Nuclear Power Plant Reactors

Govt asks states to consider setting up nuclear-based power plants

Government in its budget this year had proposed to partner with private players to develop small nuclear reactors to increase the amount of electricity

Robot resumes mission to retrieve melted fuel piece from Fukushima reactor

An extendable robot on Tuesday resumed its entry into one of three damaged reactors at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to retrieve a fragment of melted fuel debris, nearly three weeks after its earlier attempt was suspended due to a technical issue. The collection of a tiny sample of the spent fuel debris from inside of the Unit 2 reactor marks the start of the most challenging part of the decadeslong decommissioning of the plant where three reactors were destroyed in the March 11, 2011, magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami disaster. The sample-return mission, initially scheduled to begin on Aug. 22, was suspended when workers noticed that a set of five 1.5-meter (5-foot) add-on pipes to push in and maneuver the robot were in the wrong order and could not be corrected within the time limit for their radiation exposure, the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said. The pipes were to be used to push the robot inside and pull it back out when it finished. Once ..

UN watchdog warns conditions 'very fragile' at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia plant

The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog on Tuesday described the situation at Europe's largest nuclear power plant as very fragile following fresh attacks near the site in central Ukraine, and vowed to expand the agency's inspections to include critical electricity supplies. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was making his 10th visit to Ukraine since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022. He was headed to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after talks in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top energy officials. I think the situation I have very often characterized it as very fragile, Grossi told reporters in the Ukrainian capital. The station is again on the verge of being on a blackout. We've had eight of those in the past. A blackout (means) no power: no power, no cooling. No cooling, then maybe you have a disaster. Earlier, Grossi posted on X that he was on his way to Zaporizhzhia to help

RAPS-3 reconnected to grid after major renovation exercise: NPCIL

A 220 MW nuclear power plant at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan has been reconnected to the grid after its life was extended by about 30 years by undertaking a major renovation and modernisation exercise, the plant operator said. Unit 3 of Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS-3) was commissioned on June 1, 2000, and continued commercial operations for over 22 years before being taken up for renovation and modernisation (R&M) on October 27, 2022. It said RAPS-3 was connected to the grid on July 24 this year. "The unit underwent Enmasse Coolant Channel Replacement (EMCCR), Enmasse Feeder Replacement (EMFR) and other upgrades during the R&M," the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) said in a statement. R&M activities were carried out in the core of the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor remotely using precision technologies developed indigenously. "The NPCIL has over the years attained maturity in carrying out in-core jobs using sophisticated remotely operated tools. The .

Treated wastewater discharge at Fukushima nuclear plant is safe: IAEA chief

The head of the UN atomic agency told local Japanese representatives at a meeting in Fukushima on Wednesday that the ongoing discharge of treated radioactive wastewater at the ruined nuclear power plant has met safety standards and that any restrictions on products from the region are not scientific. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi joined local officials and representatives from fishing and business groups and reassured them that the discharges are being carried out with no impact to the environment, water, fish and sediment." Grossi, who arrived in Japan on Tuesday, visited Fukushima for the first time since the release of the treated water began in August. Grossi examined the discharge and sampling facility on Wednesday, escorted by Tomoaki Kobayakawa, president of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings. He last visited the plant in July after issuing an IAEA review predicting only negligible impact from the discharges. An IA

India to add 18 N-power reactors with capacity of 13,800 MWe by 2032: NPCIL

India will add 18 more nuclear power reactors with a cumulative capacity to generate 13,800 MWe of electricity, taking the total share of atomic power in the energy mix to 22,480 MWe by 2031-32. This was announced by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) after Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated two home-built 700 MW nuclear power reactors at Kakrapar in Gujarat last week. Presently, the NPCIL operates 24 reactors with a total capacity of 8,180 MWe. The prime minister dedicated units 3 & 4 of Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS 3 & 4) to the nation on February 22. KAPS-4 was connected to the western power grid on February 20, two days ahead of PM Modi's visit to Kakrapar. KAPS 3 & 4 (2 X 700 MW) are the largest indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) with advanced safety features comparable to the best in the world, the NPCIL said. "These reactors have been designed, constructed, commissioned, and operated by NPCIL, with the supply of ...

Security is fragile at Ukraine's Russian-occupied nuclear power plant: IAEA

Security at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remains fragile amid worrying recent staff cuts enacted by Russian authorities occupying the facility, which is one of the 10 biggest atomic power plants in the world, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief said Tuesday. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi, who is in Kyiv, told The Associated Press that his upcoming visit to the plant as the war approaches its two-year milestone will aim to assess the impact of recent personnel reductions after Russia denied access to employees of Ukraine's Energoatom. This huge facility used to have around 12,000 staff. Now, this has been reduced to between 2,000 and 3,000, which is quite a steep reduction in the number of people working there, Grossi said. To man, to operate these very sophisticated big installations you need a certain number of people performing different specific functions. So far the situation is stable, but it is a very, very delicate equilibrium, he

India's Nuclear Power Corporation to commission new reactor every year

NPCIL chairman and managing director BC Pathak expressed confidence in India's self-sufficiency in energy security

Japan's PM visits fish market, vows to help fisheries hit by China ban

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sampled seafood and talked to workers at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market on Thursday to assess the impact of China's ban on Japanese seafood in reaction to the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi plant to the sea. The release of the treated wastewater began last week and is expected to continue for decades. Japanese fishing groups and neighbouring countries opposed it, and China immediately banned all imports of Japanese seafood in response. One of the seafood business operators told Kishida that sales of his scallops, which are largely exported to China, have dropped 90 per cent since the treated water discharge. We will compile support measures that stand by the fisheries operators," Kishida told reporters after the market visit. We will also resolutely call on China to scrap its trade restrictions that has no scientific bases. China had stepped up testing on Japanese fisheries products, causing long delays

BRICS NSA meet: Doval calls terrorism one of key threats to national peace

NSA Doval said that global security situation is marked by uncertainty and rising tensions. The global economy is still covering the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic

US rejects plea to release radioactive water from nuclear plan into sea

Massachusetts environmental regulators have denied a request by the company dismantling a shuttered nuclear power plant to release more than 1 million gallons (3.8 million litres) of radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. The state Department of Environmental Protection's draft decision issued Monday said it denied Holtec's request for a permit modification because the discharge from Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth would violate a state law that designates the bay as an ocean sanctuary. The draft will not be finalised until after a public comment period that ends Aug. 25. Environmentalists and politicians praised the decision. Release of the treated wastewater would pose a threat to the bay's environment, human health, the fishing and shellfishing industries, and the economy of the region, Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, said in a statement. Holtec sought to profit at the expense of the people, the environment and economy o

S Korea shoppers stock up salt as Japan plans to releases Fukushima water

In many supermarkets across South Korea, salt has vanished from their stores which had led to heightened public anxiety

Japan defends neutrality of IAEA report on Fukushima water release plan

Japan's industry minister visited the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Monday to see equipment that would be used in the planned release into the sea of treated radioactive water to ensure the safety of the controversial plan, while demonstrators, including many from South Korea, rallied against it. The Japanese government defended the neutrality of the United Nations nuclear agency's final report that concluded Japan's water release plan met international safety standards, denying allegations that Japan pressured the International Atomic Energy Agency into publishing only favourable results. Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura visited the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant Monday morning to see key equipment, including an emergency shutdown system, days after the Japanese regulatory authority granted a permit for the operator and the IAEA said the environmental impact from the water release would be negligible. The government and the plant operator,

IAEA chief to visit Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant before water release

The UN nuclear chief is to visit Japan's tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant Wednesday after the agency affirmed the safety of a contentious plan to release treated radioactive water into the sea. On his way to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, a highlight of his four-day Japan visit, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi will join government and utility officials to hear the concerns of mayors and fishing association leaders and to assure them of the plan's safety. The IAEA, in its final report released Tuesday, concluded the plan to release the wastewater which would be significantly diluted but still have some radioactivity meets international standards and its environmental and health impact would be negligible. But local fishing organisations have rejected the plan because they worry that their reputation will be damaged even if their catch isn't contaminated. It is also opposed by groups in South Korea, China and some Pacific Island nations due to safety

India's first domestically built 700 MW nuke reactor starts ops in Gujarat

India's first indigenously developed 700 MW nuclear power reactor at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP) in Gujarat started commercial operations on Friday, a senior official said. "With great pleasure, this is to inform that our first indigenous 700 MWe Unit, KAPP-3, has become commercial on 30th June 2023 at 1000 Hrs," a senior KAPP official said. Presently, the unit is operating at 90 per cent of its total power, he said. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is building two 700 MW pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) at Kakrapar, which is also home to two 220 MW power plants. Various commissioning activities were underway at KAPP 4, which had achieved 96.92 per cent progress by May end, according to officials. The NPCIL plans to build sixteen 700 MW PHWRs across the country and has granted financial and administrative sanction for the same. Construction of 700 MW nuclear power plants is underway at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan (RAPS 7 and 8) and at Gorakh

Ukraine holds drill at Zaporizhzhia plant to prepare for radiation leaks

Dressed in white and yellow protective suits and armed with devices to detect radiation levels, Ukrainian emergency workers took part in a drill on Thursday to prepare for a potential risk of radiation leakage from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Dozens of civilians joined the drill on the outskirts of the city of Zaporizhzhia, located around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the nuclear power plant, Europe's largest. In a tent set up to provide first aid, emergency workers practised hosing people down with soap and going through the motions of administering treatment to individuals who play-acted victims from possible radiation-affected areas. Russia occupied the plant in the early stages of the war. Over the past year, it has become a focal point of concern as Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling the plant. Ukraine's military intelligence recently claimed, without providing evidence, that Russia is planning a large-scale provocation at the nuclear

First unit of nuclear power plant in Haryana may commence in 2028

The information was given at the meeting presided over by Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal here on Monday

Ukrainian nuclear plant loses power supply again, is 'extremely vulnerable'

Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest atomic power station, switched to emergency diesel generators Monday after losing its external power supply for the seventh time since Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said. The nuclear safety situation at the plant (is) extremely vulnerable, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in a tweet. We must agree to protect (the) plant now; this situation cannot continue, Grossi said, in his latest appeal for the area to be spared from the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. IAEA staff are deployed at the plant, which is occupied by Russian troops. The plant's six nuclear reactors are protected by a reinforced shelter able to withstand an errant shell or rocket. But a disruption in the electrical supply could disable cooling systems essential for the reactors' safety. Emergency diesel generators can be unreliable. Fighting, especially ...

Europe's most powerful nuclear reactor 'Olkiluoto 3' kicks off in Finland

Finland's much-delayed and costly new nuclear reactor, Europe's most powerful by production capacity, has completed a test phase lasting over a year and started regular output, boosting the Nordic country's electricity self-sufficiency significantly. The Olkiluoto 3 reactor, which has 1,600-megawatt capacity, was connected into the Finnish national power grid in March 2022 and kicked off regular production on Sunday. Operator Teollisuuden Voima, or TVO, tweeted that Olkiluoto 3 is now ready after a delay of 14 years from the original plan. It will help Finland to achieve its carbon neutrality targets and increase energy security at a time when European countries have cut oil, gas and other power supplies from Russia, Finland's neighbour. The production of Olkiluoto 3 stabilises the price of electricity and plays an important role in the Finnish green transition, said TVO President and CEO Jarmo Tanhua in a statement. The company added that the electricity production volume of Euro

400,000 gallons of radioactive water leaked from US nuclear power plant

About 400,000 gallons of radioactive water has leaked from a nuclear power plant in Monticello, the midwestern US state of Minnesota, regulators revealed recently