NEW DELHI (NNN-Xinhua) -- India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has approved loading of nuclear fuel at the controversial Kudankulam atomic power plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the board chief said Friday.
The AERB gave the permission for fuel loading to begin into the atomic reactor built with Russian assistance after a meeting of the board Thursday evening.
"The board in principle has given its clearance for loading fuel after reviewing various stages of progress of the Unit 1. An official communication is being sent out to the Nuclear Power Corporation Limited and the plant authorities in this regard," S.S. Bajaj, the chairman of the AERB, told the media.
Kudankulam plant will be the first nuclear reactor in India to start operation after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan last year.
Experts say that Kudankulam plant can supply power to the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and Karnataka after it starts generating power in a matter of weeks.
The original agreement on the construction of the nuclear plant was signed in 1988 by then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, but another pact was inked in 1998 after the disintegration of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991.
The foundation for the plant was laid in 2001. But due to anti- nuclear protest, the operation of the plant was delayed several times. -- NNN-XINHUA
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