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Second unit of Madras Atomic Power Station commissioned

· Kalpakkam

Second unit of Madras Atomic Power Station commissioned
IAEA Imagebank, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The second 220 MW unit of the Madras Atomic Power Station at Kalpakkam was commissioned, completing the two-unit station.

The Madras Atomic Power Station at Kalpakkam, about 80 km south of Chennai, has two 220 MW pressurised heavy water reactors. After the first unit was commissioned in January 1984, the second unit was commissioned on 21 March 1986. The station is described as India's first fully indigenously constructed nuclear power station, and the Kalpakkam complex also houses fuel reprocessing and waste treatment facilities.

Related events

  1. 1970

    1. 1970KalpakkamScience Technology

      Construction of Madras Atomic Power Station begins at Kalpakkam

      Work began on the Madras Atomic Power Station at Kalpakkam, India's first indigenously built nuclear power station.

  2. 1971

    1. 30 Apr 1971KalpakkamScience Technology

      Reactor Research Centre set up at Kalpakkam

      An order by Vikram Sarabhai set up the Reactor Research Centre at Kalpakkam, which later became the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research.

  3. 1984

    1. 27 Jan 1984KalpakkamScience Technology

      First unit of Madras Atomic Power Station reaches full power

      At Kalpakkam, MAPS-1, the first nuclear power reactor India built largely on its own, reached full-power operation.

  4. 1985

    1. Oct 1985KalpakkamScience Technology

      Fast Breeder Test Reactor at Kalpakkam reaches criticality

      India's Fast Breeder Test Reactor at Kalpakkam reached first criticality, making India the seventh nation able to build and run a breeder reactor.

  5. 1988

    1. 20 Nov 1988KudankulamDiplomacy

      India and the Soviet Union sign the Kudankulam nuclear agreement

      Rajiv Gandhi and Mikhail Gorbachev signed an agreement to build two nuclear reactors at Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district.

  6. 2026

    1. 6 Apr 2026KalpakkamScience Technology

      Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam reaches criticality

      India's 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam achieved first criticality on 6 April 2026.

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