KOODANKULAM, Apr 20: The first unit of the 2X1000 MW VVER nuclear reactor of the Koodankulam Nuclear Power project (KKNPP) was expected to attain criticality and start power generation in two months, as the preparation for commissioning the plant was progressing as planned, S K Jain, Chairman and Managing Director of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).
He said KKNPP was awaiting clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to open the reactor pressure vessel for inspecting the internal components’ performance and subsequent loading of enriched uranium fuel rods.
He said work on commissioning of the first unit was in full swing. The hot run of the unit had been done a few months ago and a report of tests had been submitted to the AERB. We are expecting a review by the AERB and once the permission is obtained, the fine tuning of the equipment would be carried out. Before the interruption due to protests by the locals, 95 percent of the required tests had been conducted.
Mr Jain said “the integrated core cooling tests is scheduled in about a week. The opening of the pressure vessel after obtaining clearance from AERB is the next step. Once this is done, the dummy fuel will be removed and the reactor cleaned for another inspection by AERB”. After this, enriched uranium fuel would be loaded. It was expected that fuel loading might be taken up by mid June and criticality attained in the next few weeks, he added.
Asked about reports that some countries had decided to scrap nuclear power projects after Fukushima disaster, Russian expert Valery Limarenko rejected the reports and said infact, his company which was involved in the construction of 20 nuclear reactors in Russia and China, was holding talks with Bangladesh, Vietnam and Turkey for the construction of nuclear reactors in those countries.
Mr Limarenko said KKNPP incorporates several layers of the most modern safety features to ensure security of the workforce and the people living in the vicinity.
KKNPP, India’s largest civil nuclear programme, an Indo-Russia joint venture, was in the midst of controversy after the locals demanded that the Centre scrap the project. (UNI)
KKNPP to start power generation in two months
Nikkei dips, down for third straight week
TOKYO, Apr 20: Japan’s Nikkei index fell on Friday to post its third straight week of losses a fter a Spanish bond auction failed to extinguish fears of a rerun of the euro zone debt crisis, though a softer yen offered some support.
The Nikkei closed 0.3 percent lower at 9,561.36, below i ts 13-week moving average near 9,575, and was down 0.8 percent on the week.
The broader Topix dropped 0.3 percent to 811.94.
(agencies)
ECB’s Knot IMF to meet target to boost firepower-media
AMSTERDAM, Apr 20: The International Monetary Fund can count on achieving at least a 350 billion dollar boost to its financial firepower, and maybe between 400 and 500 billion dollar, European Central Bank Governing Council Member Klaas Knot said in a newspaper interview.
“Even though the IMF money is not specifically designed for Europe, the European debt crisis is now the biggest threat to the world economy. So that the IMF will focus on this,” Knot told Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf in an interview published today.
Knot said that with firepower of over one trillion euros, Europe would have sufficient funds to defend euro zone members such as Italy and Spain.
“That’s a lot of money we are talking about, sufficient to keep countries such as Italy and Spain within the fold.”
“The new European emergency fund now has 800 billion euro. The European central banks have 150 billion euro loans to the IMF. Japan has pledged 60 billion dollar, Britain 15 billion dollar, Sweden, Denmark and Norway together now more than 30 billion dollar. China, still about 40 to 50 billion dollar. That is all together about 350 billion dollar,” he told the newspaper.
“With help from countries like Russia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and India, a sum of between 400 and 500 billion dollar is in easy reach”.
(agencies)
Veteran television personality Dick Clark dead at 82
LOS ANGELES, Apr 20: Perennial New Year’s Eve master of ceremonies and “American Bandstand” host Dick Clark, whose long-running television dance show helped rock ‘n’ roll win acceptance in mainstream America, died on Wednesday at age 82, a spokesman said. Clark, one of America’s best-known TV personalities and the longtime host of ABC’s annual “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” broadcast from Times Square in Manhattan, suffered a heart attack and died at Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, publicist Paul Shefrin said. —
(agencies)
Sony-led group wins EU approval to buy EMI publishing
BRUSSELS, Apr 20: A Sony-led consortium won EU approval on Thursday to buy EMI’s music publishing business for $2.2 billion, on the condition that it sell the worldwide publishing rights of artists including Robbie Williams and Lenny Krativz. Sony, with Blackstone Group, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co. Raine Group and music and film mogul David Geffen, won the bidding for EMI Publishing last year in a deal that will put Sony top in global music publishing. (agencies)
Protesters detained at Russian punk group hearing
MOSCOW, Apr 20: Russian police detained at least 13 people who demonstrated outside a courthouse on Thursday against the arrest of three members of a women’s punk rock group that performed a protest song in Moscow’s main cathedral, witnesses said. The court was to decide whether to extend the detention of the three women over the performance, in which the group known as Pussy Riot sang a song against President-elect Vladimir Putin in short dresses and colored masks in Christ the Savior Cathedral. (agencies)
Colton Dixon voted off of “American Idol”
NEW YORK, Apr 20: Colton Dixon, the young singer from Tennessee known for his flamboyant hairstyle, became the fifth person voted off top-rated TV singing contest “American Idol” yesterday night. “I wasn’t myself last night,” said Dixon, whose Wednesday performance of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” was roundly criticized by the show’s judges. Dixon thanked them for their honest feedback, and assured them he would incorporate it into a future album. (agencies)
ECB’s Knot IMF to meet target to boost firepower-media
AMSTERDAM, Apr 20: The International Monetary Fund can count on achieving at least a 350 billion dollar boost to its financial firepower, and maybe between 400 and 500 billion dollar, European Central Bank Governing Council Member Klaas Knot said in a newspaper interview.
“Even though the IMF money is not specifically designed for Europe, the European debt crisis is now the biggest threat to the world economy. So that the IMF will focus on this,” Knot told Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf in an interview published today.
Knot said that with firepower of over one trillion euros, Europe would have sufficient funds to defend euro zone members such as Italy and Spain.
“That’s a lot of money we are talking about, sufficient to keep countries such as Italy and Spain within the fold.”
“The new European emergency fund now has 800 billion euro. The European central banks have 150 billion euro loans to the IMF. Japan has pledged 60 billion dollar, Britain 15 billion dollar, Sweden, Denmark and Norway together now more than 30 billion dollar. China, still about 40 to 50 billion dollar. That is all together about 350 billion dollar,” he told the newspaper.
“With help from countries like Russia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and India, a sum of between 400 and 500 billion dollar is in easy reach”.
(agencies)
Former ruling party treasurer guilty of graft in Indonesia
JAKARTA, Apr 20: The former treasurer o Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s ruling Democrat
Party was found guilty of corruption today and jailed for nearly five years at the conclusion of a case that has tarnished the president’s image.
Muhammad Nazaruddin, Yudhoyono’s party treasurer until he fled overseas when graft allegations emerged last year, was convicted of taking about 500,000 dollars to help a construction win a contract to build an athletes’ dormitory for the Southeast Asian Games last year in Indonesia.
Indonesia has attracted substantial investment because of its fast-growing economy and political stability but institutional graft and rampant petty corruption are obstacles for businesses.
The sentence of 4 years and 10 months was less than a prosecutor’s demand for seven years. Nazaruddin, who was detained while on the run in Colombia, also has to pay a fine of 200 million rupiah ($21,800) or face another four months jail.
Nazaruddin denied the charges and said he had not decided on whether to appeal.
“This is a fabrication done for the interests of those in power who from the start wanted me to be a suspect in a political case like this,” Nazaruddin told reporters outside court.
“If I did receive a gift, why I wasn’t I told to return the money?” he said.
Yudhoyono was re-elected in 2009 on a platform of fighting graft in the G20 economy, but his failure to remove senior politicians tainted by graft has sown doubts over his commitment to reform.
His popularity has fallen in opinion polls since the allegations against Nazaruddin emerged.
“I have already lost hope with the administration of Yudhoyono and the party,” said Rahma Raudani, a 25-year-old communications student, who voted for Yudhoyono.
“I won’t vote for the Democrats – I am thinking of abstaining in the next election as this kind of issue will happen again. I have no trust,” she said.
Fighting graft is likely to be a major issue in the campaign for a 2014 presidential election. Yudhoyono cannot stand for a third term but he has yet to name a favoured successor.$1 = 9,179 rupiah)
(agencies)
Farooq spends 4th day in AIIMS
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 19: Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy and National Conference president, Dr Farooq Abdullah spent his fourth day in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi today.
However, doctors attending on Dr Abdullah said his condition was stable.
“Condition of Farooq Abdullah was improving. He was responding to the treatment. From antibiotic injections, he would be shortly put on tablets”, they said.
Farooq was admitted in AIIMS on Monday following complaints of pneumonic and chest infections.