Madras Atomic Power Station
Encyclopedia
Madras Atomic Power Station located at Kalpakkam
about 80 kilometres (49.7 mi) south of Chennai
, India
, is a comprehensive nuclear power
production, fuel reprocessing
, and waste treatment facility that includes plutonium
fuel fabrication
for fast breeder reactors (FBRs). It is also India's first fully indigenously constructed nuclear power station. It has two units of 220 MWe capacity each. The first and second units of the station went critical in 1983 and 1985 respectively. The station has reactors housed in a reactor building with double shell containment ensuring total protection even in the remotest possibility of loss of coolant accident. An Interim Storage Facility [ISF] is also located in Kalpakkam.
During its construction, a total of 3.8 lakh
(380,000) railway sleeper (logs) were brought from all over India to lift the 180-tonne critical equipment in the first unit, due to lack of proper infrastructure and handling equipment.
A beachhead at Kalpakkam also hosts India's first indigenous Pressurized (light) water reactor (PWR). The 80 MW reactor was developed by BARC as the land based prototype of the nuclear power unit for India's nuclear submarines
This unit does not come under MAPS.
Kalpakkam
Kalpakkam is a small town in Tamil Nadu, India, situated on the Coromandel Coast 70 kilometres south of Chennai. A conglomerate of two villages and a DAE township, it is about 55 km from Thiruvanmiyur....
about 80 kilometres (49.7 mi) south of Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, is a comprehensive nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
production, fuel reprocessing
Nuclear reprocessing
Nuclear reprocessing technology was developed to chemically separate and recover fissionable plutonium from irradiated nuclear fuel. Reprocessing serves multiple purposes, whose relative importance has changed over time. Originally reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing...
, and waste treatment facility that includes plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
fuel fabrication
Nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel is a material that can be 'consumed' by fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available...
for fast breeder reactors (FBRs). It is also India's first fully indigenously constructed nuclear power station. It has two units of 220 MWe capacity each. The first and second units of the station went critical in 1983 and 1985 respectively. The station has reactors housed in a reactor building with double shell containment ensuring total protection even in the remotest possibility of loss of coolant accident. An Interim Storage Facility [ISF] is also located in Kalpakkam.
History
Madras Atomic Power Station was built to strengthen the nuclear capability of India, and it laid the foundation for the indigenisation of India's nuclear power programme. The plant was constructed during the Prime Ministership of Indira Gandhi. The MAPS-1 reached criticality on July 2, 1983 and it was synchronised to the grid on July 23, 1983 in the presence of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.During its construction, a total of 3.8 lakh
Lakh
A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...
(380,000) railway sleeper (logs) were brought from all over India to lift the 180-tonne critical equipment in the first unit, due to lack of proper infrastructure and handling equipment.
Reactors
The facility houses two indigenously built CANDU type PHWRs called MAPS-1 and MAPS-2. MAPS-1 was completed in 1981, but start-up was delayed due to a shortage of heavy water. After procuring the necessary heavy water, the MAPS-1 went critical in 1983 and began operating at full power on January 27, 1984. MAPS-2 obtained criticality in 1985 and began full power operations on March 21, 1986. The two Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) are capable of generating 170MWe each which is lower than the designed power of 235MWe since some zircaloy pieces from the cracked cooling system were found in a moderator pump.A beachhead at Kalpakkam also hosts India's first indigenous Pressurized (light) water reactor (PWR). The 80 MW reactor was developed by BARC as the land based prototype of the nuclear power unit for India's nuclear submarines
This unit does not come under MAPS.