The Hindu : Atomic power station to be decommissioned

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 19, 2002

National

National

Atomic power station to be decommissioned

By Arunkumar Bhatt

MUMBAI FEB. 18. The 30-year-old Rajasthan Atomic Power Station-1 (RAPS-1), India's first Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan that has generated far more scientific and engineering expertise in designing and operating PHWRs than electrical power, is on its way to getting decommissioned.

The Atomic Energy Regulator Board (AERB), overseer of the functioning of civilian nuclear facilities in the country, at a recent meeting here reviewed the safety status of the RAPS-1 and decided not to allow the power reactor's operation beyond April 30 next "in its present condition,'' according to K.S. Parthasarathy, Secretary of the Board.

The Board arrived at the decision after examining the evaluation report of its Safety Review Committee for Operating Plants. The reactor designed for 200 MW capacity is now working at 135 MW. Sources in the Indian nuclear community said the up-gradation and refurbishing of the facility would need at least Rs. 200 crores and the exercise may not be worth the trouble.

The RAPS-1 commissioned in 1972 has aged and needs up-gradation of its safety system, replacement of calandria, coolant channels and emergency core cooling systems, besides a supplementary control facility. Recently, the RAPS-2 was upgraded at an outlay of Rs. 300 crores.

The RAPS-1 is of the Canadian design, popularly known as Candu. The first PHWR of this type was commissioned in Canada in 1966 and was decommissioned in 1984. The RAPS-1 has outlived its eldest sibling. But being the first of its kind, the RAPS-1 had to suffer a number of problems, such as turbine blade failures, development of cracks in the end-shield, leak in calandria over pressure and relief device, leak in tubes in the moderator heat exchanger, etc.

Dr. Parthsarathy told The Hindu that both the first Canadian and the first Indian reactors suffered from identical problems throughout their lives. The RAPS-1 had more than teething troubles, for the Canadians pulled out of it immediately after India conducted its first nuclear test, Pokhran I, in 1974, leaving behind an infant RAPS-1 and the RAPS-2 mostly on the drawing board.

But these troubles gave invaluable insight in designing the PHWRs and today India has the home-brewed world-class PHWR technology that has become an important component of the country's entire nuclear programme.

Of the 34 PHWRs operating in the world, 12 are in India. `'We have carried coal to Newcastle and have supplied some critical know-how to others who pioneered the nuclear power reactors,'' an engineer of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, said.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National