‘Kaiga units operated continuously for over 500 days on eight occasions’

KAIGA SITE (NPCIL)

The four units of Kaiga Generating Stations (KGS) have operated continuously for over 500 days on eight occasions and over 365 days on 19 occasions, thus setting benchmark parameters for the operating stations of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).

Speaking at the media outreach programme at Kaiga Site of NPCIL in Uttaraka Kannada district on Tuesday, the authorities briefed about the excellent track record of KGS 1 to 4 units.

Project Officer for KGS Units 3 and 4, K. Chittaranjan, said that KGS Unit 1 had created a record of operating continuously for 962 days, which was the longest continuous days of operation worldwide. However, the Darlington-1 unit in Canada has now broken the record with 1,106 days of operation. Among the operating stations of NPCIL in India, the Kaiga units had been doing exceptionally well, he said.

He said KGS Units 5 & 6 were first among the atomic power generation units taken up by NPCIL under the fleet mode, the others being in Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Head of Occupational Hazard of BARC, Hemant Haldavnekar, briefed about the quantum of radiation in various activities and argued that the radiation level at the NPCIL units was less, and studies had indicated that there was no harm to humans, flora and fauna.

Chief Engineer Ramesh H.N. said nuclear power generation units now require less area. The fifth and sixth units at Kaiga were being constructed in an area of 450 m x 450 m, and they would together generate 1,400 MW of power. “Already 65.91 hectares out of the 120 hectares of land of the Kaiga site have been used for the four units, and the remaining 54.09 hectares of land is available for the fifth and sixth units. So no fresh acquisition is required for the purpose,” he said.

The authorities also gave information regarding CSR initiatives taken around the Kaiga site, including the construction of school buildings, roads, bridges and providing various learning materials to schools.