Third atomic reactor at Kakrapar reaches a milestone

Chennai: India's atomic power company Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) on Friday said the generator stator was erected at its upcoming 700 MW unit at Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat.

In a statement, NPCIL said the 325 ton generator stator, the heaviest single component of the 700 MW project, was successfully erected at turbine generator deck on Thursday.

The NPCIL is building two 700 MW atomic power plants each at Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat and Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS).

"It is the first of its kind reactor in the country," Lokesh Kumar, project director for the third and fourth units at KAPS told IANS recently.

NPCIL has two units of 220 MW each at KAPS which are operating successfully.

It is the third unit at KAPS with a capacity of 700 MW that is expected to go operational first out of the four under construction.

"We plan to start unit 3 by the end of 2016 or early 2017. Then commissioning of unit 4 would happen," Kumar had said.

Concrete was first poured in November 2010 for the 3rd unit at KAPS and in March 2011 for the fourth unit.

Though the first unit was expected to go on stream in 2015, owing to erratic supply of components, the progress of work got delayed, Kumar said.

As to the percentage of physical progress, he said the third unit is 75 percent complete and the fourth unit is 65 percent.

"The overall project cost for the two units is around Rs.11,459 crore. The project would be completed within the budget. There will be no cost escalation," he added.

(IANS)