Kalpakkam nuclear reactor escapes damage on Dec 26

Kalpakkam nuclear reactor escaped serious damage on December 26, Baldev Raj, director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, on Wednesday told a press conference. He said that the reactor withstood the impact of the previous year's tsunami.

Baldev Raj presented a detailed account of the developments on December 26, 2004, the day tsunami struck, to set the record straight. The tsunami's impact was felt primarily in the residential segment, hospitals and the BSNL telephone exchange in Kalpakkam, he said.

Some water entered the pump house of Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS). Another facility, MAPS-2, which was operating at near full power, was shut down in an orderly fashion, said Baldev Raj.

Both the units have a capacity of 220 MW. MAPS-2 was "made critical on January 1" and connected to power grid the next day. S Krishnamurthy, station director of MAPS, said that MAPS is currently undergoing refurbishment. He added that it would be completed in six months.

A 500-MW fast breeder reactor is under construction at Kalpakkam. Water entered the pit at the site of the plant, said officials.

They added that the water and silt in the pit were later removed, and work on the construction of the reactor has resumed.

Baldev Raj said that the nuclear facility had worked on safety measures to protect the site from similar developments. As the only major communication link to Kalpakkam is the BSNL network, an alternate solar-powered high-frequency communication system is being planned.

Other protective measures are a boundary wall on the sea front, sand dunes, coastal plantations and boulders.