Safety at Kudankulam

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) has been in news for the opposition of public for the proposed commissioning of nuclear power plant there. The public outcry has been invigorated by the Fukushima disaster in June, 2011. In this context an article “Safety at the core of Kudankulam nuclear reactors” in The Hindu (dt March 11, 2012) highlights the safety measures undertaken by NPCIL. Here an attempt has been made to share the gist of that article.
Following safety measures have been undertaken by NPCIL to ensure the safety of the plant personnel, the public and the environment as a whole.
 The KKNPP has been built at 7.5 mteres above mean sea level. A shore protection bund has been constructed all along the shore to a height of 8 meters to the mean sea level. This would mitigate the probability of tsunami, tidal variation and storm surge collapsing the KKNPP and leading to Fukushima-like disaster.
 The plant has been fitted with Seismic sensors which safely shut down the reactor in case the seismicity exceeds the preset levels. This insulates the KKNPP from any likely earthquake.
 Passive heat removal systems have been instituted to provide cooling for the removal of decay heat using atmospheric air.
 The confinement of radio-activity within the building is of utmost importance. The reactor building has dual-confinement structure. The inner containment is a pre-stressed concrete structure with the thickness of 1.2 meters. The outer containment is a reinforced concrete structure with the thickness of 0.6 meters. These two barriers ensure that radio-activity does not reach the public domain.
 Hydrogen re-combiners have been placed extensively throughout the plant. These re-combiners would convert the hydrogen generated during any accident into water. This prevents any likely hydrogen-explosion within the containment as happened in Fukushima.
 A huge vessel weighing 101 tonnes has been installed at KKNPP. This would collect the molten core, cool it and maintain it in sub-critical state in the event of any damage to the fuel core.
 A special fish protection facility has been instituted at KKNPP. This would assist the fishes which come along the sea water used in cooling systems within the reactor site to go back to sea. This would conserve fish population in particular and bio-diversity in general.