Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant(KKNPP)

Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) is a Nuclear Power Station currently under construction in Koodankulam in Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu. 

Inter-Governmental Agreement on the project was signed on November 20, 1988 by PM Rajiv Gandhi and

Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev for the construction of 2 reactors.

The project remained in limbo for a decade due to the political and economic upheaval in Russia after the post-1991 Soviet breakup.Construction eventually began in 1997.

The cost to India was estimated to be US$ 3 billion (Rs.13,615 Crores) in 2001

In 2008 negotiation on building four additional reactors at the site began. Though the capacity of these reactors has not been declared, it is expected that the capacity of each reactor will be 1000 MW or 1 GW.The new reactors would bring the total capacity of the power plant to 9200 MW or 9.2 GW.

Under an inter-government agreement signed in December 2008 Russia is to supply to India four third generation VVER -12000 reactors of 1170 MW.

Facts on Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP)

1)The sites offered by the states for setting up nuclear power projects are evaluated by the Site Selection Committee (SSC) of the Government. The SSC evaluates the sites in line with the criteria laid down in the AERB Code of Practice on Safety in Nuclear Power Plant Siting, which inter alia, gives the mandatory and desirable requirements of the site from safety considerations. These include assessment of seismicity, location of faults, geology, foundation conditions, meteorology, potential of flooding (from tsunami, storm surge, etc. at coastal sites and from rain, upstream dam break, etc. at inland sites), proximity to airports, military installations, facilities storing explosive and toxic substances, etc.

2)The Environmental Clearance for KK-1&2 was obtained after following the due process then prescribed by the Ministry of Environment & Forest(MoEF). An Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) had been carried out. The MoEF notification for environmental clearance process then in force did not envisage public hearing. However, subsequently, while obtaining the environmental clearance for KK 3&4, Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) as per EIA notification, public hearing including the responses to stakeholders, review by expert appraisal committee of MoEF as per the prevalent notification of 2006 was carried out

3)According to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) code an area in the radius of 1.5 km, called exclusion zone, around the reactors is established, where no human habitation is permitted. This area forms the part of the project and is included in the land acquired.
“A sterilised area up to 5 km around the plant shall be established by administrative measures where the growth of population will be restricted for effective implementation of emergency measures. Natural growth, however, is allowed in this zone”.

4)The AERB Code of Practice on Safety in Nuclear Power Plant Siting lays down desirable criteria for population for selection of a site as follows:
“Other desirable population distribution characteristics in plain terrain are:
i) Population centers greater than 10000 should not be within 10 km of the plant.
ii) The population density within a radius of 10 km of the plant should be less than 2/3 of the state average.
iii) There should be no population centres more than 100000 within 30 km from the plant.

iv) The total population in the sterilised area should be small, preferablyless than 20000.”

5)For the purpose of planning for serious accidents, if any, an area of 16 km around the plant is considered as the Emergency Planning Zone. The AERB Code of Practice on Safety in Nuclear Power Plant Siting states:
During emergency, availability of transportation network means of communication, etc. which are of significance during emergency condition shall be checked.

6)The thermal power plants using sea water should adopt suitable system to reduce water temperature at the final discharge point so that the resultant rise in temperature of receiving water does not exceed 7°C over and above the ambient temperature of the receiving water bodies.

The operation of nuclear power plants in the country at the coastal locations at TAPS, Tarapur in Maharashtra and MAPS at Kalapakkam in Tamilnadu has also not shown any adverse effects on marine life including the fish.

7)An Environmental Survey Laboratory (ESL) is set up at the site before the start of operation of the reactors, which collects data of several environmental matrices like air, water, soil, vegetation, crops, fish, meat, etc. It establishes a baseline. Subsequent to start of operation of the station, the ESL monitors the environmental matrices even beyond emergency planning zone of 16 km (usually up to 30 km of the site) for radioactivity (elements like Iodine-131/133 Strontium-90 etc) and radiation levels. The experience over the last 40 years has been that at such distances no significant increase in radiation levels above the baseline data is found at Indian nuclear power plant sites.

8)The salient safety features incorporated in plant at Kudankulam are:
• Passive heat removal system to provide cooling for removal of decay heat
• Higher redundancy for safety systems
• Double containment
• Larger numbers of control rods
• Additional shutdown systems for the reactor like second quick-acting shutdown system and quick boron-injection system
• Advanced instrumentation systems of advanced technology for Reactor Systems and Balance of Plant as well as for Plant Computer System
The design of KK reactors also incorporates features such as core catcher, Hydrogen management system to mitigate severe accident scenario as witnessed at Fukushima in Japan.

9)Kudankulam site is located in the lowest seismic hazard zone of the country, Zone-II. The nearest epicenter of a recorded earthquake was located near Trivandrum, which is situated at a distance of 88 km north-northwest of the Kudankulam site, where two earthquakes corresponding to 4.3 magnitudes on Richter scale, were recorded. The Kudankulam site has a much lower seismic hazard when compared to Fukushima in Japan.

10)Kudankulam site is located far off (about 1500 km) from the tsunamigenic fault (where tsunamis originate). Thus a tsunami would take time and lose some of its energy by the time it strikes Kudankulam site.

Controversy

Thousands of protesters and villagers living around the Russian-built Koodankulam nuclear plant in the southern Tamil Nadu state, are blocking highways and staging hunger strikes, preventing further construction work, and demanding its closure as they fear of the disasters like the Environmental impact of nuclear power, Radioactive waste, nuclear accident similar to the radiation leak in March 2011 at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Protesters claim that -

According to S P Udayakumar, of the voluntary People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy, “the nuclear plant is unsafe” and “the safety analysis report and the site evaluation study have not been made public. No public hearing was held.

Germany has decided to shutdown all its 17 Nuclear reactors through which the country gets 23% of its energy.

Panel Submits Kudankulam Report to TN CM J Jayalalithaa

The four-member committee set up by the Tamil Nadu Government on the safety aspects of Kudankulam nuclear power plant on Tuesday Feb 28,2012submitted its report to Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa

Members of the State Experts Panel of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project with Tirunelveli District Collector R. Selvaraj (extreme right), in Tirunelveli in this February 18, 2012

 

 Madras HC Gives Go Ahead for the KNPP - Friday Aug 31,2012

The Madras High Court on Friday gave the green signal for the commissioning of the units one and two of the Koodankulam  Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in Tirunelveli district.

Dismissing a batch of petitions challenging commissioning of units 1 and 2 of KNPP, a division bench comprising justices P Jyothimani and M Duraiswamy said the project did not suffer from any infirmity for want of any clearance from any authorities.

“By taking note of the overall situation, we are of the view that the KKNPP in respect of units 1 and 2 do not suffer from any infirmities either for want of any clearance from any of the authorities, including the MoEF, AERB, TNPCB and the Department of Atomic Energy, and there is absolutely no impediment for the NPCIL to proceed with the project,” 

"There is absolutely no impediment to proceed in units 1 and 2 of KNPP,"

The court also said the Union and Tamil Nadu governments shall oversee the plant continuously and take steps to protect the interests of the people and fishermen in the area.

The Collector of Tirunelveli, the district in which plant is situated, should ensure off-shore safety drills regularly involving the public, it said

Another bench comprising justices P Jyothimani and P Devadoss dismissed a petition challenging the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)'s clearance for loading real fuel in the plant.

Kudankulam Fuel Loading "in a matter of days"

The loading of low enriched uranium fuel bundles into the first unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in Tamil Nadu will begin “in a matter of days,” according to S.S. Bajaj, Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).

“We gave the clearance [on August 10,2012] for the fuel loading, subject to some prerequisites. Once they [the KKNPP personnel] meet those requisites with regard to equipment and last-minute things are done, we will review the outcome and we will give the [final] clearance based on that. After we review the prerequisites and there is a satisfactory resolution …, we will give the clearance. In-principle clearance has already been given but it was subject to final things to be done,” Mr. Bajaj said on Friday Sep 07,2012 from Mumbai

 

Anti-Nuclear Protest Turns Violent

The hitherto-peaceful agitation against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu turned violent on Monday Sep 10,2012 with protesters attacking policemen, and police resorting to lathi-charge and the firing of teargas shells. 

 

The agitation, which was confined to Idinthakarai and surrounding villages, spilled over to the neighbouring Tuticorin district where G. Antony John(48)a fisherman of Manapad, was killed in the firing.

Activists of People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy protest near Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tirunelveli district on Sunday Sep 09,2012

 Protesters raise slogans against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project on the Idinthakarai beach in Tamil Nadu on Sunday Sep 09,2012

The Anti-Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project protesters making a last-ditch effort to prevent enriched uranium fuel being loaded on to the first reactor.If the fuel loading passes off uneventfully, then the year-long agitation will become meaningless, feel the protesters.

Tension prevailed  on Sunday  Sep 09,2012 as the police thwarted a bid by about 3,000 agitators to lay siege to the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) site to protest fuel-loading in the reactor.

 SC Refuses Stay but  agrees to examine risk associated to the Koodankulam Project

The Supreme Court on Thursday Sep 13,2012 refused to stay loading of fuel for nuclear power plant at Kudankulam but agreed to examine the risk associated to the project, saying safety of people living in its vicinity is of prime concern. 

"Public safety is of prime importance. There are poor people living in the vicinity of the plant and they should know that there life would be protected," a bench of justices K.S. Radhakrishanan and Deepak Misra said while posting the matter for hearing on September 20,2012.

'Where will nuclear waste go?’ SC asks NPCIL - Oct 17,2012

The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to spell out how nuclear waste/spent fuel will be handled or transported after the Kudankulam plant in Tamil Nadu becomes operational.

A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra on Wednesday wanted to know from the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), how it intends transporting the nuclear waste out of the plant and store it in a safe place without affecting environment.

“Where would the nuclear waste go and what impact would it have on environment and people’s health if it is transported to other places? How much and how long can such waste be stored?” asked Justice Radhakrishna. Even as Solicitor General Rohinton Nariman, appearing for the NPCIL, asserted that the plant was safe, the Judge told him, “Issues pertaining to health and environment are as important as [is] safety of the plant.”