Nuclear

India's Kudankulam Nuke Plant Is Back Online

Unit 1 of India’s long-delayed Kudankulam nuclear power plant, which reached commercial operations after 26 years of development this summer only to be shut down in September after a turbine accident, was brought back online on Dec. 8.

The two-unit project in Tamil Nadu, a 2014 POWER Top Plant, began development in 1988 but spent a decade in limbo following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Construction finally started in 2002, but confusion and controversy delayed completion of Unit 1 until this year.

Commercial operations at Kudankulam finally began on Aug. 31, but the steam turbine suffered severe damage when a critical component in the turbine section came loose and struck the turbine blades. Repairs took about two months.

The plant’s owner, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL), reported in the Indian press that the plant reached 600 MW on Dec. 8 and 750 MW on Dec. 9. Restart of commercial operations is expected to occur in late December according to NPCIL.

Unit 2 of the Kudankulam plant is projected for completion next year. Up to four additional units may be built at the site depending on the outcome of negotiations with Russia. That nation has already agreed to build another 14 to 16 nuclear plants in India and is currently in discussions with the Indian government on potentially building as many as 24 across the country.

—Thomas W. Overton, JD is a POWER associate editor (@thomas_overton, @POWERmagazine).

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