http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2010070720100707015825447912bd6e/Radioactive-leak-averted-at-Tarapur-Atomic-Plant.html
<http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/2/2010070720100707015825447912bd6e/Radioactive-leak-averted-at-Tarapur-Atomic-Plant.html> Radioactive leak averted at Tarapur Atomic Plant Thousands of lives were endangered after spent fuel bundle, made of dangerous elements, had got stuck Ram Parmar , Yogesh Sadhwani Posted On Wednesday, July 07, 2010 A major tragedy was averted at Tarapur Atomic Power Station 4 (TAPS 4) on Monday when scientists were able to put a ‘spent fuel bundle’, made up of multiple radioactive materials, back into the reactor. If the situation had not been resolved, it could have resulted in a major radioactive leak affecting areas in the periphery, which are home to thousands of families. Villages in the vicinty had hit the panic button after learning about the technical snag, which developed on June 28. The Tarapur Atomic Power Station 4 has been shut down since June 28 due to a technical snag *Hanif Patel* The plant had to be shut that very day after the fuelling machine that unloads the spent fuel bundles into the reactor stopped moving. Sources in TAPS 4 said the spent fuel bundle was stuck in the machine. “The machine is able to move in multiple directions. Once a spent fuel bundle is out, the machine keeps it safely so that it can be taken to the storage bay, from where it is sent to other places,” said a source. “The biggest concern was not only to get the machine back in order but also ensuring that nothing goes wrong with the bundle inside it. The machine was jammed and we were worried about it holding up,” said another source. Apart from in house scientist at Nuclear Power Council of India<http://cms.mumbaimirror.com/ads.aspx?adid=4> ltd (NPCIL) that owns TAPS, experts from Fuel Handling Task Force were also called in. It was only after eight days, on Monday, June 5 that the experts were able to rectify the problem with the fuelling machine and reload the spent fuel bundle into the reactor. With the reactor shut, the bundle would be safe. When Mumbai Mirror contacted RK Gargye, site director of TAPS 3 and 4 he said situation was never really out of control. He admitted that there was a snag with the fuelling machine due to which a spent fuel bundle was stuck in it. “Ours is a state of the art facility where the situation never really gets out of hand. Now that the spent fuel bundle is safely lodged, we are carrying out repairs on the fuelling machine. We also want to diagnose as to what went wrong and only then restart the reactor,” he said. He explained that TAPS 4 would be started only in a week's time during which they would not be able to supply 365 MW power of which 39 per cent is supplied to Maharashtra. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Committee, deliberating on the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill,2010 led by Dr T Subbarami Reddy, alongwith 20 MPs visited the TAPS and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Tarapur on Tuesday morning, said Gargye. The panel reviewed the reactor safety, personnel and environment safety, emergency preparedness and the provisions and measures at the units. * What is Spent Fuel? * A fuel bundle used in a nuclear reactor has multiple radioactive elements. At TAPS only Uranium is extracted and the remaining elements continue to be present in the spent fuel bundle. TAPS sources said, “A spent bundle is extremely useful as it contains several isotopes of radioactive elements that are of use in industries other than power.” -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
