Indian NPP's first unit begins commercial operation

The first unit of the Indian Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) built with Russian assistance has begun commercial operation under Russian guarantee, a source in Russian nuclear industry told RIA Novosti.

Kudankulam's first unit is currently the most powerful nuclear unit in India, generating a full 1,000 MW of electricity. The unit was included in India's national power grid in 2013 and meets "post-Fukushima" safety requirements.

The second power unit is expected to start operating in spring 2015.

Kudankulam is being constructed with Russian technical assistance in accordance with an intergovernmental agreement dating from 1988 and its 1998 supplement.

The project's customer and the plant's operator is the Nuclear Power Corporation of India. The contractor for the project is Russian nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly Atomstroyexport.

In spring 2014, Russia and India signed a general framework agreement on the construction of the third and fourth units of the Kudankulam nuclear power plan

Source: Sputnik News