Second consignment for N-unit lands at Tuticorin

The MV Aeolian Sun, a chartered ship carrying 8,000 tonnes of equipment for the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), docked in the Tut...

The MV Aeolian Sun, a chartered ship carrying 8,000 tonnes of equipment for the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), docked in the Tuticorin Port on Tuesday night.

This is the second consignment, valued at Rs 50 crore, arriving from St Petersburg (Russian Federation). The first break cargo ship carrying nearly 7,000 tonnes of equipment arrived at Tuticorin Port last month. The second consignment for the Rs 13,000-crore Indo-Russian joint venture at Koodankulam includes cooling water pipes, heavy-embedded parts, plates for the container liner, tanks and doors for the project, KKNPP Project Director S.K. Agrawal said.

style="display:none;">

Briefing newspersons at Tuticorin Port on Wednesday, he said the MV Aeolian Sun left St Petersburg Port and headed straight for the Tuticorin Port, avoiding transshipment enroute. The ship reached Tuticorin Port in just 23 days, said Agrawal.

Story continues below this ad

About eight more shipments, including heavy lifts and over-dimensional cargo, will arrive in Tuticorin Port this year, he said. Nearly 300,000 freight tons of cargo are expected to reach here for KKNPP over a period of four years.

Most of the material will be transported to Koodankulam by road. Some heavyweight and over-dimensional cargo like the heavy tanks will be shipped to Koodankulam site. For this purpose, a small jetty is being constructed at Koodankulam. This will be completed by August after which heavy equipments will be unloaded here.

Referring to the construction activities at Koodankulam, he said there has been a steady progress in the work on the setting up of two nuclear power plants, each of 1000 mw capacity, during the past 14 months. This has helped save about Rs 400 crores, he said, adding that installation of equipment is taken up simultaneously, alongside the construction works.

Apart from these two units of NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited) in Koodankulam, work on six other units (two each in Rajasthan, Kaiga (Karnataka) and Maharashtra) is progressing well, said Agrawal.

Story continues below this ad

Tuticorin Port Chairman N.K. Raghupathy said this region will soon contribute 3000 mw power to the southern grid, with the Koodankulam project expected to generate 2000 mw power and a thermal power unit in Thoothukudi set to produce 1000 mw. ‘‘There cannot be a better way to promote industrial and economical development in the region,’’ he said.