Power

Huge core catcher installed at Kudankulam nuclear project

The fourth 1,000 MW atomic power plant coming up in Tamil Naduโ€™s Tirunelveli district attained a milestone with the installation of core catcher or core melt localisation device, said Russian company Rosatom. Russiaโ€™s integrated nuclear power player Rosatom on Friday said the core melt localisation device, or core catcher, has been installed in the design position under the reactor pit of power unit 4 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KNPP) which under construction.

The reactor is of VVER-1000 design, similar to the two 1,000 MW units that have started commercial power generation long back.

โ€œThe installation of the core catcher in the design position is an important step of the NPP (nuclear power plant) construction. It is a unique system of NPP projection and the first large-size equipment item that is installed in the reactor building. Currently core catchers are installed at all the NPPs constructed under Russian designs,โ€ said Vadim Khlivenko, Deputy Director for Projects in India, Head of Construction Division at KNPP Construction Site.

The core catcher weighing over 160 tons is a unique equipment that is supposed to contain the molten core material (corium) in case of a nuclear reactor meltdown. Indiaโ€™s atomic power company, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is building four more plants โ€“ Units 3, 4, 5 and 6 โ€“ of 1,000 MW each at Kudankulam.

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