22 April 2004 08:51
ATOMSTROIEXPORT SUPPLIES NUCLEAR SAFETY DEVICE TO INDIA
MOSCOW. April 22 (Interfax) - Russia's Atomstroiexport has supplied Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India with
a core meltdown retention system as part of a program to increase safety at the plant, the Russian Atomic Energy
Ministry, which is currently being restructured as the Federal Atomic Energy Agency, said on its website.
The statement said that this system was supplied at the request of the Indian side.
The Russian-produced meltdown retention system, which weighs a total of 110 tonnes, is designed to localize radiation
leaks.
A source in Atomstroiexport told Interfax that the system has already been installed at the plant's first
power-producing unit.
He said that the system, developed by Russia's Kurchatov Institute, is automatic, and should operate without
human interface.
"A similar system will be installed at the second power-producing unit at Kudankulam in June-July this
year," he said.
The source said that the launch of the power-producing unit at Kudankulam is planned for the first quarter 2007,
followed by the second unit six months later.
Atomstroiexport started building the Kudankulam plant, which has two power-producing units with VVER-1000 reactors,
in March 2002. The cost of one power-producing unit, according to Atomic Energy Ministry experts, is $1.5 billion - $2
billion.
There are currently 14 nuclear power-producing units operating in India, with a total capacity of 2,720 megawatts,
and eight units are currently being built in the country, with a total capacity of 3,960 megawatts.
[Interfax] |
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