The Indo-US Civil Nuclear Deal has started bearing fruits and its result is there for all to see at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station at Rawatbhata in Kota district.
The power station’s 200-MW second unit, shut since July 2007, resumed its operations only yesterday following feeder replacement and getting the supply of required fuel.
The unit produced 140 MW power on Tuesday and its power generation will be gradually increased to 200 MW. The unit will generate 48 lakh units of power daily.
The unit would achieve 100 per cent power level in this month only and it would supply power to Rajasthan.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) synchronised the unit, which is already under international safeguards, to the grid using uranium imported from France and Russia.
Site Director CP Jhamb confirmed that they were awaiting supply of fuel to restart the second unit of the power station. Chief Superintendent RK Aggarwal said after the Indo-US deal, 300 tonnes of uranium fuel has reached from France to Hyderabad, while another 30 tonnes of fuel has been received from Russia.
Apart from it, an agreement has been reached with Russia for the supply of 2,000 tonnes uranium fuel, he said, adding that the power station is under IAEA safeguards and they can use imported fuel.
Meanwhile, the uranium fuel for the fifth unit of the power station is expected to reach here next month and it will start its operation from November. The power station’s third, fourth and sixth unit are also likely to start their operations from March 2010.
The second unit, which came up in 1980 with the help of Canada, had been shut down on July 2, 2007 for performance improvement upgrades and also due to non-availability of the required fuel.
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