The country's first two nuclear reactors at Palghar and Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS), which have been shut for repairs since 2020, will take five months to resume operations due to a delay in the delivery of an essential component, officials said on Friday.
Officials said they were waiting for some special metal pipes from Italy but the tubes did not arrive on time. He said the manufacturer is facing difficulty in producing the pipes as the order is quite small.
Initially scheduled for reactivation on May 9, the reactors will remain offline until October pending the awaited delivery, an official said.
Two boiling water reactors (BWRs) with a capacity of 160 MW each were installed in 1969 at TAPS, about 100 km from Mumbai on the west coast of the country.BWRs boil water which is converted into steam to drive a turbine to produce electricity and then recirculates water through a condenser to be reused in the heat-production process.
The overhaul, estimated to cost Rs 351 crore, aims to address immediate concerns and extend the operational life of the reactors by a decade.
Additionally, TAPS has two pressurized heavy water reactors, each with a capacity of 540 MW. India now has 22 operating reactors, with an installed capacity of 6,780 MW.
An official said ongoing repairs at BWR include replacing the primary recirculation system installed in 1969 to repair microscopic cracks found in the external circulation system adjacent to both reactors.TAPS station director Sanjay Mulkalwar reiterated the importance of the reactors to the region's power grid, assuring continued operation for at least the next decade. Ongoing tests have confirmed substantial remaining operational life of both reactors, he said.
The repair involves challenges such as potential radiation exposure, space constraints, and complex utility networks that complicate the pipeline replacement process.
Special stainless steel 316 LN pipes, procured from Italy, are at the center of repairs, though their delayed delivery has caused the current setback, the official said.
Despite the delay, officials remain optimistic about the completion of the project by mid-September, followed by rigorous testing before power generation resumes in November.
Officials said they were waiting for some special metal pipes from Italy but the tubes did not arrive on time. He said the manufacturer is facing difficulty in producing the pipes as the order is quite small.
Initially scheduled for reactivation on May 9, the reactors will remain offline until October pending the awaited delivery, an official said.
Two boiling water reactors (BWRs) with a capacity of 160 MW each were installed in 1969 at TAPS, about 100 km from Mumbai on the west coast of the country.BWRs boil water which is converted into steam to drive a turbine to produce electricity and then recirculates water through a condenser to be reused in the heat-production process.
The overhaul, estimated to cost Rs 351 crore, aims to address immediate concerns and extend the operational life of the reactors by a decade.
Additionally, TAPS has two pressurized heavy water reactors, each with a capacity of 540 MW. India now has 22 operating reactors, with an installed capacity of 6,780 MW.
An official said ongoing repairs at BWR include replacing the primary recirculation system installed in 1969 to repair microscopic cracks found in the external circulation system adjacent to both reactors.TAPS station director Sanjay Mulkalwar reiterated the importance of the reactors to the region's power grid, assuring continued operation for at least the next decade. Ongoing tests have confirmed substantial remaining operational life of both reactors, he said.
The repair involves challenges such as potential radiation exposure, space constraints, and complex utility networks that complicate the pipeline replacement process.
Special stainless steel 316 LN pipes, procured from Italy, are at the center of repairs, though their delayed delivery has caused the current setback, the official said.
Despite the delay, officials remain optimistic about the completion of the project by mid-September, followed by rigorous testing before power generation resumes in November.
