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Narendra Modi, Vladimir Putin and Jayalalithaa inaugurate Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin And Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa On Wednesday Jointly Inaugurated Unit 2 Of The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant In Kerala.

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Arshi Aggarwal | Updated on: 10 Aug 2016, 05:17:43 PM
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (File Photo)

Kudankulam:

The controversial nuclear power plant in Kudankulam, Kerala finally got inaugurated today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa jointly inaugurated Unit 2 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Kerala. 

The new unit of plant will further revolutionise nuclear power generation in India. But the plant did not reach this stage in one smooth passage. The nuclear power plant has remained riled in controversies from the start. 

Here are the 10 facts about rocky journey of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant: 

1. The reactors at Kudankulam - India's largest – has been built jointly by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and a subsidiary of Russia's nuclear regulatory body Rosatom.

2. The project was signed by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1988 but construction started only in 1997 due to the turmoil after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

3. Both units of the Russian technology Kudankulam plant have been made at a cost of over Rs. 22,000 crore and are 10 years behind schedule.

4. The first unit started generating electricity in 2013. It produces around 1,000 mw of power, half of which feeds Tamil Nadu.

5.Villagers in coastal areas allege that the Russian technology is flawed and untested and the plant is like a live bomb in their backyard which would destroy fishing.

6. Local anti-nuclear activists call the facility unsafe but plant engineers suggest it is one of the safest in the world.

7. SP Udhayakumar, the face of the anti-nuclear protests, alleges: "The first plant tripped 32 times in the last two years and is still limping along its way to credible power generation. Video conference seems to be the best hi-tech solution for the Russians and the Indian government to duck and dodge all kinds of disturbing questions."

8. The second unit of the Kudankulam plant is also expected to generate 1,000mw.

9. The atomic reactor will provide electricity to Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and Karnataka. Four more similar atomic reactors are expected to come up at Kudankulam in future.

10. Further construction for Unit 3 and 4 was started in April 2016. Due to operators and suppliers requirement to insure the two following units, at Rs39,747 crore (US$5.91 billion), the cost of units 3 and 4 is twice the cost of units 1 and 2. 

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First Published : 10 Aug 2016, 02:34:00 PM

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