Kalpakkam, March 18 The Indian nuclear establishment is determined to upgrade the safety features of its nuclear power plants regardless of costs involved, said a top official Thursday.
Speaking to reporters here - around 60 km from Chennai - Chairman and Managing Director of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd S.K. Jain said: "We will revisit all our nuclear plants and upgrade the safety features wherever needed even if it pinches our pocket."
According to him the nuclear accident in Japan will not have any impact on India.
Jain said there are 85 radiation monitoring stations in India. If the wind blows towards India's direction from Japan, which is around 5,500 km away, the radiation levels will be very minimal.
He said the Indian nuclear establishment is reviewing the safety features of its reactors from disasters elsewhere - like the Three Mile Island in the USA, Chernobyl disaster in Russia.
Jain said the Japanese nuclear accident was due to the tsunami and crippling of the standby diesel generators.
According to Baldev Raj, director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, the Indian spend on safety features has no parallel.
After the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, a high protection wall has been built at an outlay of around Rs.40 crore, while the location of diesel generator has been raised to 12.6 metres from 10.68 metres.
He said the AERB issues licence to operate the reactors only for five years and after every fifth year it reviews the safety mechanisms before renewing it. He said three plants are under safety evaluation but did not give out any names.

Share OR Bookmark This News With

| More

EMAIL THIS NEWS

COMMENTS No comments yet