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In a span of nine months,all nuclear power plants in India will have provision of automatic reactor shutdown on sensing seismic activity or an earthquake. This is part of the roadmap for implementing recommendations made by the taskforces set up by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL).
The task forces were set up to review the safety of 20 operating Indian nuclear plants in the wake of Fukushima. Accordingly,all additional measures meant at further augmenting safety at Indian nuclear plants will be in place in the next 14 months. The interim report has already been submitted to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
For mitigating the rare severe natural event similar to Fukushima earthquake,additional design features such as providing core cooling with additional means of power source at site are recommended to bring plant to a safe shutdown state and maintain the same in a prolonged period. In addition,procedures and guidelines for severe natural event handling,emergency preparedness,conducting staff training and simulating mock up drills for all operating nuclear power plants will be extended, says the interim report on Safety evaluation of Indian nuclear power plants post Fukushima incident.
While stressing that the Indian power plants are capable of handling severe natural events,the taskforces made the recommendations with a view to enhance the safety levels and build further defence in depth.
The process of implementing automatic reactor shutdown measures will include finalisation of specification for instrumentation,equipment availability at sites,finalisation of scheme,and obtaining regulatory approval. Similarly,additional shore protections measures at Tarapur Atomic Power Station and Madras Atomic Power Station,which are located on the sea coasts,will be completed in 14 months and involve finalisation of the height of shore protection and approval from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. The suggestion to inert the containment of the first two nuclear power reactors at Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS 1&2) with nitrogen to prevent hydrogen explosions,will take over 12 months.
Re-training of plant personnel subsequent to modifications and changes made in emergency operating procedures will be an integral and continuous process. What is further significant is that while a first level review of emergency operating procedures as per existing provisions is currently under progress,there will be subsequent revisions of the safety features in place after the additional provisions are incorporated. Additional hook up points for making up water to spent fuel pools will be placed in six months, said an NPCIL official.
