Construction of the fifth and sixth reactors at Kudankulam is expected to be completed in 5-6 years

Block 5 and Block 6 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) in the Tirunelveli District in Tamil Nadu are said to be in 66 and offices respectively.

The Minister answered questions put to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Rajya Sabha of Tamil Nadu, P. Wilson, about the state of the ongoing construction of KNPP.

When asked whether all of the electricity generated at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant will be delivered to the home state, which is lacking coal, the minister said that the electricity generated by the Kudankulam blocks would be supplied by the Union’s Ministry of Energy in accordance with prevailing policy.

READ ALSO Construction of the fifth and sixth reactor in Kudankulam will start shortly

Contractors will create around 250 jobs in these two reactors, which will increase to around 6,000 over the course of the construction work. In addition, the increased economic activity would create more jobs through business opportunities, said the minister.

Security aspects

Safety is a top priority in all aspects of nuclear energy – planning, construction, commissioning and operation. Nuclear power plants are designed according to the safety principles of redundancy and diversity and are equipped with fail-safe design features that follow a profound defense approach. This ensures that there are several barriers between the source of radioactivity and the environment. The operations are carried out by highly qualified, trained and licensed personnel according to well-thought-out procedures, he replied to another request on the safety of nuclear power plants in the country.

READ ALSO India and Russia are having a 2 + 2 dialogue this year: Jaishankar

Construction of the 2,000 MW (2 x 1,000) units 5 and 6 began in June and is expected to be completed at a cost of 49,621 billion yen.

KNPP comprises six blocks of light water reactors with an output of 1,000 MW each, which were built in technical cooperation with the Russian Federation. Unit 1 and Unit 2 are in operation, Units 3 and 4 are under construction and, according to current media reports, have made about 50 percent progress.