india's nuclaer reactor can withstand tsunamis

India’s  nuclear reactors can withstand  tsunamis

A nuclear safety review has concluded that India nuclear plants will be able to withstand “ extreme natural events “  like tsunamis , cyclones, floods and dam breaks.

The government informed parliament that after the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan, nuclear power corporation of India ( NPCIL) had set up six task forces to review safety features in India nuclear power plants.

“ These task forces have revisited the safety of all nuclear power plants in India and found that India nuclear reactors have sufficient margins and safety features in the design to with stand high intensity earth quake and tsunami “ government said. The two reactors of 1000 MW capacity that are under construction in nuclear power plant Kundankulam  in Tamilnadu are being built higher height that to sea level to ensure no threat from tsunami.

The task force  made some recommendations which government said would be implemented  as soon as possible. Among  the recommendation  were that nuclear reactor will shut down automatically on sensing seismic activity and additional sources of power will be set up, including hook-up through external sources of power like diesel generators. To factor in a long duration of power cut, the batteries will be augmented.

The government is focusing more on keeping the power available for running nuclear reactors.  In Fukushima failure of diesel generators prevented the cooling of fuel rods. This led to overheating resulting hydrogen production and explosion due to hydrogen fire. These events lead to release of radioactivity  in Fukushima Daiichi .

Nuclear power plants at Tarapur  and Madras power stations will be given additional shore protection measures. This lesson learnt during the 2004 tsunami as well. Emergency operating procedures are being reviewed and training of personnel increased the government said.

However  India will not review its commitment to nuclear energy as government clarified .India’ s  nuclear  energy needs vast growing and nuclear energy is an important clean energy option which would be regard to safety, livelihood and security of people. Government intention is to ensure nuclear power that is safe, secure and economical.

The main use of  nuclear energy is generating electricity. Nuclear power is cost competitive with other forms of electricity generation except where there is direct access to low cost fossil fuels.

India now has 20 nuclear power plants under  operation and generating 4,780 MW of  electricity.

India latest nuclear plant is coming up at JAITHAPUR  in Maharashtra with a capacity of 3,200 MW( light water reactors )  in collaboration with Areva  of France. Government of India accorded environmental approval for construction of this plant with environmental protection conditions.