Essential Power Source: Kudankulam Atomic Power Project

Kudankulam Atomic Power Project is a nuclear power station under construction in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Construction has been delayed due to anti-nuclear protests by the locals and People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy.

Technical Details

Two 1 GW reactors of the VVER-1000 model are being constructed by the Nuclear Power corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Atomstroyexport. When completed they will become the largest nuclear power generation complex in India producing a cumulative 2 GW of electric power. Both units are water-cooled, water-moderated power reactors.The first was scheduled to start operation in December 2009 and the second one was scheduled for March 2010. Currently, the official projections put unit 1 into operation in June 2011, and unit 2 will go in March 2012.

Four more reactors are set to be added to this plant under a memorandum of intent signed in 2008. A firm agreement on setting up two more reactors, has been postponed pending the ongoing talks on liability issues. Under an inter-government agreement signed in December 2008 Russia is to supply to India four third generation VVER-1200 reactors of 1170 MW.

The reactors have some advanced safety features like passive heat removal system, double containment, Core Catcher, and hydrogen re-combiner instead of conventional systems

Current power production status in India:
• India’s current installed capacity (end of 2010): 1,70,229 MW, from all sources
• Power generation capacity is mainly based on thermal and hydro, with about 11% from renewable energy.
• In 2010, peak power shortage was 12 %.
• Electricity demand is expected to rise by 7.4% a year during the next quarter of a century. This will see generation capacity increase five-fold in India is to supply this growing demand.

Status of Indian Renewable Power Generation

Total Installed Capacity of Renewable Power Sources

As of Feb 2011, India has over 18.3 GW of installed renewable energy capacity. Wind represents about 13 GW, small hydro represents 2.8 GW, and the majority of the remainder is from biomass installations.
Total Electricity Installed Capacity: 171.9 GW (Feb 2011)

Energy source % Share in installed capacity

Thermal 64.75%
Nuclear 2.78%
Hydro (large hydro) 21.73%
Other renewable energy sources 10.73%

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What Is VVER Reactor | VVER: Power plants: List of operational VVER installations

The VVER, or WWER, (Vodo-Vodyanoi Energetichesky Reactor; Water-Water Energetic Reactor) is a series of pressurised water reactor designs originally developed in the Soviet Union, and now Russia, by OKB Gidropress. Power output ranges from 440 MWe to 1200 MWe with the latest Russian development of the design. VVER power stations are used by

1. Armenia
2. Bulgaria
3. China
4. Czech Republic
5. Finland
6. Hungary
7. India
8. Iran
9. Slovakia
10. Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

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Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light Dies at 54

One of most Notable artists in America, "Painter of Light" Thomas Kinkade, died suddenly Friday at his home in California, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

About Thomas Kinkade

Thomas Kinkade (January 19, 1958 – April 6, 2012) was an American painter of popular realistic, bucolic, and idyllic subjects. He is notable for the mass marketing of his work as printed reproductions and other licensed products via The Thomas Kinkade Company. He characterized himself as "Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light", a phrase he protected through trademark but one originally attributed to the English master J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851). He also claimed to be "America's most-collected living artist"

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Veteran actresss M.Saroja passes away

Veteran actress M.Saroja, who regaled the audience with her acting in films like Kalyana Parisu, passed away due to cardiac arrest at her T Nagar residence. She was married to actor K.A.Thangavelu, and the couple tied the knot after getting paired in more than 50 films. The couple got married in Madurai at the Murugan temple during the 100th day celebrations of Kalyana Parisu, in which they had acted as husband and wife.

The duo had later on acted in more than 250 films. Saroja was such a busy actress during those days that she used to act in three shifts in the films of MGR, Sivaji Ganesan and other top actors such as N.T. Rama Rao. Her first release was Sarvadhikari and by the time she did her first film she had learnt dance, sword fights and even horse-riding as a preparation to become an actress. Along with Thangavelu, whom she used to fondly address as CAT, she ruled the Tamil film industry as a top comedian.

Behindwoods.com extends its heart-felt condolences to the bereaved family.

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Aung San Suu Kyi wins By election

Aung San Suu Kyi, chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD), has won Myanmar's parliamentary by-elections, securing a seat of parliamentary House of Representatives, the NLD headquarters announced Sunday night.

Suu Kyi won 75 percent of the ballots in Kawhmu township constituency in which she contested, the announcement said.

The result was available hours after the polling was closed in the afternoon at 4 p.m. (9:30 GMT), followed by counting of votes in the presence of polling station officers, candidates' election agents and 10 witnesses from the public at the scene. 

Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% (392 of 485) of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest in Burma for almost 15 of the 21 years from 20 July 1989 until her most recent release on 13 November 2010.

Suu Kyi received the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 1992 she was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding by the government of India and the International Simón Bolívar Prize from the government of Venezuela. In 2007, the Government of Canada made her an honorary citizen of that country, one of only five people ever to receive the honor. In 2011, she was awarded the Wallenberg Medal. On 1 April 2012, her party, the National League for Democracy, announced that she was elected to the Pyithu Hluttaw, the lower house of the Burmese parliament, representing the constituency of Kawhmu.

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