Friday, April 7, 2017

Russian warranty for Unit 1 of KKNPP gets over


Chennai:

The warranty period of Unit One of Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) has got over with India taking over the operation of the power plant, according to a official of ASE Group of companies, a subsidiary of Russian State Energy Atomic Corporation (ROSATOM).

The commercial operation and the warranty period of Unit 1 of KKNPP started in December, 2014.

Andrei Lebedev, Vice President of ASE for projects in South Asia said that representatives of ASE Group of Companies and Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) signed a Joint Statement on final takeover of Unit 1 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) on Wednesday.

By signing the document, the Russian and Indian sides confirmed fulfillment of all warranty terms and obligations of the contractor (ASE Group of Companies) for the construction of the Unit 1.

“The warranty period run showed reliable and safe operation of Unit 1. Thus, Indian side confirms that ASE Group of Companies, which is general contractor, has fulfilled all its tasks in full and accurately,” he said.

“From now on operation of unit 1 is totally within the responsibility of the Indian side", he added.

This comes in the wake of ASE Engineering Company and NPCIL signing the Act of Preliminary Acceptance of Unit 2 of the KKNPP, which allows the unit to begin its one-year period of warranty operation from March 30.

“As of now, the Unit 2 of the KNPP in India is under the warranty of its general designer and the suppliers of equipment from Russia, which are represented by ASE Engineering Company. This means that, in case of any malfunctions or technical failures related to the obligations of ASE at the Unit 2 of KKNPP, the inconsistencies in the operation of the equipment will be taken care of by the Russian side,” said Lebedev.

“This period of responsibility will last until March 30, 2018, after which the Statement on the final acceptance of Unit 2 by the operating entity in India will be signed,” he added.

Reacting to the expiry of Russian warranty for Unit 1, anti-nuclear activist S P Udaykumar said that the entire project is a liability for India. “The Unit 1 of KKNPP project was shut down for 35 times when compared to any new nuclear plant which shuts down once or twice. The biggest issue about Unit I is that it does not have liability clause. It is complete waste of public money and dangerous experiment on public. It is a White Elephant,” he alleged.

He also demanded that government conduct an inquiry over alleged misappropriation of funds pertaining to the project.

When Express tried to contact officials of Nuclear Power Corporation of India, they refused to comment

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