Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project Director R S Sundar was elevated to the post of Distinguished Scientist

Noted Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project Director R S Sundar was elevated to the post of Distinguished Scientist, in honour for his meritorious service.Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project 1 and 2 Station Director H N Sahu and Chief Superintendent S V Jinna were also elevated as ‘Outstanding Scientists’.

• Sundar graduated from the Coimbatore Institute of Technology as a Mechanical Engineer and joined the Department of Atomic Energy in 1980.

About KNPP :

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant – KKNPP, is a nuclear power station in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Construction on the plant began on 31 March 2002,but faced several delays due to the fishermen’s objection.

• Unit 1 was synchronised with the southern power grid on 22 October 2013.The original cost of the two units was Rs.13,171 crore, but it was later revised to Rs.17,270 crore ($2.6 billion). Russia advanced a credit of Rs. 6,416 crore ($0.97 billion) to both the units.
• In 2015, Nuclear Power Corporation Ltd (NPCIL) announced a price of₹ 29/kW·h (6.4 ¢/kW·h) for energy delivered from Kudankulam nuclear power plant.
• The ground-breaking ceremony for construction of units 3 & 4 was performed on 17 February 2016. Work is expected to begin in April 2016. Due to operators and suppliers requirement to insure the two following units, at Rs.39,747 crore (US$5.91 billion), the cost of units 3 & 4 is twice the cost of units 1 & 2.
• The reactors are pressurised water reactor of russian design, model VVER-1000/V-412 referred also as AES-92. Thermal capacity is 3,000 MW_t and gross electrical capacity is 1,000 MW_e. Net capacity is 917 MW_e Construction is by NPCIL and Atomstroy export.
• When completed the plant will become the largest nuclear power generation complex in India producing a cumulative 2 GW of electric power.Both units are water-cooled, water-moderated power reactors.

Government of India announced the power allocation from the two units of the reactor on 29 August 2013 as follows,