Chennai, June 7
Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) today attained its full generation capacity and became the first nuclear plant in the country to generate 1,000 MW of power, KNPP site director RS Sundar said.

“At 13.20 hours today, the KNPP Unit-I started generating its full capacity of 1,000 MW of power. We will run it for some more time before we stop the unit for conducting some tests as mandated by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB),” he told PTI over phone.

He said of the sources of power available in the country, the KNPP units had the capacity to produce large amounts of power from a single unit (plant).

“If you take other plants, they can produce only around 540 MW of power. In the case of thermal plants, it could go up to 660 or 680 MW. At present, another 700-MW unit is under construction. So the KNPP is the first unit in the country to produce 1,000 MW of power,” he said.

Later in a statement, Sundar said power has been “achieved 100 per cent” after conforming to all criteria for system performances as per design requirements, meeting all stipulated statutory and regulatory requirements and final clearance from the AERB, based on the report of observer’s team, safety review committee and Russian specialists.

He says this is the 21st nuclear power reactor in the country and India’s first pressurised water eeactor belonging to the light water reactor category.

“The KNPP Units I and II are VVER-1000 type reactors set up at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu with technical cooperation with the Russian Federation,” he said. On safety issues, he said the KNPP reactors incorporate enhanced safety features ensuring the highest level of safety, in line with current international standards.

Till date, cumulative generation from the KNPP Unit-I was around 1,900 million units, he said. — PTI