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The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL), a public sector undertaking of DAE, is responsible for the design, construction and operation of nuclear power stations in India. The Mission of the Corporation is to develop a self-reliant nuclear power technology as a safe, clean and economically viable source of electricity meeting the power needs of the country.
 

Monthly Gen. [2000-2001] (Excl. RAPS-1)

NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS IN OPERATION

There are a total of 14 reactor units under commercial operation with a total installed capacity of 2720 MWe. Of these, 4units of 220 MWe each (Kaiga-1&2 and RAPP-3&4) commenced commercial operation during the year 2000. Kaiga-2 & RAPP-3 were made critical and synchronised to the grid for the first time during 1999-2000 and Kaiga-l & RAPP-4 were made critical and connected to the grid during the current financial year 2000-01. Unit-4 at RAPS achieved a record by taking only 14 days from first criticality to first synchronisation. Kaiga-l achieved this milestone within 16 days.
 
 

Rajasthan Atomic Power Station 3 & 4

The company generated 1,47,286 MUs since commencement of commercial operation of its units till end of December, 2000. RAPS-1 generated 11047 MUs for the same period. The Company has improved its operating performance from overall capacity factor of 60% in 1995-96 to 80% in 1999-2000 (excluding RAPS-I). The average capacity factor for past five years has been 71%. The trend of past five years performance of the company is indicated in Fig-l.

NPCIL registered a capacity factor of 82% with a gross generation of 15352 million units (MUs) during the calendar year 2000. In addition to this, RAPS-1 (owned by DAE) generated 772 MUs . During the period from 1.4.2000 to 31.12.2000 in the financial year 2000-2001, the company achieved a capacity factor of 82% and registered a gross generation of 11916 MUs. RAPS-I generated 517 MUs during this period.
 

Tarapur Atomic Power Stations

(2x160 MWe BWRs)

The station has completed 31 years of commercial operation in November 2000. The cumulative gross generation of the station since its commercial operation, till the end of December 2000 was 57,166 MUs.

During the year, Tarapur Atomic Power Station achieved Environmental Management System (EMQ) certification as per ISO-14001 Interna-tional Standard .

TAPS-I performed well achieving 100% availability factor and capacity factors exceeding 95% in all the months except May and November during calendar year 2000.

Also, TAPS-2 achieved a new record of continuous operation of 209 days from 7.10.1999 to 2.5. 2000. It achieved 100% availability factor and capacity factors exceeding 95% during 8 of the 12 months of calendar year 2000.

The 16th Refuelling outage of Unit-2 was completed in a record time of 59 days.

Rajasthan Atomic Power Stations

(100 & 200 MWe PHWR)

The cumulative gross generation of the RAPS-I and RAPS-2 since their commercial operation till end of December 2000 was l1,047 MUs and 18,589 MUs respectively.

RAPS-1 is currently under shutdown since September 26, 2000 for partial replacement of coolant channels and sealing of light water leak from one of the end-shield. Any further operation of the unit is subject to approval by the regulatory authority.

*RAPS-l’s authorised powerlevel is at 150 MWe capacity.

The capacity factor of RAPS-2 achieved during the calendar year 2000 was the highest in any calendar year so far. It also registered a continuous operation of 182 days. The unit achieved 100% availability factor and capacity factors exceeding 95%, for seven months during the calendar year 2000.

Madras Atomic Power Stations

(2x170 MWe PHWRs)

The cumulative gross generation of the station since its commercial operation till the end of December 2000 was 31,305 MUs.

MAPS-I was under annual maintenance shutdown for 153 days during the calendar year for ISI of its coolant channels.

MAPS-2 performed well during the period and recorded a continuous operation of 122 days since September 1, 2000 till December 31, 2000. The unit achieved 100% availability factor for six months and a capacity factor exdeeding 95% for 8 months during the calendar year 2000.

Narora Atomic Power Stations(2x220 MWe PHWRs)

The cumulative gross generation of the station since its commercial operation till the end of December 2000 was 20,936 MUs.

NAPS-1 and NAPS-2 achieved 100% availability factor for 4 and 3 months respectively. A capacity factor exceeding 95% for 5 months was achieved by both the units during the calendar year 2000.

Kakrapar Atomic Power Station

(2x220 MWe PHWRs)

The cumulative gross generation of the station since its commercial operation till the end of December 2000 was 17061 MUs.

Both the units performed well during the financial year 2000-2001 upto December 2000 and crossed generation targets in all the months during the same period and also during the calendar year 2000.

During the year, the Station achieved Environmental Management System (EMS) certification as per ISO-14001 International Standard.

KAPS-1 and KAPS-2 achieved 100% availability factor for 7 and 6 months respectively. Both the units achieved a capacity factor exceeding 95% for 7 months during calendar year 2000.

Kaiga Atomic Power Stations

(2x220 MWe PHWRs)

The Kaiga generating station was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister on March 5, 2000. Kaiga-2 was declared commercial on March 16, 2000. Kaiga-l attained it’s first criticality on September 26, 2000, synchronised to the grid for the first time on October 12, 2000 and declared commercial on November 16, 2000. The unit took only 16 days from first criticality to first synchronisation. The cumulative gross generation of the station since its commercial operation till the end of December 2000 was 1462 MUs.

Kaiga-2 performed well by exceeding the generation targets. The unit achieved availability factor of 100% for 3 months and a capacity factor exceeding 95% for 4 months during the calendar year 2000.

Kaiga Atomic Power Station

Rajasthan Atomic Power Stations-3&4(2x220 MWe PHWRs)

RAPP-3 was synchronised to the Northern grid for the first time on March 10, 2000 and was declared commercial on June1, 2000. RAPP-4 attained it’s first criticality on November 3, 2000, synchronised to the grid for the first time on November 17, 2000 and declared commercial on December 23, 2000. The unit set a record by taking only 14 days from first criticality to first synchronisation. The cumulative gross generation of the station since its commercial operation till the end of December 2000 was 937 MUs.

Projects Under Construction

Kaiga Atomic Power Stations -1&2

(2x220 MWe)

The project is a twin unit station of PHWR type, each of 220 MWe installed capacity. It is located at Kaiga in the Utter Kannada District of Karnataka State. Both the units have started commercial operation and have been supplying power to the Southern Grid.

Kaiga-2 achieved criticality on September 24, 1999 and was subsequently synchronised to the grid on December 2, 1999. Reactor Physics experiments were conducted at 50% and 100% power levels and the unit was declared commereial since March 16, 2000.

Subsequent to Kaiga-2 achieving criticality, the construction/commissioning activities of Unit-1 were accelerated by paralleling the activities and intensifying the resources for accomplishing the task of early completion. The unit was synchronised to the grid on October 12, 2000. Subsequently, the power was raised to 100% in steps and unit was declared Commercial on November 16, 2000.

Rajasthan Atomic Power Stations -3&4 (2x220 MWe PHWRs)

It is located adjacent to RAPS-1&2 at Rawatbhatta, Chittorgarh District of Rajasthan State. Both the units have started commercial operation and have been supplying power to the Northern Grid.

RAPP-3 achieved criticality on December 24, 1999 and was synchronised to the grid on March 10, 2000. The reactor physics experiments were conducted at 50% and 100% power level and the unit was declared commercial since June 1, 2000.

After achieving criticality of RAPS-3, the focus of work at site was shifted to accelerate the balance construction/commissioning activities of RAPS-4. All the civil works were completed including IDCT-4 and the outer containment dome of reactor building RB-4. The erection of equipment and feeder pipes were completed in March, 2000. The milestone of "Hot Conditioning" was successfully completed on September 2, 2000. The reactor attained criticality on November 3, 2000 and was synchronised to the grid on November 17, 2000, thus creating a record for shortest duration between criticality and synchronisation. The power was afterwards raised to 100% in steps and the unit commenced commercial operation from December 23, 2000.

Tarapur Atomic Power Project -3&4 (2X500 MWe)

The project is located adjacent to existing two units of TAPS at Tarapur, District-Thane, Maharashtra State and it will feed electrical power to Western grid. The project comprises of a twin unit station of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) type each of 500 MWe installed capacity. The project has achieved an overall physical progress of about 20%. The scheduled Criticality dates for TAPP-4 is October, 2005 and TAPP-3 is July, 2006.

The civil construction work was accelerated during the year with the record average concreting of 17,500 cum per month during the year. First pour of concrete for RB-4 was completed during March 2000 and subsequently raft was completed during November 2000. Second lift of internals and third lift of inner containment wall were completed. The first pour of concrete for RB-3 was completed on during May 2000 and 5th layer of raft was completed. The raft is expected to be ready for final concreting by March, 2001. Construction of Control building has reached upto ground level, and raft concreting for SFSB-4 and CMF area has been completed.
 
 

Tarapur Atomic Power Project-3&4

The construction of road and jetty for heavy duty crane is nearing completion. The heavy duty crawler crane of 650 Te capacity has been commissioned and delivery of 15000 tonne meter heavy duty crawler crane is expected shortly. With this, the site will be fully equipped for handling heavy consignments of 500 MWe.

Laying of reinforcement for TG mat in TB-4 was completed. Concreting was expected to be completed soon. Work in CCW tunnels and trenches was expedited for timely availability of the services passing through them, for commissioning activities. Work of intake and discharge structure was progressing as per schedule.

The Reactor Buildings’ main structural steel was received at site and their erection is expected to start by March, 2001. Liner EP modules for Spent Fuel Storage Bay and SS liners for calandria vault for both the units, were received. The major equipment such as moderator heat exchangers, regenerative coolers etc. were received at site. Fabrication of condenser, steam generators, fueling machine bridge and column etc, progressed as per schedule. Award for auxiliary service water (ASW) package is expected by March, 2001. Evaluation of bids for nuclear piping package and electrical package is likely to be completed in early 2001.

Requisition/indenting was completed for most of the mechanical and common service packages. Remaining items were being expedited. All the prospective vendors/bidders were pre-qualified based on proven competence and capabilities. Placement of purchase orders for calandria vault hatch beam, feeder pipes and Thimble assembly were in advance stage. Scheme for permanent fresh water supply was finalised. Construction of third phase of housing having 194 nos. of quarters, was completed by about 50%.

Kaiga Atomic Power Stations -3&4

(2x220 MWe PHWRs)

It is located at Kaiga in Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka and will supply electricity to southern grid. These two units are proposed to be adjacent to Kaiga-1&2 station.

The financial sanction for the project is under consideration of the Government.

Pre-project activities of Kaiga-3&4 have been started. It is estimated that 80% of the design and documents prepared for Kaiga-1&2 can be made applicable to Kaiga-3&4. Modifica-tions are required only in the site specific areas. Pre-project activities of re-engineering and conversion of

drawings and documents are expected to be completed by March 2001.

Tendering activities for excavation for Main Plant Buildings have progressed.

Kudankulam Atomic Power Stations (2X1000 MWe VVER-1000)

The Kudankulam Project has been taken up on a technical co-operation basis under the provision of Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) signed between India and Russia Federation.

As a first step, a contract for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) was signed between NPCIL and the Russian organisation ‘Atomstroy Export’.

The DPR work is expected to be completed by March 2001. The techno-commercial offer for the project was received from the Russian side. After acceptance by the Government of India, a General Contract for implementing the project would be entered into between NPCIL and Atomstroy Export.

A Representative Office of NPCIL was established at Moscow. Some NPCIL engineers were deputed at Moscow office for interactions with the Russian organisations/institutes involved in DPR works, to get the documents fulfilling Indian requirements. The documents (related to PSAR and QA) are being received and submitted to the regulatory authority for parallel review and clearance.

To start the project work at site immediately after DPR, action was taken for seeking approval of the government for carrying out pre-project infrastructure works at site. The site infrastructure development activities are expected to be taken up during the year 2001.

Acquisition of land was already completed both for the site and township. The entire site investigations including hydrological surveys and micro-seismic studies and construction of the property wall, approach road and preliminary works at site were also completed.

In the exclusion zone area, the green belt development project, in association with M.S. Swaminathan Foundation, is in progress.

Quality Assurance

Continuous improvements in various areas of Quality Assurances were achieved in line with policy and commitment included in ISO 9001 Document. Response times on various activities were improved with large success.

Quality Assurance activities were carried out for stations and construction projects to assure compliance with quality requirements for safety and reliability. To upgrade the skills and knowledge of personnel, a major thrust in the area of training continued. A number of engineers were trained and qualified in non-destructive testing. In-house training and qualification programme was also conducted in which engineers from various sites and other directorates participated and got certified.

Quality assurance consultancy services were continued for Ministry of Defence, Bharat Heavy Electricals, ABB Alstom, State Electricity Boards/Corporations and others.

Health, Safety & Environment

The safety performance of the stations continued to be excellent. The radioactive releases to the environment and the occupational doses were kept As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) and were much below the prescribed limits. Off-site emergency exercises were also carried out at various sites to ensure emergency preparedness.
 

Training Programme on Off-site emergency for District Officials

The final report about the RAPS epidemiological survey entitled "Effects of Low Dose Ionization Radiation among the employees at RAPS: a cross sectional study" was released. The work of epidemiological study at NAPS was completed and the report is ready for issue. No increase in cancer prevalence was observed in the radiation workers of NAPS and RAPS as compared to that in non- radiation workers. The study at MAPS and Kaiga sites was completed and the reports are under finalisation.

The work order for the health survey of population around Kudankulam Project site was issued.

The Environmental Management System (EMS) in line with International Standard ISO-14001 was developed and implemented for KAPS and TAPS. The EMS was certified for KAPS and TAPS by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). RAPS is due for final certification audit.

The process development of EMS for MAPS was started and MAPS is scheduled to be certified by May 2001.

The EMS of certified sites including NAPS was monitored and maintained through regular audits and reviews.

The final report on "Diet Health and Biotic baseline survey around KAPS" was issued. A similar work for Mandvi town near KAPS, is expected to be completed by October 2001.

The comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as per the guidelines of Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) was taken up for KK Project.

Data collection work for thermal ecological studies awarded for Kaiga, Kalpakkam and Kudankulam project sites was in progress. These studies are expected to be completed by March 2003 and will provide framework for formulations of standards on thermal discharges for nuclear power plants.

Cost of environmental protection and upgradation for all the stations and projects was reviewed to meet the requirements of audit agencies.

NPCIL Safety Review Committee (NPC-SRC), the apex in-house safety body, continued to conduct appropriate inter-disciplinary reviews of all safety related events and safety submissions.

Various internal safety reviews and audits were conducted for assurance of Health & Safety aspects in the operating stations as well as in the projects under construction. Detailed safety review through ISROS (Internal Safety Review for Operating Stations) was planned for Kaiga.

To upgrade nuclear safety aspects a number of seminars were organised with the help of IAEA/WANO such as the "IAEA National Workshop on Application of Common Basis for Judging the Safety of NPPs Built to Earlier Standards" held at MAPS during 10-14 April, 2000 and WANO Workshop on "Measures Adopted to improve Human Performance in NPPs" held at Mumbai on 10.1.2001. For the first time in India the WANO Governing Board Meeting was held in New Delhi on 30 October, 2000, in which about 25 foreign delegates participated.

RAPS won the Industrial Safety Award of AERB for operating units, while TAPP 3&4 won the award for construction sites. Similarly, RAPP 3&4 won the AERB Fire Safety award.

NPCIL’s Industrial Safety Award for the year was won by RAPS, while KAPS won the Runner-up award.

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