The final clearance for the Kudankulam nuclear plant from the Tamil Nadu Government could come any day.
After which another six months would be required for the plant to start producing power, said Mr S.A. Bharadwaj, Technical Director of Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), at a press conference on Friday.
The plant is based on Russian technology and it configured to produce 1,000 MW in the first phase. However, since September last year all the construction and maintenance activity at the plant has come to a standstill due to prolonged agitation by the NGOs and local anti-nuclear activist.
Mr Bharadwaj explained that all the safety concerns, which were raised by the NGOs and by the activists, have been satisfactorily addressed by the panel of experts, which was specially constituted for this purpose.
The plant is still in good shape, in spite of the virtual lockdown of last six months, he said. “Due to the prolonged agitation most of the Indian and Russian sub-contractors have left the plant site. Now, NPCIL is in the process of calling them back. But still it will take some time for the contractors and their workers to be deployed again at the plant site,” he said.