Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited – NPCIL -SUMMARY
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- Public Sector Enterprise established in 1987.
- Aims to develop nuclear power technology and to produce a safe and environmental friendly electrical energy.
- Meet the increasing electricity needs of the country.
1) Nuclear Power- an inevitable option
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- Still country is facing electricity shortage.
- A judicious mix of hydro, thermal and nuclear is an important option to diversify an energy resource-base.
- Ensure long-term energy security and meet electricity requirement.
- Avoid greenhouse gases emission from coal and oil, fossil-fuel-fired stations.
- With growing global warming, nuclear energy plays a greater role in curbing greenhouse gases in medium and long term perspective.
2) Long-term Nuclear Power Programme
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- Is based on utilizing the vast indigenous thorium resources for electricity generation.
- Is based on Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors using natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as moderator and coolant.
- Special indigenous industrial infrastructure for fuel production, heavy water, reactor control, etc. have been developed.
3) Ensuring Environmental protection
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- Designing, construction and operation of the nuclear power stations should be done on Regulatory norms.
- Essential for the protection of plant personnel, the environment and the public.
- Environmental Survey and Meteorological Labs are set up at each plant site.
- Release of radioactivity to the environment from nuclear power stations should be in small quantities
- Ensure radiation source is adequately shielded, monitored and all operation maintained and carried out strictly according to approved procedures.
- As an environmental enrichment measure, green belts around nuclear power stations should be developed.
4) Safety of Nuclear Power Stations
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- Design, construction and operation is given paramount importance.
- For diversity, redundancy, and fail-safe design of the safety related systems, a defence-in-depth study is followed.
- Safety of nuclear power stations is further ensured using international standards, in-service inspection and maintenancy of safety systems.
5) Nuclear Waste Management
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- During generation of electricity, some quantity of solid wastes are produced.
- Very low level of gaseous and liquid radioactive wastes are also produced.
- After treatment these wastes should be disposed of within the plant premises.
- Should be collected in earthem trenches, reinforced cement concrete trenches or tile-holes.
- Bore-holes should be made around the disposal site for sample collection and analysis and to avoid leakage of radioactivity to the outside world.
- Gaseous wastes are filtered, monitored and disposed of through a tall stack.
- Liquid wastes are diluted and should be sent to water body.
- Spent fuel be reprocessed and sent for the extraction of plutonium, uranium and other useful isotopes.
- Last but not the least, the radioactive waste be disposed of in deep underground repository with protective barriers.
