Kudankulam atomic power project in Tamil Nadu is to go for the final tests before the commissioning of the Unit one expected next month. Chairman of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Satinder Singh Bajaj said permission has been given for repeating the full systems test, also known as Hydro test, ahead of the commissioning of the unit. The tests will go for fortnight.

He said engineers of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and their Russian collaborators will conduct the test. During the hydro tests, the systems will be heated up and a number of tests will be carried out by the engineers. The tests also include some examinations on the preparedness in case of an off-site power failure.

Earlier, Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Ratan Kumar Sinha said since the Kudankulam reactor is the first of its kind to be built in the country it is better to exactly adhere to specifications.

Two 1,000 MW VVER-type nuclear power plants are to be built in the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project.