| Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Country | India |
| Coordinates | 8°10′08″N 77°42′45″E / 8.16889°N 77.71250°E |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | Units 1: 31 March 2002 Unit 2: 4 July 2002 Units 3 & 4: 29 June 2017 Units 5: 29 June 2021 Units 6: 20 December 2021 |
| Commission date | Unit 1: 22 October 2013 Unit 2: 15 October 2016 |
| Construction cost | Units 1 & 2: ₹17,270 crore (US$2.83 billion) Units 3 & 4: ₹39,849 crore (US$5.38 billion) Units 5 & 6: ₹49,621 crore (US$6.7 billion) |
| Owner | Nuclear Power Corporation of India |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactors | 6 |
| Reactor type | VVER |
| Reactor supplier | Rosatom |
| Cooling source | Laccadive Sea |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 2 × 1,000 MW (gross) |
| Make and model | VVER-1000/412 |
| Units planned | 2 x VVER-1200[1] |
| Units under const. | 4 × 1,000 MW (gross) |
| Nameplate capacity | 2000 MW |
| Capacity factor | 68.27% (2020–21)[2] |
| Annual net output | 11,960.80 GW·h (2020–21)[2] |
| External links | |
| Website | Nuclear Power Corporation of India |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (or Kudankulam NPP or KKNPP) is the largest[3] nuclear power station in India, situated in Kudankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Construction on the plant began on 31 March 2002,[4] but faced several delays due to opposition from local fishermen.[5][6] KKNPP is scheduled to have six VVER-1000 reactors built in collaboration with Atomstroyexport, the Russian state company and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), with an installed capacity of 6,000 MW of electricity.[7]
Unit 1 was synchronised with the southern power grid on 22 October 2013 and since then, has been generating electricity at its warranted limit of 1,000 MW.[8] The original cost of the two units was ₹ 13,171 crore, but it was later revised to ₹ 17,270 crore (US$2.6 billion). Russia advanced a credit of ₹ 6,416 crore (US$0.97 billion) for both the units.[9] Unit 2 attained criticality on 10 July 2016 and was synchronised with the electricity grid on 29 August.
In 2015, Nuclear Power Corporation Ltd (NPCIL) announced a price of ₹ 4.29/kW·h (6.4 ¢/kW·h) for energy delivered from Kudankulam nuclear power plant.[10]
The ground-breaking ceremony for construction of units 3 & 4 was performed on 17 February 2016. Due to technology changes, inflation and insistence of the supplier and operator for additional liability insurance the construction cost of units 3 & 4 amounted to twice the cost of units 1 & 2 and was later revised to be ₹39,849 crore (US$5.38 billion).[11][12][13] A budget of ₹49,621 crore (US$6.7 billion) has been approved for construction of Units 5 & 6.[11]
- ^ "Russia, India sign Kudankulam agreements : New Nuclear - World Nuclear News".
- ^ a b "Monthly Genration Reports Actual for Apr-2021 : Central Sector Nuclear" (PDF). National Power Portal. Central Electricity Authority. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- ^ "Construction of unit 5 & 6 of India's largest nuclear power plant in Kudankulam commences". WION. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
- ^ "PRIS – Albert's-1 – Reactor Details". Iaea.org. 31 March 2002. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ "Commercial operation of Kudankulam plant delayed further". Business Standard. 13 January 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ^ "The professor and the politics in anti-nuclear crucible". Archived from the original on 22 March 2014.
- ^ Subramanian, T.S. (11 November 2016). "Kudankulam ready for more". Frontline. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
- ^ "Wait for Kudankulam power ends; unit 1 linked to grid". Business Line. 22 October 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ "Ready to run". Frontline. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ B.Sivakumar (25 January 2015). "Kudankulam power to cost 4.29/unit". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
- ^ a b "Nuclear Power Plants". Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India. Press Information Bureau. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
- ^ "Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant: Cost of units 3, 4 surpasses Rs 39,000 crore". The Economic Times. 3 December 2014. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ^ "Kudankulam units 3, 4 cost more than doubles over liability issues". www.thehindu.com. The Hindu. 3 December 2014. Archived from the original on 3 December 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2016.