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Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

Coordinates: 8°10′06″N 77°42′45″E / 8.1683°N 77.7125°E / 8.1683; 77.7125
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Koodankulam
Map
CountryIndia
Coordinates8°10′06″N 77°42′45″E / 8.1683°N 77.7125°E / 8.1683; 77.7125
StatusOperational
Construction began1997
Commission date
  • 22 October 2013
OwnerNuclear Power Corporation of India LTD.
Operator
Power generation
Nameplate capacity
  • 2,000 MW
External links
WebsiteNuclear Power Corporation of India
CommonsRelated media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power station currently under construction in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

History

An Inter-Governmental Agreement on the project was signed on November 20, 1988 by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, for the construction of two reactors. The project remained in limbo for a decade due to the political and economic upheaval in Russia after the post-1991 Soviet breakup. There were also objections from the United States, on the grounds that the agreement does not meet the 1992 terms of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).[1]

Since the plant was conceived in the mid-1980s, an anti-nuclear group People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy was opposing the plant for about 25 years[2] due to the Environmental impact of nuclear power and its threat to the people and environment.[3]

Construction eventually began in 1997.

The cost to India was estimated to be US$ 3 billion (Rs.13,615 Crores) in 2001.[4]

A small port became operational in Kudankulam on January 14, 2004. This port was established to receive barges carrying over sized light water reactor equipment from ships anchored at a distance of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi). Until 2004 materials had to be brought in via road from the port of Tuticorin, risking damage during transportation.[5]

In 2008 negotiation on building four additional reactors at the site began. Though the capacity of these reactors has not been declared, it is expected that the capacity of each reactor will be 1000 MW or 1 GW.[6][7] The new reactors would bring the total capacity of the power plant to 9200 MW or 9.2 GW.

In June 2011, Sergei Ryzhov, the chief designer of the light water VVER nuclear reactors used at this Nuclear Power Plant was killed in an airplane accident. The plane belonging to the Rus-Air airlines was flying from Moscow to the Karelian capital Petrozavodsk.[8]

Technical description

Two 1 GW reactors of the VVER-1000 model are being constructed by the Nuclear Power corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Atomstroyexport. When completed they will become the largest nuclear power generation complex in India producing a cumulative 2 GW of electric power.[9] Both units are water-cooled, water-moderated power reactors.[10] The first was scheduled to start operation in December 2009 and the second one was scheduled for March 2010. Currently, the official projections put unit 1 into operation in June 2011, and unit 2 will go in March 2012.[11][12][13]

Four more reactors are set to be added to this plant under a memorandum of intent signed in 2008.[14] A firm agreement on setting up two more reactors, has been postponed pending the ongoing talks on liability issues. Under an inter-government agreement signed in December 2008 Russia is to supply to India four third generation VVER-1200 reactors of 1170 MW.[15]

The reactors have some advanced safety features like passive heat removal system, double containment, Core Catcher, and hydrogen re-combiner instead of conventional systems.[16]

Controversy

As of October 2011, thousands of protesters and villagers living around the Russian-built Koodankulam nuclear plant in the southern Tamil Nadu state, are blocking highways and staging hunger strikes, preventing further construction work, and demanding its closure as they fear of the disasters like the Environmental impact of nuclear power, Radioactive waste, nuclear accident similar to the radiation leak in March at Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster.[17]

The protesters have clearly stated few specific reasons for opposing the Koodankulam NPP project.[18]

According to S P Udayakumar, of the voluntary People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, "the nuclear plant is unsafe" and "the safety analysis report and the site evaluation study have not been made public. No public hearing was held. It's an authoritarian project that has been imposed on the people." Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha that "all precautions would be taken at the Koodankulam nuclear plant to maintain the highest safety standards".[17]

Protesters claimed that even advanced countries like Germany has decided to shutdown all its 17 Nuclear reactors through which the country gets 23% of its energy.[19][20]

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has also been filed against the government’s civil nuclear program at the apex Supreme Court. The PIL specifically asks for the "staying of all proposed nuclear power plants till satisfactory safety measures and cost-benefit analyses are completed by independent agencies".[21][22]

Renowned aeronautical scientist and former President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam after a personal visit to the plant claimed that Koodankulam Nuclear Plant is safe.[23][24] However People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy leader Mr.Pushparayan recollected that Former Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission of India Dr Homi Sethna had suggested to A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in the past not to comment on nuclear engineering since he was a missile engineer.[25][26]

Protesters also claimed that the Fukushima disaster in which the emergency cooling system itself was damaged by the earthquake,[27] has made it clear that no one can really predict any disaster occurance.[28]

Regarding people's fears Former chairman of Atomic Energy Commission of India Srinivasan said that one should never compare the Fukushima plant with Kudankulam and added "The Fukushima plant was built on abeachfront, but the Kudankulam was constructed on a solid terrain and that too keeping all the safety aspects in mind. Also, we are not in a tsunamiprone area. The plants in Kudankulam have a double contaminant system which can withstand high pressure. At least Rs 14,000 crore has been spent. If we don't operate the plant immediately, it will affect the economic stability of our country".[29]

A center panel constituted by the Government of India ,which did a survey of the safety features in the plant,said the Koodankulam reactors are the safest and fears of the people are not based on scientific principles.Dr. Muthunayagam,panel's convener,also added that the protesters have asked for some documents which are not related to the safety of the reactor hence he suspects the very nature of their questions.[16]

In response to the center panel report, protesters wrote an open letter to the chief minister Jayalalithaa that the center panel's report is "ill-baked and incomplete eyewash report" and also said that the report has "ignored our question on liability, and has given no specific or scientific information on nuclear waste, and vague information on the fresh water needs of the KKNPP".[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Nuclear Exports to India from Russia
  2. ^ Koodankulam Struggle: 25 years of sweat and toil
  3. ^ See starting section in this article
  4. ^ http://www.eca-watch.org/problems/asia_pacific/india/documents/SFried_indiaprojectssurvey_jan2004.pdf At What Cost? ECAs in India: Bankrolling Nuclear Power Plants, Mega-Dams, and Scandal-Ridden Projects; January 2004
  5. ^ Kudankulam Port operational
  6. ^ Dmitry Sergeev (2008-02-12). "Russia, India edge closer to major nuclear deal". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
  7. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Designer of Indian N-reactor killed in Russian plane crash - Times Of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 2011-06-22. Retrieved 2011-09-17.
  9. ^ NPCIL to go into details with 4 reactor suppliers
  10. ^ Nuclear Power Plant Type
  11. ^ "Kudankulam Atomic Power Project". Retrieved 2011-03-16.
  12. ^ "KUDANKULAM ATOMIC POWER PROJECT 1 & 2". Archived from the original on 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  13. ^ History of the Kudankulam Project
  14. ^ Four more reactors
  15. ^ Details on the Next Generation Reactors
  16. ^ a b "Kudankulam reactors safest: Central panel". The Hindu. 19 November 2011.
  17. ^ a b Rahul Bedi (October 28, 2011). "Indian activists fear nuclear plant accident". NZ Herald.
  18. ^ Thirteen Reasons Why We Do Not Want the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project
  19. ^ Germany to shut all nuclear reactors
  20. ^ See March 2011 shutdown & May closure plan in German nuclear power units table in this article
  21. ^ Siddharth Srivastava (27 October 2011). "India's Rising Nuclear Safety Concerns". Asia Sentinel.
  22. ^ Ranjit Devraj (25 October 2011). "Prospects Dim for India's Nuclear Power Expansion as Grassroots Uprising Spreads". Inside Climate News.
  23. ^ "Kudankulam plant safe: APJ Abdul Kalam". The Times of India. 15 November 2011.
  24. ^ SHIV SAHAY SINGH (14 November 2011). "Kalam plumps again for Kudankulam plant". The Hindu.
  25. ^ See last 3 paragraphs in this article
  26. ^ See Criticisms and controversy section
  27. ^ Earthquake, not tsunami, may have damaged cooling system
  28. ^ See section-12 in this article
  29. ^ "Kudankulam plant is safe: Srinivasan". The Times of India. 14 November 2011.
  30. ^ Koodankulam plant: Activists seeks Jaya's help to scrap project
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