New Delhi:
Even as anti-nuclear activists attempted to lay a siege on the atomic reactor at Kudankulam. India's nuclear energy utility, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) confirmed to NDTV that the first unit has been fully loaded with the requisite enriched uranium fuel and it is fully safe.
The 1000 MW reactor made with Russian assistance takes in about 70 tons of fuel. The next important step is to initiate the controlled nuclear fission chain reaction which will then generate the heat. Once the reactor has been stabilized it can then start generating electricity which can then be supplied to the power hungry southern grid. The next few steps can be completed in a matter of weeks.
The twin plants of 1000 MW each have cost the tax payer more than Rs 14,000 crores and will generate power for the next 40 years. When both the units are ready, they can together supply electricity to at least 40 million homes in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry and Kerala, says Ratan Kumar Sinha, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Mr Sinha says this siege on the plant by anti-nuclear protesters is uncalled for.
This fuel is loaded into a reactor pressure vessel that houses 163 fuel assemblies or pipes, with each assembly weighing about 705 kilograms.
The anti-nuclear activists are demanding that the plant be shut down as they fear a Fukushima type of accident will wipe out their livelihoods. Two expert committees, one from the central government and another from the state government have held extensive talks with the representatives of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy, a group headed by S P Udaya Kumar and comprising of aggrieved local fisher folk. The expert committees declared the nuclear plant safe.
The Supreme Court is also hearing a public interest petition challenging the safety of the nuclear plant, but has not issued any orders to stop work or put an end to the fuel loading process at the Kudankulam nuclear plant.