Tarapur nuclear power plant to get early warning system for tsunami and storm surges

Tarapur, in Maharashtra’s Thane district, is the first nuclear power plant site that Hyderabad-based INCOIS will map for such marine disasters. It is also the maiden power plant for which the Centre will develop a customised early warning service.

“Even though INCOIS has been providing services related to tsunami and storm surges, we will have to offer a customised service for the nuclear power plant in Tarapur. As such installations have a long lifetime of about 50 years, we will also have to factor in the sea-level rise and other parameters,” T M Balakrishnan Nair, Director, INCOIS, told The Indian Express.

Over the next 12 to 18 months, ocean researchers will gather data related to storm surges, rainfall, cyclones, and earthquakes from the two subduction zones and study the site in detail before designing a high-resolution model that can simulate scenarios and give predictions for possible marine disasters at the site.

“Extreme value and return period analyses, in connection with these hazards, would be carried out. This will be used to derive the hazard curves and wave run-up calculations as part of the risk assessment,” Nair said.

As part of this project to assess the site’s vulnerability, ocean observation systems will be installed off Tarapur. “This will help refine the hazard warnings issued to the nuclear power plant,” Nair added.

Owned and operated by NPCIL and functioning under the Department of Atomic Energy, the Tarapur plant has two Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors with a capacity of 540 Megawatt electric and operational since 2005 and 2006, and two 160 MWe-Boiling Water Reactors functioning since 1969.

NPCIL is mandated with operating atomic power stations and implementing atomic power projects. Presently, NPCIL operates 24 nuclear reactors across the country which collectively is an installed capacity of 8,180 MWe.

As nuclear reactors require large volumes of water for cooling purposes to facilitate optimal and smooth operations, they are built along the coast or adjacent to large water bodies, like a reservoir. However, the coastal sites are vulnerable to storm surges triggered by incessant rainfall or impending cyclones, in addition to tsunamis triggered mostly by powerful undersea earthquakes.

Risks to nuclear reactors along coasts came to the fore after the major nuclear disaster triggered by a tsunami on March 11, 2011, that hit the Fukushima Daiichi reactor in Japan’s Okuma province.

The Indian coasts along the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are both prone to earthquakes originating from the Makran and the Sumatran subduction zones, respectively, hence, experts say the risk of a tsunami cannot be ruled out.

Over the past four years, India has been working towards strengthening the blue economy. Multiple missions and projects have been initiated to leverage marine resources. Projects have been initiated across sectors like oil and gas, ship and harbours, ports, and energy.

There are also steps being initiated towards training the personnel in these industries, and becoming tsunami-ready industries, INCOIS’s Nair said.

Previously, INCOIS developed advisory systems for fishing and specifically for hilsa. Under this MoU, the INCOIS will work towards developing an advisory system for jellyfish.