New Delhi: The ‘lifeline’ of the third unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu — a 360-tonne giant steam generator — is expected to be ready in another three months. This would mean that equipment supply for Kudankulam-3 would start well before the 2018-end deadline. “It will take three more months,” said Andrey Marchenko, technical director of Atommash, Russia’s biggest manufacturer of N-power plant equipment. “One steam generator requires 600 days to complete,” he added.
Three more such steam generators would be assembled for the third unit of India’s biggest nuclear power plant. Thereafter, four more will be assembled for Kudankulam-4.
While work on four more Kudankulam units, which have a combined capacity of 4,000 MW, is well on track, there are indications that six more reactors are likely to come up in Andhra Pradesh with Russia’s support. Nuclear energy is at the core of India-Russia ties.