Indian N-plants 'safe' but safety audit on cards

MUMBAI/MANGALORE: The radiation leak in Japan is raising safety concerns in India, bringing the focus back on our crisis management plans.

How good are our safety procedures? How quick are our evacuation plans? Scientists say India’s nuclear power plants have fool-proof safety profiles; they have been designed with worst-case scenarios in mind. But, following the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, India must now review safety.

“The safety features of Indian nuclear plants have to be rechecked to assess whether they can tackle inoperable situations,” says former Atomic Energy Commission chairman and its current member, M R Srinivasan, who has visited the Fukushima plant. “It was constructed to withstand natural calamities. But what happened on Friday was something unusual: It was a deadly combination of a strong earthquake and a tsunami which struck the nuclear plant and damaged it.”

Once details emerge about the Japanese nuclear incident, Indian nuclear scientists are likely to highlight the stress points and prepare a detailed safety audit for nuclear plants in India, especially their preparedness in unforeseen circumstances.

Nuclear reactors are designed to withstand earthquakes specific to the seismic zones they are located in. In the case of Fukushima, it is clear the intensity of the earthquake was more than what the plant was designed to withstand.
How safe are our nuclear plants in Kaiga (Karnataka) and Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu)? Scientists say there is no danger to the Kaiga plant since it has been set up on a high point and is far away from the coast.

In fact, the Kalpakkam plant did not suffer any damage during the 2004 tsunami. An additional wall was built to protect the plant after the tsunami. Similarly, when Gujarat was struck by an earthquake in 2001, it had no impact on the Kakrapar atomic power station near Surat.

The design of a nuclear reactor is location specific. “The thickness and the height of their walls are planned considering the area where a plant is set up,” says chief spokesperson, department of atomic energy, S K Malhotra.

“There are two fast-acting independent and diverse shutdown systems at Kaiga. We also have a safety measures committee which conducts a mock exercise every two years to check the preparedness of different departments in case of an emergency,” says G P Gupta, site director , Kaiga nuclear station.

“The Kalpakkam plant was saved when a tsunami hit Tamil Nadu's coast because a decision had been taken to install electrical systems about 50 ft above the ground. Consequently, nothing was submerged when the area was struck by the tsunami,” says a former chairman of AEC, P K Iyengar.

Now, given the intensity of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, nuclear scientists will have to be prepared for extreme, or inoperable, situations.

The Kalpakkam plant was saved when a tsunami hit Tamil Nadu’s coast because a decision had been taken to instal electrical systems about 50 ft above the ground

P K Iyengar FORMER CHAIRMAN AEC

Fukushima was built to withstand natural calamities. But what happened on Friday was a deadly combination of a strong quake and a tsunami.

M R SRINIVASAN, MEMBER AEC