KALPAKKAM ATOMIC PLANT

Tamil Nadu power utilities have voiced concern over the shutdown of Unit-1 of Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) at Kalpakkam since 2018.
They have sought the probable date for it to resume operation.
In a letter to the Southern Regional Power Committee (SRPC), Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation Limited (Tantransco) said Unit-1 had remained shut since January 18, 2018, because of the issues in the reactor.
It also pointed out that loss of generation in Unit-1 was causing constraints in the system in the south Chennai areas.
Tantransco demanded that the biennial shutdown of the unit be programmed before January 2023 or after August 2023 so as to keep the electricity network stable.
In a separate communication to SRPC, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) said it was not known when Unit-1, which has a capacity of 220 MW, would be brought back to service.
Tangedco, which has a 75% share of power from the installed capacity of 440 MW of both units of MAPS, said that in the absence of any information about when Unit-1 would resume operation, it was considering full generation from MAPS while forecasting its load generation balance.
It also pointed out in April this year, it had written to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), which responded that Unit-1 was suffering technical issues and unlikely to come online during 2022-23.

Madras Atomic Power Station

Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) located at Kalpakkam about 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Chennai,
India, is a comprehensive nuclear power production, fuel reprocessing, and waste treatment facility that includes fuel fabrication for fast breeder reactors(FBRs).
It is also India’s first fully indigenously constructed nuclear power station, with two units each generating 220 MW of electricity.
The first and second units of the station went critical in 1983 and 1985, respectively.
The station has reactors housed in a reactor building with double shell containment improving protection also in the case of a loss-of-coolant accident
An Interim Storage Facility (ISF) is also located in Kalpakkam

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB

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