By KUNA,
New Delhi : India has received the first consignment of uranium fuel from Russia for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in the countrys Southern state of Tamil Nadu. The consignment comes under the life time fuel supply for Kudankulam reactors through a sovereign guarantee of Russian Federation, Indias state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) said in a statement Monday.
“KKNPP comprising two units of 1,000 MWe each are at an advanced stage of completion in technical collaboration with the Russian Federation. The two units belong to advance design of VVER family, a pressurized water reactor constituting majority of power reactors in the world. These reactors use light enriched uranium (LEU) as fuel. This kind of fuel is in use in VVER 1,000 MWe units in several countries around the world since 1980s and has given excellent performance,” the NPCIL said. The KKNPP is under construction at Kudankulam in Radhapuram area of Tirunelveli district of Tamilnadu. The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project is being set up through a bilateral agreement between the former USSR and India.
“The construction activities are being carried out round the clock for an early completion of the project. A physical progress of about 86 per cent has already been achieved. All the major components have already been erected at site. Concurrently the pre-commissioning activities have already commenced. Our engineers and scientists have also been trained and qualified for commissioning, operation and maintenance activities,” the NPCIL said.