By Venkatachari Jagannathan

Chennai, May 22 (IANS): A team of six Russian specialists from turbine manufacturer Power Machines have come to Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) to complete the vibration adjustment of the new generator stator in the second unit, a Russian state atomic corporation Rosatom official said.

India's atomic power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has two 1,000 MW power units supplied by Rosatom.

The second unit was stopped on Thursday afternoon so that the high vibration in the generator is set right.

"In March 2020, preventive maintenance was completed at Block 2 (Unit 2), in the framework of which the generator stator was successfully replaced," the Rosatom official told IANS.

The unit was operated at a lower capacity due to the need to complete the vibration adjustment of the new stator.

"This is a common world practice for this type of electrical machines," he added.

According the official, the first unit is at the end of its fourth fuel campaign which due at the end of this month. The unit is planned to be stopped for the next scheduled preventive maintenance.

In order to avoid simultaneous shutdown of both the power generating units, the managements of Indian and Russian companies decided for a short-term shutdown of Unit 2 during May.

In pursuant of that decision and in connection with the partial relaxation of the Covid-19 restrictive measures, a chartered flight with specialists of turbine manufacturer Power Machines was dispatched from Russia in a timely manner, the official said.

"We estimate that works would take at least a week," he added.