Chennai:
Russia has defended the delay in commissioning of the first and second units of Koodankulam and said that the construction of light water reactors VVER-1000 reactors was adopted in India for the first time and the construction time was estimated in accordance with a typical project construction time in Russia
Head of the projects of ASE Group of Companies, the Engineering and Construction Division of Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) in India Vladimir Angelov said that the VVER-1000 reactors has been adopted in India for the first time and the commissioning of the units took longer than it was planned according to the initial mobilization schedule.
“It is natural because initially the NPP construction time was estimated in accordance with a typical project construction time in Russia. Specifics of working in India rather amended the time,” he said.
Interestingly, first concrete for unit 1 was poured in March 2002, with that for unit 2 following in four months later. The units were originally scheduled to begin commercial operation in December 2007 and December 2008 respectively.
Angelov said that works have been postponed due to a necessity of gaining experience of joint work of Indian staff with Russian specialist.
On the issue of safety of Koodankulam nuclear plant, Angelov says that the nuclear power plant is the first in the world where the post-Fukushima safety enhancement requirements have already been implemented and being operated successfully. “We analysed the basic technical design of Units 1 and 2 in terms of the lessons from Fukushima. We came to the conclusion that they would have withstood the Fukushima-like incident. However, we are enforcing even stricter requirement,” he added.
Interestingly, India and Russia reviewed the possibility of enhancing certain parameters as a result, the Units 3 and 4 are designed for even higher seismic, climatic and technical impact.
The reactor is protected from the impact of earthquake, tsunami, tornado and hurricanes. According to the justified calculations Kudankulam NPP can withstand any anticipated operational occurrences, even it can withstand fall of aircraft. Therefore, we can firmly state that presently India possesses the safest NPP in the world, said Angelov.
Interestingly, the commissioning of the Unit I in Koodankulam paves the way for Russia to build 12 more nuclear reactors in India. This could also mean that Russia would help localisation of production of fuel in India.
“If all current plans and restrictions for Russian units in India will be respected, we hope that in the next 10 years the first components produced in India will be used in the fuel for Indian nuclear power plants. This should be preceded by huge work and adaptation of legislation and personnel training. The first steps in this direction have already been made,” says Oleg Grigoriev, vice-president of JSC TVEL, which is a also subsidiary of Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM).
“In our experience, nuclear fuel production localization may require no more than three years from the date of formalization of the agreements in the documents. Much will depend on regional specificity and peculiarities,” he added
Russia has defended the delay in commissioning of the first and second units of Koodankulam and said that the construction of light water reactors VVER-1000 reactors was adopted in India for the first time and the construction time was estimated in accordance with a typical project construction time in Russia
Head of the projects of ASE Group of Companies, the Engineering and Construction Division of Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) in India Vladimir Angelov said that the VVER-1000 reactors has been adopted in India for the first time and the commissioning of the units took longer than it was planned according to the initial mobilization schedule.
“It is natural because initially the NPP construction time was estimated in accordance with a typical project construction time in Russia. Specifics of working in India rather amended the time,” he said.
Interestingly, first concrete for unit 1 was poured in March 2002, with that for unit 2 following in four months later. The units were originally scheduled to begin commercial operation in December 2007 and December 2008 respectively.
Angelov said that works have been postponed due to a necessity of gaining experience of joint work of Indian staff with Russian specialist.
On the issue of safety of Koodankulam nuclear plant, Angelov says that the nuclear power plant is the first in the world where the post-Fukushima safety enhancement requirements have already been implemented and being operated successfully. “We analysed the basic technical design of Units 1 and 2 in terms of the lessons from Fukushima. We came to the conclusion that they would have withstood the Fukushima-like incident. However, we are enforcing even stricter requirement,” he added.
Interestingly, India and Russia reviewed the possibility of enhancing certain parameters as a result, the Units 3 and 4 are designed for even higher seismic, climatic and technical impact.
The reactor is protected from the impact of earthquake, tsunami, tornado and hurricanes. According to the justified calculations Kudankulam NPP can withstand any anticipated operational occurrences, even it can withstand fall of aircraft. Therefore, we can firmly state that presently India possesses the safest NPP in the world, said Angelov.
Interestingly, the commissioning of the Unit I in Koodankulam paves the way for Russia to build 12 more nuclear reactors in India. This could also mean that Russia would help localisation of production of fuel in India.
“If all current plans and restrictions for Russian units in India will be respected, we hope that in the next 10 years the first components produced in India will be used in the fuel for Indian nuclear power plants. This should be preceded by huge work and adaptation of legislation and personnel training. The first steps in this direction have already been made,” says Oleg Grigoriev, vice-president of JSC TVEL, which is a also subsidiary of Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM).
“In our experience, nuclear fuel production localization may require no more than three years from the date of formalization of the agreements in the documents. Much will depend on regional specificity and peculiarities,” he added
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