kakrapur nuclear power plant, Gujarat, India

🏭KAKRAPUR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT GUJARAT, INDIA🏭

🔥KAKRAPUR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT is generally located at moti Cher in gujarat India. The nuclear power plant operates on full 24 hours schedule on all days while some other nuclear power plant like kundankulum nuclear power plant operates only for a certain period of time a day. The construction of the kakrapur nuclear power plant began on 1984 and it was completed on 6 May 1993 that is after 9 years from the year of construction. The kakrapur nuclear power plant is owned and operated by the NUCLEAR POWER CORPORATION OF INDIA LIMITED (NPCIL). The type of reactor used in kakrapur nuclear power plant is PRESSURIZED HEAVY WATER REACTOR (PHWR). In kakrapur nuclear power plant 440MW unit is operating currently but the 1400MW unit construction is all set to launch. the total capacity of the kakrapur nuclear power plant is 440MW. The capacity factor of the kakrapur nuclear power plant is 60.9% and the annual net output of the plant is 3.72 trillion watt hour.

🔥Kakrapar Atomic Power Station is a nuclear power station in india, which lies in the proximity of the city of Vyara in the state of gujarat. It consists of two 220 MW PRESSURIZED WATER REACTOR with heavy water as moderator (PHWR). KAPS-1 went critical on 3 September 1992 and began commercial electricity production a few months later on 6 May 1993. KAPS-2 went critical on 8 January 1995 and began commercial production on 1 September 1995. In January 2003, CANDU owners group (COG) declared KAPS as the best performing pressurised heavy water reactor.KAPS-2 was shut down after a coolant channel leak in July 2015 and a similar issue forced the shutdown of KAPS-1 in March 2016. After a replacement of coolant channels and feeder tubes, KAPS-2 attained criticality in September 2018. Maintenance on KAPS-1 was completed ahead of schedule and was brought to operation on 19 May 2019.

🔥The construction costs were originally estimated to be ₹382.52 crore; the plant was finally finished at a price of ₹1,335 crore. Construction of units 3 and 4 started in November 2010.here, KAPS MEANS"KAKRAPUR ATOMIC POWER STATION and 1,2 are nothing but the units operating in the nuclear power plant.

🔎WE WILL SEE ABOUT THE UNITS OPERATING CHART IN KAKRAPUR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 🏭

Unit	Type	Gross MW	Construction start	Operation start	Notes
Phase I
Kakrapar 1	PHWR	220	1 December 1984	6 May 1993	[4]
Kakrapar 2	PHWR	220	1 April 1985	1 September 1995	[5]
Phase II
Kakrapar 3	IPHWR-700	700	22 November 2010	2020	[6]
Kakrapar 4	IPHWR-700	700	22 November 2010	2020

IPHWR = "INDEGENOUS-LED PRESSURIZED HEAVY WATER REACTOR 

🔎NEXT WE WILL FOCUS ON THE VARIOUS INCIDENTS THAT TOOK PLACE IN KAKRAPUR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 🏭

• 1998 KAPS-1 was switched off because of a leakage in the cooling loop for 66 days.
• 10 March 2004 the (at the time of) supply for the control rods were irreparably damaged during maintenance work. In response, poisons were added to the system and the reactor was shut off.
• On 22 August 2006 it was reported by village inhabitants the area around the power station had been penetrated. A search by the police did not result in any findings.
• On 11 March 2016, KAPS-1 automatically shut down due to a leak of heavy coolant water, leaving both reactors non-operational.The leak was plugged ten days later.Corrosion and cracks were found on the coolant channel and similar corrosion spots were found in KAPS-2 which had been non-operational since July 2015 after a coolant channel leak.KAPS-2 attained criticality on 17 September 2018 after a replacement of its coolant channels and feeder tubes. KAPS-1 became operational ahead of schedule on 19 May 2019. 
• 

🔥According to DR. JITENDRA Singh minister of state, prime minister office, said that "kakrapur nuclear power plant unit-3 will start to operate from April onwards". The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is going to commission one reactor every year from 2020. Kakrapar-3 is likely to be operational by April 2020,” he said.

🔥Currently, there are 22 reactors operational across the country with an installed capacity of 6780 MW. Officials said that Unit 4 of Kakrapar is likely to become operational in 2021. Both Unit-3 & 4 are 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Rectors and are being constructed by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.Shrikrishna Gupta, a senior DAE official, said that Tarapur nuclear power reactors, Units 1 and 2, completed 50 years of operation this year. They are the first boiling water reactors to be commissioned in the country, in October 1969.

🔥Mr. Gupta added that Unit-1 of the Kaiga nuclear power plant also recently created a world record by operating continuously for 941 days.

🔥The government is also planning to increase the generation capacity of the nuclear power plant upto 3 times in next 10 years. 

🔥The Union minister of state also said that"now the existing capacity of the nuclear power plant is 6780MW (2020) and after 10-11years the capacity of the nuclear power plant in the country is increased by 3 times means they are planning to increase the capacity till 22,480MW (2031).India, which currently produces less than 2 per cent of its electricity from nuclear power plants, is aiming to increase its nuclear power generation capacity by over three times in 10 years, the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) told Parliament Wednesday.

🔥As of January this year, the installed nuclear power capacity (which is the current nuclear power capacity) is 6,780 megawatt (MW) — which is about 1.84 per cent of the total installed capacity of 3,68,690 MW.

🔥Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for the DAE, said the percentage of energy from nuclear power plants is proposed to be increased by augmenting the installed nuclear power capacity.In the short term, the existing nuclear power capacity of 6,780 MW is proposed to be increased to 22,480 MW by 2031 on progressive completion of projects under construction and accorded sanction,” Singh said in a reply that "Within the next five years, a capacity of 5,300 MW is proposed to be added on progressive completion of nuclear power plants at Kakrapar in Gujarat, Rawatbhata in Rajasthan and Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, the minister added.

🔎As per 17 september 2019,the plan had already made for the construction of KAPS-3 & KAPS-4units in 2020 and 2021 respectively but before that they also need to think which improved version of reactors to be used and also to which company the contract of construction of unit-3&4 has to be given with all terms and conditions. 

🏭Kakrapar atomic power station location🏭

🔥The Kakrapar atomic power station is located on the banks of the Tapti River, approximately 80km from the city of Surat, India.The site is situated in Mandvi Tehsil near Moticher.The power station lies in close proximity to the nearest city of Vyara, which is accessible from the cities of Surat and Dhule.

🏭Details of KAPP-3 and KAPP-4 units🏭

🔥The KAPP-3 and KAPP-4 units are of the Mark V-type category of the Indian PHWR design evolution. The reactors are equipped with new improved safety features based on the construction of the previous units.

🔥“Developed and operated by Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), the two pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) are the first set of indigenous-led plants to be developed in India.”

🔥The two new units will be equipped with steam generators, weighing approximately 215t. The generators will be made from a low alloy of quenched and tempered steel with tubes of an alloy of nickel-iron-chromium and stainless steel internals.First concrete for the two units was poured in November 2010 after approval from Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, while the first steam generator was delivered in 2015.The project will include a 400kV switchyard and auxiliary systems such as fire water, service water, chilled water, compressed air, diesel oil storage and transfer systems.In April 2019, World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) completed the pre-startup review of KAPP-3.

🏭Details of KAPS-1 and KAPS-2 units🏭

🔥Natural uranium-fuelled KAPS-1 and KAPS-2 units have an on-power refuelling facility. The reactor building houses the boilers, reactor and other related equipment and systems. The building can contain radioactive discharge in case of a failure of the reactor systems. It connects to the service building through double-door main airlocks.

🔥The turbine building contains turbo-generator sets along with diesel generators, condenser cooling and other auxiliary components. The water for the cooling systems is pumped from the left bank of the Tapti river and into the Moticher pond.

🔥The KAPS-1 unit underwent renovation and modernisation works and other safety upgrades in May 2019. The KAPS-2 unit also underwent similar renovation works in 2018.

🏭Contractors of KAPP-3 and KAPP-4 units🏭

🔥In 2009, L&T won an Rs844m ($180m) contract for the civil works related to the Kakrapar atomic power station units three and four. The contract includes the construction of the reactor and auxiliary buildings, waste management, and exhaust ventilation building.

🔥IVRCL is providing services for the water treatment at the plant, geotechnical investigation, fabrication and construction.

🔥Dodsal signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the balance of turbine island package for KAPP-3 and KAPP-4 while Development Consultants (DCPL) was contracted for civil engineering works.

🏭DISPOSAL OF NUCLEAR WASTE AND EFFLUENT 🏭

👉The disposal of solid, liquid and gaseous waste and effluent from nuclear power plant needs special attention because of danger of radiation. It is necessary to measure the radioactivity in the gaseous and liquid effluents and keep the records. 

👉Also we need to monitor the level of carbon dioxide from the reactor to ensure that this loss does not exceed about 1 ton per day. It is necessary to check the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere near the reactor. 

👉At most of nuclear power plants the liquid effluents are discharged after filtration, pH adjustments and dilution by mixing with the discharged cooling water. 

👉It is necessary to take special precautions regarding leakage of radioactive liquid effluents to ground. These precautions include double containment of drains and design of concrete storage tanks. 

👉In the nuclear power plants radioactive wastes are stored under water or air cooled shielded area for about 100 days do that radioactivity may decay to a sufficiently low level. The dpebt fuel storage chambers have capacities to cool,shield and store such materials for many years. After this time, these wastes are disposed to underground places. Vacated coal mines are also used for this disposal.