, the US objected to this agreement stating that it did not meet the terms of the 1922 Nuclear Suppliers group. In addition to this incident, the then Atomic Energy Commission’s Chairman- M R Srinivasan, called the agreement a “non-starter”. However, the Kudankulam nuclear power project restarted in 1998.

Incidents

In June 2015, Unit 1 was switched off to refuel it and have a quality check over its maintenance and was again brought into operation in January 2016. By 2018, Units 1 and 2 had generated a total of 22,800 million units of power altogether since the time they were operational.

Collaboration

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant is built, operated, and owned by the Nuclear power corporation of India (NPCIL) in collaboration with Atomstroyexport, the Russian state company having a total electricity production capacity of 6000 MW. 

Much later, the approval of a power purchase agreement was given by the Kerala State Electricity Board with the nuclear power corporation of India, which talked about the sourcing of electricity from the Kudankulam power plant.

Conclusion

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is located in the southern part of India on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, in the state of Tamil Nadu. The Nuclear Power Plant is the largest nuclear power plant in the southern part of India.