Chennai, May 6 (IANS): The second 220 MW unit of the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), run by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) at Kalpakkam near here, is expected to restart operations on May 8, a senior official said.

The Unit is under annual maintenance shutdown since March this year.

Speaking to IANS about the 220 MW Unit II, the Station Director at MAPS R. Satyanarayana told IANS: "The unit will restart generation on Monday, May 8 and go to full power soon after that."

"We have changed some pipelines in our sea water system and some other equipments have also been changed," Satyanarayana said.

The MAPS has two 220 MW units.

"The first unit is now generating around 190 MW. After a short maintenance shutdown sometime later, the unit will be operating at full capacity," Satyanarayana remarked.

He said last year MAPS generated 3,205 million units power.

Satyanarayana added that as part of their community development programme, MAPS had supplied artificial reefs to benefit the fishing community.

"Clusters of concrete structures are laid into the sea which will enable safe breeding of fish. Earlier, we had supplied artificial reefs to five villages near Kalpakkam and the fishermen have reported positive results. It cost us around Rs 88 lakh," Satyanarayana said.

He said this year also another Rs 80 lakh will be spent on the artificial reef project for some other villages at Kalpakkam near here where the two MAPS units are located.