Second Kudankulam unit to start commercial operation from Sept...

 

The second unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) will start generating electricity from September, Union Minister V Narayanasamy has said.

"Ninety-five per cent of the work for second unit of the plant has been completed and we should start commercial operation from the unit by September 2014," the Minister of State in the PMO told reporters.

The first unit of KKNPP, built with Russian assistance, has already started generating power and is connected to the Southern grid.

"We are currently generating 440 MW of electricity from the first unit and all the power generated goes to Tamil Nadu. We will soon increase the production to 750 MW and after taking necessary permissions from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), the plant will start generating 1000 MW of electricity by February," the minister said.

The KKNPP units 1 and 2 are currently the largest power generating units in the country with a capacity of 1000 MW each. Talks with Russia over Unit 3 and 4 are stuck over the liability clause of the Civil Liability Nuclear Damage Act 2010.

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Atomic regulators meet discusses Russian VVER reactors...

 

The 20th meeting of the VVER (Russian atomic reactor) Regulators Forum hosted by India for the first time concluded Friday at Kanyakumari, said a senior Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) official.

The forum was founded in 1993 and consists of atomic regulators from various countries where the Russian designed VVER nuclear reactors operate or are being set up.

India's atomic power company Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is setting up two VVER reactors of 1,000 MW capacity at Kudankulam in Tirunelveli district, around 650 km from here.

The three-day meeting began Dec 11 and concluded Friday.

"Regulators who attended the conference submitted a report on the VVER reactors in their countries. India too submitted its report. The reports are not public. The reports basically deal with policy related aspects," AERB Secretary R. Bhattacharya told IANS over phone from Kanyakumari.

He said the forum also discussed the additional safety measures taken after the nuclear accident that happened in Fukushima in Japan.

The forum was attended by 14 foreign delegates and chaired by AERB Chairman S.S. Bajaj.

The forum consists of nuclear regulatory organisations from Armenia, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Iran, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Ukraine and India.

Speaking about the first unit at Kudankulam that has started power generation, Bhattacharya said the unit is working well.

"There are no reactor safety related issues. There was some issue with the secondary equipment which has been sorted out," Bhattacharya said.

Permission to generate power up to 50 percent (500 MW) of the rated capacity has been given August 2013 which is valid till Jan, 2014.

He said Finland has expressed its wish to host the next meeting of the VVER Regulators Forum and a decision on it will be taken later.

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New order on reporting nuclear incidents for Nuclear Energy Operators issued by AERB...

 

Amid debate over safety of nuclear installations, a new order has been issued to operators to report "extraordinary nuclear events", including radiation and leakage of radioactive material, to the atomic regulator within 24 hours of the incident.

Seeking to remove any confusion, the order makes it clear that the reporting of the extraordinary nuclear events will be in addition to, "and in no way in derogation of the existing regulatory mechanism" of reporting of events to the regulator.

According to a latest order of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), operator of the nuclear installation will report extraordinary nuclear event (ENE) either in the installation or during transportation of radioactive material to the regulator within 24 hours of the occurrence.

The AERB order also stipulates that a detailed report of the nuclear incident should be conveyed to the regulator within 10 days.

The order has been issued under various provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 and Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage rules, 2011.

The ENEs described in the order include any incident resulting in stack release of radioactivity 500 times or more of the annual release limit prescribed in technical specifications for operation of the plant.

The operator will also have to inform about incidents where in one or more person off site (away from the facility) "were, could have been, or might be" exposed to radiation or to radioactive material.

Also, any incident which leads to injury or death of a person off site due to exposure to ionizing radiation emanating from a nuclear installation will also have to reported.

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