10 facts about Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

PM Modi, Putin to dedicate Kundankulam plant to nation today. Modi and Vladimir Putin will be inaugurating the Kudankulam Nuclear Power project’s first unit in Tamil Nadu.

Here are the 10 facts about Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

1. The reactors at Kudankulam Nuclear Plant are India’s largest and has been built jointly by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and a subsidiary of Russia’s nuclear regulatory body Rosatom.
2. The two units of the Russian technology Kudankulam plant are made at an expense of over Rs. 22,000 crores and are 10 years behind schedule.
3. The project was finalized by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1988 but development began only in 1997 because of the turmoil after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
4. The initial unit started out generating electricity in 2013. It generates around 1,000 MW of electricity, 50 % of which feeds Tamil Nadu.
5. Nearby anti-nuclear activists call the center unsafe but plant technical engineers recommend it is among the safest in the world.
6. Villagers in shoreline areas state that the Russian technology is defective and untested and the plant is just like a live bomb in their backyard which would destroy fishing.
7. SP Udhayakumar, the face of the anti-nuclear demonstrations, claims: “The first plant tripped 32 times in the last two years and is still limping along its way to credible power generation. Video meeting appears to be the finest hi-tech option for the Russians and the Indian government to duck and dodge all types of disturbing questions.”
8. The atomic reactor will deliver power to Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and Karnataka. Four more related atomic reactors are predicted to come up at Kudankulam in future.
9. The 2nd unit of the Kudankulam plant is also expected to generate 1,000mw.
10. Additional construction for Unit 3 and 4 began in April 2016. Because of operators and suppliers need to ensure the two pursuing units, at Rs39,747 crore (US$5.91 billion), the cost of units 3 and 4 is twice the cost of units 1 and 2.