29.11.10

India’s 20th N-reactor operational at Kaiga

India’s 20th nuclear power plant on Saturday became operational at Kaiga taking the total installed atomic power capacity in the country to 4780 MW. The indigenously-developed 220 MW capacity Unit 4 of the Kaiga Atomic Power Station attained criticality at 8.07.22 am making India the sixth country in the world to have 20 or more nuclear power plants in operation. A nuclear reactor is said to have attained criticality when it is ready to maintain stability of the chain reaction indicating that the unit is has achieved a steady output of power. The Kaiga-4 was built a few years ago but was unable to start power production for want of fuel. India’s exemption from the NSG guidelines in 2008 that facilitated its return to global nuclear trade made the access to fuel possible. The announcement of Kaiga-4 attaining criticality was made by Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Srikumar Banerjee in the presence of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited chairmancum-managing director Shreyans Kumar Jain and a number of officials at the site. “I announce that Unit 4 has attained criticality,” said Banerjee. He said that it would be the endevour of the department to ensure that the new unit is connected with the grid as early as possible which could be followed by commercial production of power.

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