Kudankulam second unit to go critical in November

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NPCIL says the unit will be brought to its critical state at the minimum controlled power level in November.
Kudankulam second unit to go critical in November
The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) is being constructed in technical cooperation with Russia in accordance with an inter-governmental agreement made in 1988. Source: Reuters

The second unit of India’s Kudankulam power plant jointly constructed with Russia is scheduled to go critical in November, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) said on its website.
According to the note published on Sunday, September 7, the second unit will be brought to its critical state at the minimum controlled power level in November. This level of power is sufficient for controlling a nuclear chain reaction – the most crucial step in the unit’s preparation for use.
The first unit of the plant went critical last year and underwent a series of tests since. It will start commercial production in this month.
It is unclear when work will begin on the third and fourth units of the project.  India and Russia reached a framework agreement on the construction of the units earlier this year, after almost 2 years of tough negotiations over their inclusion in India’s civil nuclear liability law. “Our companies are at an advanced stage of negotiations for finalizing arrangements for Units 3 and 4, and I am confident that these contracts would be finalized shortly,” Indian Ambassador to Russia P.S. Raghavan said last week. “We are discussing further areas of cooperation in the nuclear energy sector,” he added.
The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) is being constructed in technical cooperation with Russia in accordance with an inter-governmental agreement made in 1988. The project has been ordered, and the plant coordinated, by the NCPIL. The agreement to construct the first and second units using VVER-1000 reactors with an electric capacity of 1,000 megawatts each is implemented by the NECAEP (Atomstroexport) from the Russian side and the NPCIL from the Indian side.
The construction of the KNPP is based on Project NPP-92, which fully meets the current safety requirements of the Russian Federation and the IAEA. The construction has also been certified as complying with European Utility Requirements (EUR) applicable to nuclear power plants built after 2000. A principal feature of the project is the implementation of a number of technical decisions in addition to conventional safety systems.
Independent experts have maintained that superior technology and exceptionally high quality equipment used in the reactors at the project made them unique in the global nuclear industry. KNPP is the first pressurized water reactor that belongs to the light water reactor category in India.
First published by RIA Novosti.

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