New Delhi, Mar 14 : With Japan facing the prospect of a nuclear catastrophe, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said an immediate technical review of India's atomic plants has been ordered to check if they can withstand the impact of large natural disasters such as Tsunamis and earthquakes.
Making a statement in Parliament on the earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, Singh said Indian nuclear plants have in the past met the safety standards during the major natural calamities like January 26, 2002 Gujarat earthquake and the December 2004 Tsunami.
He informed both Houses of Parliament that India was in constant touch with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Japanese Atomic Industrial Forum and the World Association of Nuclear Operators.
Singh said there are 25,000 Indians in Japan, most of whom do not live in the areas affected by the Tsunami and so far there are no reports of any casualties. About 70 Indians are in shelters established by the Japanese authorities in the Tsunami-affected areas.
Expressing deepest condolences to Japan on behalf of the government, Parliament and people of India, he said New Delhi would spare no effort to assist the tragedy-stricken country as "our resources are at the disposal" of that nation.
He said 25,000 blankets have already been airlifted as an immediate measure and search and rescue teams along with relief material were ready to be sent.
Indian Navy is also on standby to send its ships to Japan as part of relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
"We can never forget that India has been the largest recipient of Japan's Overseas Development Assistance (ODA). We have the best of relations with Japan," Singh said.
Noting that the disaster of March 11 had affected some of the atomic power plants in Japan, the Prime Minister said the government attaches the highest importance to nuclear safety.
"The Department of Atomic Energy and its agencies, including the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) have been instructed to undertake an immediate technical review of all safety systems of our nuclear power plants, particularly with a view to ensuring that they would be able to withstand the impact of large natural disasters such as Tsunamis and earthquakes," he said.
In Mumbai, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd said Indian nuclear plants have remained "safe" during two natural calamities in the last decade but there was no room for "complacency".
"However, we can not be complacent and therefore (we are) closely observing the experiences of the rarest event that is taking place in Japan where nuclear plants in northeast part are affected following severe and devastating earthquake and tsunami," Nuclear Power Corporation of India said. Despite the major earthquake in Bhuj on January 26, 2001, the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station near Surat in Gujarat continued to operate "safely".
"Similarly, during the Tsunami in Tamil Nadu in December 2004, Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) was safely shut down without any radiological consequences. The plant was restarted in a matter of days after regulatory review," NPCIL said in a statement here.
The KKNPP (Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant) in Tamil Nadu, where two new reactors of 1000 MW capacity each are under construction, also remained unaffected by the Tsunami because of the higher than sea-level site of the plant. Authorities said all the 20 operating plants of NPCIL undergo periodical safety review and upgradation of required safety features with clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
NPCIL currently operates 20 reactors with installed capacity of 4780 MW. Of these, two are Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) of 160 MW each (units 1 and 2), while others are Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs). The safety of these BWR plants was reanalysed a few yearsago and was reviewed further by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).
Following this, the two BWRs at TAPS-1&2 have been renovated, and upgraded with additional safety features to meet the latest safety standards, NPCIL said.
The PHWRs are of different design than BWRs and have multiple, redundant and diverse shutdown systems as well as cooling water systems.
In depth review of events such as quake, Tsunami, etc have been made for all the plants, and necessary reinforcement features based on the outcome of these reviews have been incorporated, it said. The developments in Japan will be reviewed in detail in the due course, as the detailed information becomes available.
NPCIL is gathering information from various agencies like World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Tokyo Electric Power company (TEPCO) in this regard, the statement added.
Meanwhile, Seismologists here have said earlier that not all Indian reactors are on the coast, and the Indian coastline is more than 2000 km away from Sunda trench ere major earthquakes can occur. As against, Japanese reactors affected by Tsunami are located a few hundred km away from zones that are "highly" prone to quakes. PTI
