Saturday, January 1 2005 21:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: The second unit of the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) at Kalpakkam, near Chennai, which was shut down immediately after sea water entered the station following Tsunami, will become operational from tomorrow (Jan 2, 2005), a top official of the MAPS said in Chennai today (Jan 1, 2005).

'Start up works are now in progress and the 220 MW unit is expected to be connected to the State grid tomorrow,' S Krishnamurthy, who has just taken over as Director of MAPS, told sources when contacted.

The Unit was shut down after sea- water had entered into the pump house on Dec 26, as a precautionary measure. The other unit was shut down some months ago for replacement of cooler chamber.

On December 30, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board had cleared Unit-two for resumption of power generation after an inspection by the officials.