SCIENCE REPORTER, MARCH 2012 8

KUDANKULAM v i l lage l ies in the

Radhapuram Taluka in dist r ict

Tirunelveli of Tamil Nadu State. The

Tirunelveli city is about 75 km in north-

east direction from Kudankulam and the

state capital Chennai is about 650 km

from here.

Kudankulam region is in the rain

shadow area, which means very scanty

rains even during the rainy season. This

semi-arid zone has moderate to severe

salinity and alkalinity. All these factors

have led to frequent crop failures and

ver y low agr icul ture product iv i ty.

PUNEET SWAROOP PATHAK

Insight into

Tarapur, Kalpakkam, Rawatbhata,Narora, Kakrapar, and Kaiga are places

where some of the country’s nuclearpower plants are situated. The

Kudamkulam Nuclear Power Plant, theworld’s most advanced and the country’s

largest Nuclear Power Plant, nowpromises to deliver electricity to the

southern grid.

KudankulamKudankulamC

over S

tory

SCIENCE REPORTER, MARCH 20129

CoverCoverCoverCoverCover Story

Vegetation in this area is thorny and bushy

with almost no coconut and banana

trees. The soil appears barren with cactus

blooms and abundant ant-hills.

The Nuclear Power P lant at

Kudankulam is being constructed with

joint technological collaboration under

the provisions of the Inter-Governmental

Agreement (IGA) signed between India

& USSR in November 1988 and

amended through a supplement

s igned in June 1998. In India, the

Department of Atomic Energy/Nuclear

Power Corporation of India Ltd is

responsible for overal l project

management, construction,

commissioning and plant operation and

maintenance with design, designer

supervision, supply material and nuclear

fuel being the responsibility of Russia.

The project commenced with the first

pour of concrete on 31 March 2002. The

approved cost of the project is Rs. 13171

crore. The tariff of electricity generated

by the project will be competitive with

other sources in the region and expected

to be around Rs 2.50 per unit.

Site ClearancesThe Kudankulam site was evaluated by

the Department of Atomic Energy, Govt

of India’s Site Selection Committee and

approved after due process in 1988.

Detai led studies compris ing geo-

technical examination, seismo-tectonic

data, safe grade level, meteorological,

hydrological and other studies were

carried out by the country ’s best expert

agencies. Based on the results of these

studies and the Site Evaluation Report

(SER), AERB accorded site clearance in

1989.

Envi ronmental clearance was

accorded by MoEF, New Delhi for KKNPP

1&2 as per Environmental Protection Act

1986 in 1989. A rapid Comprehensive

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

was carr ied out by the Nat ional

Envi ronmental Engineering Research

Institute (NEERI), Nagpur for KK-1&2 in the

year 2001 and subsequent ly a

References:Roads: National Highway State Highway/majorRailways: Broad Gauge Metre GaugeProposed Locationof Atomic PowerStationPechiparai DamState BoundaryDistrict Boundary

General Location PlanKudankulam Site

N.H. 7A

B.G.

M.G.

Kudankulam 2002

Kudankulam 2011

INDIAN OCEAN

SCIENCE REPORTER, MARCH 2012 10

comprehensive EIA was prepared in year

2003. Comprehensive EIA and EMP for

KKNPP 3-6 was prepared as per E IA

notification 2006 (latest), this includes

impact of KKNPP 1&2 and Units KKNPP 3-

6, which are similar in design to KKNPP

1&2, obtained environmental clearance

from MoEF in 2008 & 2009.

The Tamil Nadu state committee

on “conservation of sea shores” vide

their letter dated 25-2-1988 conveyed

their clearance for setting up of KKNPP.

On the appl icat ion submi t ted in

December 1988 to the Tami l Nadu

Environment and Forests department

for setting up of 2 X 1000 MWe nuclear

power p lants in Kudanku lam,

c learances f rom S tate and cent ra l

government depar tments were

accorded by Env i ronmenta l

Committee, Environment and Forests

department, Tamil Nadu Government in

Februar y 1989, env i ronmental

clearance from MoEF, New Delhi in May

1989 and forest clearance from the Tamil

Nadu state government in July 1989.

The site has a potential for setting

up to 6000 MWe installed capacity. The

first two units of 1000 MWe each are

presently being set up. The site is free

from severe cyclonic activities though it

lies along the coast of Gulf of Mannar,

which also provides ample water for the

condenser cooling. There are no nearby

chemical plants, large industries and

military installations as also air corridors.

That means possibilities of explosion, fire,

release of inf lammable, explos ive,

corrosive or toxic clouds is nil and the

chances of loss of flight con-trol do not

exis t. The s i te does not v iolate any

rejection standard and fulf i l ls al l the

desirable criteria as per AERB Safety

Code on Siting.

Protection against ExternalNatural EffectsKKNPP is located in the Indian Seismic

Zone II, which is the least seismic potential

region of our countr y (ref. IS 1893).

However, for designing of the Plant,

detailed studies were conducted to

conservatively estimate extent of ground

motion applicable to the specific Site with

reference to Seismotectonic and

Geological conditions around it so that

NPPs are designed for a SSE (safe shutdown

earthquake) level earthquake which has

a very low probability of being exceeded.

All potential, active and non-active faults,

lineaments and seismic history within a

radius 300 km have been analyzed to

Levels of important facilities at KKNPP with respect to mean sea level

Design basisflood level +5.44 (MSL) dueto tidalvariations, waverun-up, stormsurge/tsunami

Switch Yard

Reactor,

PumpHouse

Pump

TurbineDG 2 DG 4

DG 1 DG 3

+7.65m

+8.1m +8.7m +9.3m

+5.44m

Tsunami of26.12.2004

Mean Sea Level

+13m

The VVER-1000 atKudankulam has passedInternational Atomic EnergyAgency’s safety review byinternational experts,Atomic Energy RegulatoryBoard (AERB)’s safetyreview by national levelexperts from AERB, BhabhaAtomic Research Centre(BARC), NPCIL, IndianInstitute of Technology(IIT), Boilers Board and theCentral Electricity Authority(CEA) etc.

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SCIENCE REPORTER, MARCH 201211

arrive at the SSE and OBE (operating base

earthquake) levels of earthquake.

The strongest one occurred at

Coimbatore on 8 February 1900. The India

Meteorological Department estimated its

magnitude at 6.0 on the Richter scale. The

epicenter was more than 300 km from

Kudankulam. The nearest recorded was

on 25 August 1856 near Trivandrum with a

much lesser intensity estimated at 4.3 on

the Richter scale. Based on these analyses,

the parameters were chosen for design

of the plant structures and equipment such

as automatic trip (shutdown) of the reactor

for the operating basis earthquake.

The design assumed a maximum

flood level of 5.44 meters above the

mean sea level (MSL) and allowing a

margin of safety of 2 m, the general

grade level was kept at 7.5 m with

respect to mean sea level. During the

December 2004 tsunami, the water level

rise was 2.4 m above MSL. As compared

to the Design Basis Flood Level of 5.44

m, levels of important facilities at KKNPP

with respect to MSL are 8.7 m for reactor

building ground floor, 9.3 m for safety

diesel generator sets and electr ical

switch gear for safety trains, 12.9 m for

battery bank, 16.5 m for station blackout

batter y and 16.5 m for control

instruments for safety trains. In addition

to having a sufficiently higher grade

elevation, all the safety related buildings

are closed with double gasket leak tight

doors.

In Fukushima, Japan on 11 March

2011, the 8.9 magnitude quake

generated about 10-12 m high tsunami

waves. Whereas the 26 December 2004

Indian Ocean tsunami generated only

about 2.5 m high tsunami waves at

Kudankulam site. The only difference is

the location of the tsunamigenic fault

(where tsunamis originate). Kudankulam

site is located far off, about 1500 km from

the tsunamigenic fault. I f there is a

tsunami, it would take a much longer

time and lose much of its energy by the

time it strikes the Kudankulam site. As

against this, the tsunamigenic fault was

only about 130 km away at Fukushima.

The containment is also designed to

withstand fire, shockwaves generated due

to explosions of bombs, impacts of aircraft

crash etc. The figure bellow gives a

pictorial view of these protections.

Kudankulam VVER-1000Type ReactorThe VVER, which in Russian means Water-

Water Energet ic Reactor, is a ser ies

o f L igh t Water Reactors (LWRs)/

pressur i sed water reactors (PWRs)

developed by Russia. The Kudankulam

Nuclear Power Projects are Light Water

Reactors (LWR) that are cooled and

moderated using ordinary water. Proven

safety, design simplicity, reliability and

performance of these types of reactors

make them the leaders in civil nuclear

reactors in service throughout the world.

Design of these Nuclear Power

plants has evolved over a long period of

time and several generations of reactors.

Developmental work of the f i rs t

generation of VVER type of LWRs began

way back in 1950s and the first VVER

became operational in year 1964 in

erstwhile USSR. VVER-1000 reactors being

commissioned at Kudankulam belong to

the beyond third generation reactors.

Backed up by a long and

successful technology implementation

programme the wor ld over, KKNPP

VVER-1000 has even more advanced

safety features as compared to the

VVER reactors in operat ion in the

Russian Federation, Ukraine, Finland,

HurricanesWaterspouts

Airplanecrash

Shock Wave

Floods

Seismic Impacts

The 200-mm thick cylindrical vessel ismade of low alloy high strength steelwith an inner cladding of austenicstainless steel.

The heart of the Kudankulamnuclear power plant is a 19.47-meter high and 4.5 meters

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SCIENCE REPORTER, MARCH 2012 12

China, Iran and in several erstwhile east

European nations such as the Czech

Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Armenia,

Slovakia. Out of the world’s total 432

reactors w i th an accumulated

experience of 14570 years, 359 are of

LWR type. Of these 359 LWRs, 55 are

VVER type reactors. Out of 54 VVER, 17

are of VVER-1000 type with over 25

years of operating experience.

How Does a VVER Work?Heat in a nuclear power reactor is

produced by the controlled fission chain

reaction in the nuclear fuel. The heat is

used to raise steam that drives a turbo-

generator to produce electricity. In a

VVER, slightly enriched uranium is used as fuel.

The fuel bundles are placed in the reactor

core, which is housed in the reactor pressure

vessel (RPV). Water is used both as coolant

and moderator. The coolant removes the

heat from the reactor.

The steam produced in the steam

generator is fed to a set of turbines, which

drive the generator to generate electricity.

The steam from the turbine is exhausted into

a condenser where it is cooled and

condensed. The condensate is pumped

back to the steam generator. The condenser

cooling is accomplished by the condenser-

cooling system, which draws cooling water

from the Gulf of Mannar.

The heart of the Kudankulam nuclear

power plant is a 19.47-meter high and 4.5

meters in diameter, reactor pressure vessel

(RPV). The 200-mm thick cylindrical vessel is

made of low alloy high strength steel with an

inner cladding of austenic stainless steel. The

RPV houses the reactor core, the reactor

control rods and a host of other mechanisms

and connections. The coolant entry and exit

is through coolant inlet and outlet

respectively, connected to the upper part

of the RPV.

Reactor Shutdown SystemThe reactor shutdown system terminates the

fission chain reaction. This function is

achieved by solid control rods and as a

diverse method, using liquid neutron

absorber.

Control Rods: KKNPP is provided with 121

control rods. The control rods containing

neutron-absorbing materials control the

rate of chain reaction, in other words, the

power of the reactor. These rods are held by

electro-magnetic clutches, giving the

mechanism its name ‘electromagnetic

control rod drive mechanism’. The control

rods can be inserted into the reactor core,

in a stepped manner, allowing absorption

of neutrons. It leads to a deficiency in the

availability of neutrons in the core to reduce

the number of fissions thus reducing the

power of the reactor.

Conversely, withdrawal of the control

rods a l lows bu i ld ing-up o f extra

neutrons causing more f iss ion and

increasing the power of the reactor. In

case necessity arises to shut-down the

reactor in an emergency or failure of

power supply that keeps the

electromagnetic clutches energised, the

clutches are de-energised allowing the

control rods to fall freely into the reactor

core under the force of gravity and the

reactor becomes sub-critical. The action

takes less than 4 seconds to be

completed.

Reactor Control Rods Quick Boron Injection System

Reactor Steam generator

Fast Acting Fate Valve

Boron Acid Tanks

Design safety rests upon the defence-in-depth concept:Five barrier system on the way of ionising radiation and radioactivity release in the environment

Fuel Matrix Prevents fission

product release under fuelcladding Fuel Cladding Prevents

fission product release intoprimary (main circulationcircuit) coolant

Main Circulation Circuit Prevents

fission product release into containment Inner & Outer Containment SystemPrevents fission product release in the environment

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SCIENCE REPORTER, MARCH 201213

Quick Boron Injection System: This system is a

back-up to Control Rods and acts on a

diverse principle. The system injects highly

concentrated boric acid into the reactor

coolant circuit. One boric-acid solution tank

is connected to each of the four primary

coolant pumps. Once the system receives

the signal of failure of the control rod drive

mechanism, it is automatically actuated.

A unique feature of the system is that it can

work even in case of failure of power to the

pumps. It has been made possible by the

flywheel provided with each pump. The

flywheel conserves energy (inertia, to be

accurate) and keeps the pumps rotating,

as the power fails, for duration sufficient to

inject the boric acid into the circuit.

Inherent Safety FeaturesInherent safety features are nuclear

characteristics of the reactor that are

inherently safe. VVER-1000 has a negative

power coefficient. This means that any

abnormal increase in reactor power that

could affect the safety of the reactor will

result in a feedback that reduces the power.

This happens because with an abnormal

increase in power, the moderator is also

heated and becomes less dense, therefore,

losing its moderation efficiency (thereby

resulting in reduction of neutron population).

Another inherent safety feature is

‘negative void coefficient’ which means that

the chain reaction in the reactor core is

stopped in an unlikely event of the loss of

coolant (water) from the reactor. This is due

to loss of moderation.

Defence in Depth (DiD) is the central

theme of the safety approach in VVER. This

consists of five levels of defence against any

malfunction or failure leading to events/

accidents. DiD provides prevention and

mitigation. Successive levels of safety ensure

that failure of one does not impair the overall

safety of the reactor. In case of failure of the

first level, the next level of defence is invoked.

This is a five-barrier system in the way of

radiation and radioactivity release in the

environment.

Fuel matrix is the first in line that prevents

release of fission products to fuel element

cladding, second is the primary coolant that

prevents its further release, third is the primary

circuit that contains the fission products well

within its boundaries, the 1200 mm thick inner

containment of pre-stressed concrete with

steel liner is the fourth line of defence, and

the fifth is the 600 mm thick outer

containment. The containment is capable

of withstanding external effects involving

earthquake, tsunami/storm, tidal waves,

cyclones, shock waves, fires and aircraft

impact.

NPPs at Kudankulam are equipped

with a series of advanced proven and

tested engineered safety features (ESF) to

maintain and protect these multi barriers

so that any releases do not reach the

public beyond the boundar y of the

project.

Nuclear Energy for the Future

Energy is the prime mover of economic growth. Availability of energy is not onlythe key to sustainable development, but also has a direct impact and influenceon the quality of service in the fields of education, health and, in fact, even foodsecurity. There is a big divide between the developed and the developing countriesin per capita availability of energy. The developed countries have significantlyhigher per capita energy consumption.

On the other hand, developing countries are highly energy deficient. Asper the projections made by International Energy Agency (IEA), most of thedeveloping countries are not expected to reach, even by the year 2030, the levelof Energy Development Index achieved by the OECD countries way back in1971.

Overall, India accounts for about 2.4% of the world’s total annual energyproduction, but consumes about 3.3% of the world’s total annual energy. Theimbalance is growing and the country is projected to surpass Japan and Russiato become the world’s third biggest energy consumer by 2030.

The nation is suffering from chronic electrical power shortage. Electricityis not only essential for industrial growth but also for energizing infrastructureand agricultural and domestic development. In addition, the demand for electricityin our country is ever increasing. The need for electrical power in our countryis projected to jump by more than four times in the next 20 years or so, from thecurrent 180 GW to 220 GW in 2017 and then to nearly 770 GW in the year2032.

To cope up with this energy demand, speeding up of power generationefforts, using all viable resources cannot be ignored now otherwise the societyat large would be severely affected in the coming years. The country does nothave large reserves of conventional energy sources like petroleum and gas, andis also facing intermittent coal shortages. Besides, the poor quality of Indiancoal coupled with a lack of infrastructure to clean it, poses a major environmentalthreat. India’s important steel industry already has to import large amounts ofhigh-quality coal from abroad.

There are known environmental concerns related to the use of coal.Generating electricity by burning coal, petroleum and natural gas produces carbondioxide as an end product, which is emitted into the atmosphere. The carbondioxide gas emitted through these human activities gets added to the alreadyexisting carbon dioxide in the natural carbon cycle, resulting in the greenhouse effect and global warming. With the country’s reserves of coal, oil and gasand their costly imports we can survive may be for the next about 100 years.

Support of clean and long-lasting energy sources like nuclear power isimperative for carbon dioxide emissions-free electricity, which protects andpreserves the environment locally as well as globally.

Besides, India has acquired higher capabilities of harnessing nuclear poweras safe, environmentally benign and economically viable electrical energy sourceto meet the increasing needs of the country. Nuclear power has been providingsafe, clean, pollution-free electricity for nearly six decades. As per the statistics,nuclear has been the safest of all the mainstream electricity-generationtechnologies over the last 56 years of its existence.

The engineered safety featuresof VVER at Kudankulam are ascientific combination ofactive and passive systems.The active safety systemfunctions with normal powerand diesel power in case offailure of grids. Passive safetysystems work with the neverfailing natural laws.

Cover Story

SCIENCE REPORTER, MARCH 2012 14

Engineered Safety FeaturesThe engineered safety features provide

cooling to the nuclear fuel in all the

conditions. In VVER design, safety systems are

configured in four redundant, independent

trains. These systems not only have adequate

redundancy but also diversity and physical

segregation. Diverse systems are employed

to achieve the same safety function to avoid

common mode failure. For instance, power

supply to safety related systems and

equipment is provided by more than one

grid feeder, which is backed-up by on-site

quadruplet (4 x 100) diesel generators and

then again by a battery bank.

The engineered safety features of

VVER at Kudankulam are a scientif ic

combinat ion of act ive and pass ive

systems. The act ive safety system

functions with normal power and diesel

power in case of failure of grids. Passive

safety systems work with the never failing

natural laws.

Pass ive systems at Kudankulam

include gravity to shut down the reactors

within less than 4 seconds by gravity fall

of control rods, inertia of f lywheel of

reactor coolant pumps to add boron and

remove decay heat, gravi ty to add

prolong borated water in case of loss of

coolant, thermo-siphoning and natural

air convection to remove decay heat of

the reactor, natural thermal pumping to

clean and depressur ize the annular

space between the pr imar y and

secondar y containment, catalytic re-

combining of the Hydrogen, and

provisions of containing the melted core

within the containment in case of an

hypothetical event of core meltdown.

Emergency Core Cooling System: In case

of loss of coolant, the fission chain reaction

is stopped immediately, with the draining of

the coolant which also acts as moderator.

However, the heat due to radioactive

material in the fuel must be removed. The

job is accomplished by an ‘emergency

core cooling system’ (ECCS) by pumping and

re-flooding the reactor core with water. But,

to avoid resumption of chain reaction, boric

acid, 16 grams per liter, is added to the ECCS

water. The ECCS has two major parts, the

active ECCS and the passive ECCS.

Active Emergency Core Cooling System

(ECCS): The active ECCS comprises of four

trains of high pressure (HP) and four trains of

low-pressure (LP) injection systems. One is

sufficient to remove the decay heat. Each

set of one HP and one LP is connected to a

dedicated diesel generator of that train. The

system is designed to remove the residual

heat for a long period.

Passive Emergency Core Cooling System

(ECCS): The active systems are backed-up

by the passive safety systems which do not

require any power supply and can function

during the station black out condition also.

The passive ECCS works on laws of gravity

and does not require any pump or power

supply and can function during the station

black out condition also. It is the passive part

of ECCS that comes into action first, to tide

over the initial period of an accident like loss

of coolant.

Passive 1st & 2nd Stage Hydro Accumulators:

The passive system holds about 1000-m3

water that slowly discharges the water into

the RPV. Thus, it keeps the core flooded and

cooled, in case of station blackout, for a

prolonged period. The system, called

second stage hydro-accumulator system,

comprises of eight tanks placed inside the

reactor building at an elevation above the

RPV.

Operators’ intervention is not required

for the first thirty minutes of an accident by

the provision of these safety features.

Therefore, though highly qualified and

trained, the operators get sufficient time for

relaxed decision making under these

adverse circumstances.

Passive Heat Removal System: Kudankulam

reactors incorporate a ‘Passive Heat

Removal System’ (PHRS) to remove the heat

from the steam generators and thereby from

the nuclear fuel during a Station Black Out

(SBO) condition. SBO is a condition resulting

in complete loss of power supply to the plant

(failure of normal power supply as well as

backup emergency power supply). PHRS

works on the never failing physics principle

called ‘ thermo siphoning’ (i.e., hot fluid

moves upwards and cold fluid downwards).

The steam from the steam generator moves

up and passes through a set of heat

exchangers located in the reactor building

roof top. The steam is cooled by natural

draught of atmospheric air and the

condensed steam flows down to the steam

generator.

Passive Hydrogen Recombiners: A

hypothetical condition of liberation of

hydrogen that may be due to the reaction

of zirconium with steam is managed by this

system. The Kudankulam reactor is equipped

with ‘hydrogen recombiners’ that prevent any

explosion due to hydrogen. The recombiners

use palladium metal, which acts as a

catalyst to recombine hydrogen with

oxygen. The hydrogen recombiners, fixed

inside the upper portion of the inner-

containment dome, are also a passive

feature that do not need any power and

remain ‘on’ all the time.

Passive Melt Core Catcher: The reactor at

Kudankulam is provided with a ‘melt core

catcher’ to confine the molten core within

the boundaries of the containment during a

hypothetical accident involving melting of

the reactor core. The main objective of the

core catcher is to bring down the

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SCIENCE REPORTER, MARCH 201215

Exclusion zone: An area of the radius of 1.5 kmaround the reactors where no permanent humanhabitation is permitted. This area forms the part of theproject and is included in the land acquired.

Sterilized zone is the annulus between the exclusionzone and an area up to 5 km from the plant. There isno displacement of existing population in the sterilizedzone. And there are no restrictions on natural growthof population in the sterilized zone. Except foradministrative control on the activities that attractingress of existing population.

Planning zone—as a prevailing general practice,at all Nuclear Power Plants, an area of 16 km aroundthe plant is considered as the Planning Zone.

temperature of uranium fuel and to contain

it. The core catcher, a tank, is made of steel

and filled with bricks of ferrous oxide and

aluminium oxide. These bricks absorb most

of the heat from uranium, though they

themselves melt during the process. During

the hypothetical accident, the core catcher

will be surrounded by water collected in the

reactor-building sump. Besides cooling by

the sump water, there is provision for spraying

water on the core catcher.

Containment SystemsTo eliminate the possibility of any release of

radioactivity into the environment the entire

nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) is

enclosed by double containment structures.

The reactor building containment system

consisting of the inner containment and outer

containment acts as the final physical barrier

to prevent any release of fission products

into the environment during accident

conditions and also protects the nuclear

system from external hazards.

The inner containment with a

hemispherical dome at its top is made of

pre-stressed cement concrete and houses

the entire nuclear system. The inner

containment has a liner of 6 mm thick carbon

steel sheet and is designed to withstand

internal pressure and temperature effects

arising during accident conditions. The outer

containment is made of Reinforced Cement

Concrete (RCC). The outer containment is

designed to protect the inner containment

from natural and man-made external

hazards such as tornadoes, hurricanes, air

shock waves, missile impacts such as aircraft

crash etc.

The space between the two

containments and the inner volume of the

reactor building is kept below atmospheric

pressure to ensure prevention of any

leakage into the environment. Radiation

levels, temperature, humidity etc. inside the

reactor building are maintained within the

acceptable limits by the reactor building

ventilation system.

In case of loss of coolant, some quantity

of water gets converted into steam thereby

exerting pressure on the inner containment.

The steam so produced will also be

contaminated. The reactor at Kudankulam

has provision of containment spray system. It

has two redundant channels of sprinklers that

spray water mixed with chemicals to bind

the fission products. The sprinkler system is

automatically activated the moment

pressure inside the containment exceeds

the predetermined value. The sprinklers are

placed in a manner such that the entire

containment is covered evenly.

The Kudankulam reactor is equipped

with containment isolation system that

isolates penetrations (like pipeline

transporting steam to turbine) used during

normal plant operation. The containment

integrity is achieved by automatic closure

of isolating valves under accident conditions.

Most of these features, in all probability, will

never be used during the lifetime of the plant.

Even then they are always kept in readiness

and up-to-date by way of regular high quality

maintenance and periodic inspection and

testing.

Protective ZonesAs per the regulatory requirements, the

nuclear power plant at Kudankulam has an

exclusion zone of 1.5 km radius.

High Quality StandardsThe overal l Qual i ty Assurance of

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is being

carr ied out in accordance with the

requirements of the AERB regulator y

documents, requirements of IAEA, ISO

ser ies 9000 and Russ ian regulator y

documents on NPP safety. High quality

standards are incorporated at all stages

of works under the project. The Assurance

of Quality is accorded highest attention

in all activities of nuclear power plants

f rom design, const ruct ion,

commissioning and operation.

The VVER-1000 at Kudankulam has

passed Internat ional Atomic Energy

Agency ’s safety review by international

experts, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board

(AERB)’s safety review by national level

experts f rom AERB, Bhabha Atomic

Research Centre (BARC), NPCIL, Indian

Institute of Technology (IIT), Boilers Board

and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA)

etc. The Europium Util ity Requirement

(EUR) Organization has also certified that

ASE-92 design has passed all steps of the

analysis of compliance vs EUR.

Mr Puneet Swaroop Pathak is Additional ChiefEngineer in Nuclear Power Corporation of IndiaLimited. After engineering graduation from AMU,he joined Bhabha Atomic Research CentreTraining School. For the last 25 years, in variouscapacities, he has significantly contributed todesign, engineer ing, construct ion andcommissioning of Kakrapar Atomic PowerStation-1&2, Narora APS-1&2, Rajasthan APS-3to 6, Kaiga Generating Station-3&4, Tarapur APS-3&4, Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project-1 to 4and for the up-coming new LWR Nuclear PowerProject. He was deputed to the RussianFederation as Head, NPCIL Representation inRussian Federation, Moscow, as part of theEmbassy of India.

The project commencedwith the first pour ofconcrete on 31 March2002. The approvedcost of the project is Rs.13171 crore. The tariffof electricity generatedby the project will becompetitive with othersources in the regionand expected to bearound Rs 2.50 per unit.

Cover Story