Tarapur Atomic Power Station Maharashtra, India

🏭TARAPUR ATOMIC POWER STATION, MAHARASHTRA 🏭

🔎INTRODUCTION 

🔥TARAPUR ATOMIC POWER STATION is situated in India, that is in Maharashtra. In Maharashtra it is in

Boisar Tarapur Rd, Palghar Taluka , Akkarpatti, Maharashtra-401504. It was the 1st nuclear power plant which was built in India. The TARAPUR ATOMIC POWER STATION has 4 units namely TAPS-1,TAPS-2,TAPS-3 and TAPS-4, among which TAPS-1,2 are not in service due to some problems whereas TAPS-3,4 are generally operating in TARAPUR ATOMIC POWER STATION. The construction was started in the year 1961 and it was completed on 28 October 1969.TARAPUR ATOMIC POWER STATION is owned and operated by the NUCLEAR POWER CORPORATION OF INDIA LIMITED (NPCIL). in this nuclear power station 2 types of reactors are used 1) 2 BWR(BOILING WATER REACTOR)  2) 2 PHWR(PRESSURISED HEAVY WATER REACTOR) are used. Since there are 2 units operating they are 2X160MW  2X540MW = 1400MW. The capacity factor of the TARAPUR ATOMIC POWER STATION is 39.4% and the annual net output of the power plant is 4829GW per HOUR. 

🔥TARAPUR ATOMIC POWER STATION is India's second most popular nuclear power plant which was built at 28 October 1969 with the help of United States of America (US) workers has generally completed 50 years on 28 October 2019.But the people around this nuclear power plant are having fears what happened to FUKUSHIMA nuclear power plant in Japan and are praying no such disaster happens in India. 

🔎FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT INCIDENT STORY🏭

🔥Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 in Japan, where a tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, fears have been raised about the Tarapur plant. 

🔥The Fukushima plant also relied on BWRs for power generation. Local residents in Tarapur have been calling for the plant to be shut down.  

🔥TARAPUR ATOMIC POWER STATION is been launched under the leadership of government lead by lal bahadur shastri during 1969.TARAPUR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT has got both reactors BWR and PHWR as I have mentioned above, which are generally bought from US during construction period and a 5 year deal or contract was signed with US in May 1964, so that under 5 years the construction will be completed.The US based company called as 

conglomerate General Electric (CGE) supplied the BWR to India and also India took the help of some 100 American workers for the construction of tarapur nuclear power plant. If I want to explain you about what generally happens in the boiler : in the reactor the Nuclear fuel like plutonium, uranium are fed which in turn heats the water inside the reactor and then the water is converted into steam and this steam is fed into the turbine with enormous speed and then turbine starts to rotate and then mechanical energy from the turbines are converted into electricity and transfered to the power grid. The remaining steam after hitting the turbines is made to flow through the condenser where cold water is flowing and when this hot steam strikes the cold water tubes then cold water gets converted into hot water and is made to flow through the cooling tower in which the hot water is again converted into cold water by natural cooling by air or by installing a larger fan in the cooling tower and finally the cold water after conversion is again fed back to the reactors by using a pump, so that the water can be reused. 

🔍🏭HISTORY OF TARAPUR ATOMIC POWER STATION 🏭

🔥Tarapur Atomic Power Station was constructed initially with two boiling water reactor(BWR) units under the 123 agreement between India, the United states, and the international Atomic Energy agency(IAEA) . It was built for the department of electrical energy by GE and Bechtel. Units 1 and 2 were brought online for commercial operation on 28 October 1969 with an initial power of 210MW of electricity. Later on this was reduced to 160 MW due to technical difficulties.These were the first of their kind in Asia.

🔥More recently, an additional two pressurised heavy water reactor(PHWR) units of 540 MW each were constructed by BHEL(BHARATH HEAVY ELECTRICALS LIMITED) , L and Tand Gammon india, seven months ahead of schedule and well within the original cost estimates. Unit 3 was brought online for commercial operation on 18 August 2006, and unit 4 on 12 September 2005.

🔥The facility is operated by the NPCIL (nuclear power corporation of India limited). 

🔥The personnel operating the power plant live in a residential complex called T. A. P. S. colony, 19.816°N 72.743°E which is a fifteen-minute drive from boisar, the nearest railway station. The residential complex was also constructed by Bechtel to house both Indian and American employees. Due to this, the residential complex had a very Indian small-town look, with neat sidewalks, spacious houses, a club with tennis courts, swimming pool, a commissary etc. While the original American residents have long gone, the colony continues to thrive.

🔥In 1974 after India conducted smiling buddha, its first nuclear weapon test the USA chose to no longer honour its agreement to supply the plant with enriched uranium . Nuclear fuel for TAPS has subsequently been delivered from france, China and russia under IAEA safeguards. 

🔥The residential colony now features 3 central schools run under Atomic energy education society (AEES). The local beach at chinchaniis approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from the colony.

🔎🏭UNITS OPERATION LIST IN TARAPUR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 🏭

Unit	Type	Gross MW	Construction start	Operation start	Notes
Phase I
Tarapur 1	BWR	160	1 October 1964	28 October 1969	[4]
Tarapur 2	BWR	160	1 October 1964	28 October 1969	[5]
Phase II
Tarapur 3	PHWR	540	12 May 2000	18 August 2006	[6]
Tarapur 4	PHWR	540	8 March 2000	12 September 2005

🔎I'm going to mention about the incident that happened in tarapur Atomic Power Station "During the maintenance of TAPS-1, a blast occurred which damaged the chimney. TAPS-2 was subsequently shut down to avoid any potential issues, completely shutting down the power generation capability of Phase-1 of TAPS.

🔎Next we will see about what are safety measures taken in TARAPUR ATOMIC POWER STATION 

🔥The Boiling water reactors (BWRs) at Tarapur 1 and 2 units are similar to the reactors involved in the Fukushima daiichi nuclear disaster. The reactors' age and old design have raised safety concerns and according to one local leader, the two reactors had in 2011 already been in operation for 16 years more than their design lives.

🔥In 2007, Atomic Energy regulatory board(AERB) evaluated seismic safety features at Tarapur 1 and 2 and reported many shortfalls, following which NPCIL installed seismic sensors.In 2011, AERB formed a 10-member committee, consisting of experts from Indian institute of technology (IIT) and India Meteorological Department(IMD), to assess the vulnerability of the Tarapur to earthquakes and tsunamis.A. Gopalakrishnan, former director of AERB, said that Tarapur 1 and 2 reactors are much older than the reactors involved in the Fukushima nuclear accident and argued that they should be immediately decommissioned.

🔎ACCORDING to the Mumbai mirror article "no power generation will take place in phase 1 of the TARAPUR NUCLEAR POWER STATION due to chimney blast incident"

🔥The power generation is completely shut from phase I of tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) of nuclear power corporation of India limited (NPCIL) as chimney of the Unit II got damaged due to blast on 17th of the month.

🔥However according to sources, there is no damage to nuclear core of the plant and there is no need for worry. However, mail sent to TAPS’s director and text message sent to NPCIL’s spokesman remained unanswered at the time of filing the story.

🔥According to sources, Unit I of phase I is already shut for routine maintenance and on 17th of the month around 5:30 am the blast occurred in chimney built to release of-gases at level called Elevation 103 which resulted in trap door in Chimney getting damaged along with some other systems in chimney. The gas whose blast took place is suspected to be hydrogen. 

🔥The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), immediately ordered shut down of the unit II. According to sources, there is no damage to chimney’s structure and power generation will start after AERB gives report on structural stability of chimney.

🔥The TAPS is India’s oldest atomic power station. The capacity of Phase I which was built in 1969 with cooperation from United States. The capacity of power generation of phase I is 160 MW.

🔥In last decade NPCIL expanded the capacity of TAPS with indigenous technology of pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR). The capacity of Phase II is 1080. The Phase II became operational in 2005.

🔎"People effected by tarapur project rehabilitated on ongoing welfare programmes" 

🔥The Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy, Jitendra Singh, said yesterday that land acquisition for the Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) project was carried out in the first phase in 1960s and the second phase in early 2000s. Project Affected Persons (PAPs) at Tarapur have been rehabilitated in line with the rehabilitation package formulated by the Maharashtra Government as per the laws and acts prevalent then.

🔥In addition, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) undertakes several programs for the welfare of the neighbourhood, including PAPs, as a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These include providing civic amenities, healthcare, education & skill development, infrastructure, sanitation and sustainable development.

🔥The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and NPCIL have made efforts to employ as many eligible people from among PAPs as possible, considering the requirements of qualifications and skills for various jobs in nuclear power plants.

🔥Diversified initiatives to enable PAPs for securing employment and livelihood are implemented. These include relaxation in age and percentage of marks in qualifying criteria in recruitment to Group C posts advertised by Tarapur Atomic Power Station, award of services and maintenance contracts to PAPs, and special dispensation for allotment of shops in the TAPS Township.

🔥NPCIL as a Public Sector Enterprise of the Department of Atomic Energy follows all orders and guidelines issued by the Central Government for recruitment. As per the extant rules, no quota is specifically earmarked for Local (Home District or Home State) candidates.