By IANS,
Chennai : Nuclear power plant operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) has restarted its second unit at its Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) that was shut down for maintenance and surveillance tests last week, said an official.
“The unit was restarted Sunday afternoon and it is now feeding 110 MW to the grid. The generation will be increased to 150 MW soon,” MAPS station director K.Ramamurthy told IANS.
NPCIL has two units at MAPS, located at Kalpakkam around 80 km from Chennai, generating around 150 MW each.
The rated capacity of the reactors is 220 MW.
“Availability of uranium is the issue in increasing generation,” Ramamurthy said.
He said the unit was taking necessary steps to augment the safety measures recommended by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) so as to secure the five-year operational licence rather than a temporary one.
Both the units of MAPS have licences to operate till March 2012.
Every nuclear power plant in India has to renew its operational licence once in five years. With the accident in Fukushima reactors in Japan, additional safety measures have been suggested by AERB to NPCIL for its units. The NPCIL has also been asked for an implementation roadmap.