Chennai: The first unit of the 1,000 MW Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP), set up by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL), is almost ready for beginning the fission process, said a top official of the country's atomic regulator.
"As of now, the test reports and the results submitted by NPCIL relating to the first unit of KNPP are satisfactory. A team of experts will be going to KNPP ON Monday. If all things go well, it will be in matter days we will issue the sanction for the reactor beginning the fission process," Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) chairman SS Bajaj told reporters.
According to him, the unit will be given five-year operational licence. The licence period may be restricted, if needed, based on the plant's performance parameters, Bajaj added.
Queried about the manner of complying with the 15 directions given by the apex court on Monday when it gave its nod for the plant, Bajaj said: "We have an advisory committee. The Supreme Court's directions have been given to it. It will decide whether any new committee has to be set up or the existing set-up is sufficient to comply with the apex court orders."...
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11:25 PM, May 07, 2013
New Delhi: Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court verdict on Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project and said government should now crackdown on any further agitation which disrupts the schedule of its completion. He said that from the very beginning he had termed the agitation against implementation of KNPP as "anti-national". "I welcome the long overdue judgement of the Supreme Court on the validity and importance for...
06:05 PM, May 06, 2013
Chennai: With the apex court giving its nod Monday for the first 1,000 MW unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP), it is now for the regulatory board to give its sanction to operationalise it, an official said. The ball is now in the court of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to give its sanction to operationalise the first unit of KNPP near Chennai, said the official of...
03:56 PM, May 06, 2013
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has given a go ahead to the commissioning of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. The court has observed that the plant has been set up for the welfare and sustainable growth of the people. The apex court verdict came on a plea seeking halt to the commissioning of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant till the implementation of key additional safety measures suggested after an n-accident...
11:00 AM, May 06, 2013
New Delhi: Ahead of the Supreme Court verdict on the Kudankulam nuclear reactor, sources confirm that the reactor has been fully loaded and tests are presently underway. The reactor is expected to start functioning sometime in May, but full production of 1,000 megawatts will take between six to eight months as the power generation will be in phases beginning with 50 megawatts which will then be gradually scaled up. Meanwhile,...
07:21 AM, May 06, 2013
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday is expected to pronounce its verdict on a plea seeking halt to the commissioning of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant till the implementation of key additional safety measures suggested after an n-accident in Japan. The petitioner, Chennai-based IT professional G Sunderrajan, wants the government to implement 11 of the 17 additional safety measures recommended for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) by a...
11:15 PM, May 05, 2013
Thiruvananthapuram: Contending serious defects are now surfacing at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP), CPI-M leader VS Achuthanandan on Sunday demanded theta it should be commissioned only after a probe to find out lapses in safety measures. In a statement issued here, the former Kerala chief minister and veteran Communist party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader said that the atomic regulator, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board's former chairman A Gopalakrishnan and a...
04:38 AM, Apr 22, 2013
Mumbai: India's nuclear regulator ordered replacement of four defective valves of the system that cools the reactor of Kudankulam nuclear power plant after the problem was detected during ongoing pre-commissioning tests. The defect in the components of the four valves--there are thousands of such devices in a nuclear reactor--was found during pre-commissioning tests early this year, officials said. "During testing of thousands of valves installed in the plant, the performances...
02:14 AM, Apr 20, 2013
Dubai: A major 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Iran near the border with Pakistan on Tuesday and tremors were felt in India and Gulf states. The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at 10:44 GMT at a depth of 15.2 km (9.4 miles). The epicenter was in southeast Iran in an area of mountains and desert. It was located 201 km (125 miles) southeast of the Iranian city of Zahedan...
05:19 PM, Apr 16, 2013
Islamabad: Pakistan on Wednesday successfully test-fired nuclear-capable Hatf-IV ballistic missile with a range of 900 km that can hit targets in India. Officials said the launch of the Hatf-IV, also known as the Shaheen-1, would strengthen the country's deterrence capabilities "manifold". The launch of was described by the military as successful. "The missile incorporates a series of improvements in range and technical parameters of the existing missile," the military said...
01:56 PM, Apr 10, 2013
Tehran: A 6.1 magnitude earthquake killed at least 37 and injured hundreds more in a sparsely populated area in southern Iran on Wednesday, Iranian officials said, adding that it did not damage a nuclear plant in the region. The report said the earthquake struck the town of Kaki some 96 kilometres southeast of Bushehr, a town on the Persian Gulf that is home of Iran's first nuclear power plant, built...
10:10 AM, Apr 10, 2013
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Monday accused Shiv Sena of "misleading" people from the coastal Konkan region on the proposed Jaitapur nuclear power project. "Investment to the tune of Rs one lakh crore is being made in the Jaitapur nuclear power project. However, the party is misleading people to oppose the project," Pawar said without naming Shiv Sena, which is reportedly opposing the project. ...
02:01 AM, Apr 02, 2013
Hyderabad: Shortage of fuel - both gas and coal - was the only reason for the growing electricity scarcity in the country, particularly in the south, Central Electricity Authority Chairman AS Bakshi said in Hyderabad on Saturday. "Coal shortage will continue for at least 3-4 years though we have adequate reserves. Domestic coal supply to power generating stations has increased by eight per cent in 2013, but still there will...
02:30 AM, Mar 31, 2013
China's plans of building a nuclear powered aircraft carrier with reactors in existing submarines in the Indian Ocean has raised alarm bells. Is China flexing its muscles in India's strategic space and what should India's response be? ...
10:51 AM, Mar 18, 2013
The Obama administration will add 14 interceptors to a West Coast-based missile defence system, reflecting concern about North Korea's focus on developing nuclear weapons and its advances in long-range missile technology, US officials said on Friday. Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel planned to announce the decision later on Friday. ...
01:25 AM, Mar 16, 2013
India on Wednesday dismissed as "totally baseless" Sri Lankan media reports on alleged radiation leaks at Kudankulam nuclear power station in Tamil Nadu. ...
02:26 AM, Mar 07, 2013
The Budget Session of Parliament has formally begun with President Pranab Mukherjee's address in which he laid out the government's agenda in the forthcoming session. Pranab Mukherjee spoke on issues including safety of women, economic slowdown, inflation and also laid stress on cross-border relations. ...
12:57 PM, Feb 21, 2013
Targeting Shiv Sena on its opposition to Jaitapur nuclear power project in Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on Friday asked the people of Konkan not to encourage petty politics obstructing the progress and development. ...
09:29 PM, Feb 15, 2013
The first 1,000 MW unit of the much-delayed Kudankulam nuclear power project (KNPP) could be commissioned in the next few days and every step is being taken to ensure safety, a senior official said. ...
09:29 PM, Feb 08, 2013
Stating that nuclear energy will remain an increasingly important element of the nation's energy mix, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday that India was in the process of expanding its indigenous nuclear power programme. ...
02:21 AM, Jan 16, 2013
