Written by: Express News Service
2 min readNew DelhiApr 21, 2013 01:22 AM IST
First published on: Apr 21, 2013 at 01:22 AM IST
A day after the atomic regulatory body said four valves in unit-1 of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant had been found to be faulty and were being replaced,the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited,the operator of the power plant,also admitted to the problem while playing down its seriousness.
In a statement,the NPCIL said the valves were part of the passive core flooding system and passive in nature,not requiring any motive power for their operation.
Therefore,these are tested in situ in an integrated manner during commissioning of the system. During such testing by Kudankulam commissioning team of NPCIL,it was found that these valves showed variation from expected performance. The performance test reports and corrective actions were reported to AERB,the regulatory body,as part of laid down procedures, the NPCIL said.
These four valves have since been replaced and the performance reports are under review by the AERB, it said. The AERB had,on Friday,said that the valves were in the process of being replaced and not yet been replaced.
The NPCIL said it was not taking any chances with the safety of the 1000 MW nuclear reactors at Kudankulam which have been built with Russian help. Unit-1 of the plant is running late by nearly a year and half,and the latest disclosure could mean that the delay might be longer.
It is reiterated that Kudankulam nuclear power plant safety is reinforced with a close scrutiny of performance of the components and taking corrective actions thereof,as intended in the commissioning process prior to the operation of the plant, the statement said.
Further commissioning activities in Kudankulam will be taken up in accordance with clearance accorded by AERB and approved procedures. NPCIL as a responsible safety-conscious organization will certainly not take any shortcuts to safety, the statement added.
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