SC rejects plea to shut Kudankulam power plant

SC rejects plea to shut Kudankulam power plant

News:

1. The Supreme Court extended time period for creating away-from reactor (AFR) facility.

Important facts:

2. The apex court allows the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd(NPCIL) an extension of time till April 30, 2022, to build AFR facility to store spent nuclear fuel from the Kudankulam power plant.

3. The decision was taken by three judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

4. The court rejected the demands by advocate Prashant Bhushan to shut down the plant till the facility  was ready.

5. Mr Bhutan said that continued operation of the plant without “deep underground repository” to store radioactive spent fuel can led to catastrophe.

6. The bench, however, made it clear that no further extension of time shall be granted to the corporation for setting up of the AFR at the nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu.

7. The apex court had earlier allowed the Centre to operationalise the nuclear plant subject to compliance of various safety measures including the safe storage of the spent nuclear fuel.

8. In 2013, the court granted five years to NPCIL, till July 2018, to build the storage unit.

9. About Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP):

• Is the single largest nuclear power station in India.
• It is situated in Koondankulam in the in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.
• It is scheduled to have six VVER-1000 reactors with an installed capacity of 6,000 MW of electricity.
• It has been built in collaboration with Atomstroyexport, the Russian state company and NPCIL.
• Unit 1 of the plant was synchronised with the southern power grid in October 2013 and is generating electricity to its warranted limit of 1000 MW.
• Unit 2 with capacity 1,000 MW had achieved first criticality in July 2016. It was grid-connected in August 2016 and its commercial operation started in October 2016.
• The power generated from the plant will provide electricity to Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and Karnataka.