Kudankulam nuclear power plant first in the country to reach full capacity of 1000MW

>> The unit 1 of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant (KNPP) has reached full capacity generation of 1000MW on Saturday.

>> The Russian-designed Voda Voda Energo Reactor (VVER) achieved the final milestone nearly eight months after power generated at the plant was connected to the grid.

>> This is the first nuclear power plant in the country to touch 1000MW of power generation.

>. "At exactly 1.20pm on Saturday, power generation in the unit 1 of the plant touched 1000MW. The unit will continue to generate 1000MW for nearly a day. Subsequently, we will scale down generation to 900MW as per the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) stipulations," site director R S Sundar said.

>> In the coming days, the unit 1 will generate less than 1000MW and after some dynamic tests are conducted, the plant will apply for permission from the AERB to maintain the power generation at 1000MW.

>>  "The formal commissioning will be decided by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) authorities after we maintain the generation at 1000MW continuously for a specified period," said Sundar.

>> The final milestone should have been reached a few days earlier but for the shutdown in unit 1 due to some technical problems. For nearly 10 days the unit was not generating power and it was re-started only on June 4.