Unit 1 of India's Kudankulam VVER-1000 nuclear power station has been synchronized to the electricity grid, operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) announced.
Grid connection occurred at 2:45am on 22 October, NPCIL, said. The reactor is currently operating at a power of 160MWe.
The power is to be raised "in stages" to 500 MWe, 750MWe and 1000MWe, NPCIL said. All increases will be subject to approval by the Indian nuclear regulator the Atomic Energy Regulation Board.
The 1000MWe Kudankulam 1 reactor, which began construction in March 2002, is India's largest nuclear power plant. Its start-up brings the total number of reactors in operation in India to 20, with an installed capacity of 5780 MWe.
Photo: Tianwan 1&2 during construction (Source: Rosatom)
