Maps to resume operations soon

30 December 2004

Chennai: The Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) is expected to resume power generation in couple of days. It may be recalled the plant was hurriedly shut down on December 26, 2004, when the pump house was submerged due to the tsunami that hit Kalpakkam and other coastal districts in Tamil Nadu.

Dr.Anil Kakodkar, secretary, Department of Atomic Energy said, "Safety procedures to be followed for various emergencies have been clearly laid down. When the operators saw the indicators showing something severely wrong at the pump house, they shut down the reactor immediately."

The pump house is a well like structure from where the seawater is pumped up to cool the condensers. "It is an entirely separate structure and sea water has no way of forcing itself through the pipes to the power plant," he reiterated.

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) team will start its inspection on December 27, 2004, and after their clearance the plant will be started added the station director, T S Rajendran.

Saying that nuclear power plants are normally located on the coast to sink the heat, Dr Kakodkar said, "All the plants are designed, taking into account the safety precautions against natural calamities." However, he agreed that Indian plants have been designed taking into account natural calamities like high tide and cyclone and not tsunami, which was hitherto unknown to India.