The process of commissioning unit 2 of Kudankulam nuclear power plant is at an “advanced stage” and fuel will soon be loaded into the reactor, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Ratan Kumar Sinha has said.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) had postponed putting unit 2 into commercial operation until July. Earlier, commissioning had been postponed thrice. “We had removed some components of the turbine of Kudankulam unit. Kudankulam unit 1 had a problem and could not be commissioned to full power. Unit 2 commissioning is at a very advanced stage.

“The regulators are reviewing the progress and we will soon be loading nuclear fuel,” Sinha, who is also the Secretary for Department of Atomic Energy, told PTI.

Meanwhile, Rosatom -- DAE’s Russian counterpart which is helping India build the Kudankulam plant in Tamil Nadu -- has said the second unit of the Kudankulam NPP would definitely be commissioned in 2015.

“Definitely this year,” Rosatom’s First Deputy CEO for Operations Management Alexander Lokshin told journalists.

He did not mention any deadline, saying that the situation depends on both Rosatom and the DAE.

“We do not construct anything there (in India). Indians carry out the construction. Therefore, they also determine the schedule. But definitely it will happen this year,” he added.

“The construction of the second power unit has already been completed, at present the unit’s equipment is being adjusted. Power unit of the Kudankulam NPP was connected to the grid on October 22, 2013. In September 2014 it was shut down due to technical problems.

“On December 7 it was connected to the power supply system again. On December 27, the State Corporation Rosatom handed the power unit over to NPCIL for operation under a year’s warranty. At midnight on December 31, the first power unit was put into commercial operation,” said a statement from Rosatom.

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