One of the two 220 MWe units at the Kakrapara Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat was shut down after leakage of heavy water from its coolant system was found.

An expert from the nuclear regulator, who reached the KAPS site early on Friday, is learnt to have reported that the leakage was restricted to the Primary Heat Transport (PHT) system of Unit 1 of the station in Vyara district and that the “safety system of the reactor had worked as intended, including the backup cooling systems”.

There has not been “any abnormal release of radioactivity outside the plant or radiation exposure”, the regulator’s initial assessment stated.

 “Unit 1 of the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station, which was operating at its rated power, had to be shut down about 9 a.m. today, consequent to a small leak in the Primary Heat Transport (PHT) System. The reactor was shut down as per design provisions,” a statement issued by the site director of the plant, Lalit Kumar Jain, said. “All safety systems are working as intended. The radioactivity/radiation levels on the plant premises and outside are normal.”

“This is a rare event for a functioning plant and it requires a thorough investigation. The plant has considerably cooled down now. Every incident is of immense importance. There is nothing to panic but the magnitude of the coolant system failure is significant,” he said. All of the components that constitute the cooling and backup safety system were indigenously manufactured, he added.

 “A team of experts from the BARC and another from the Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory are on the way to the plant,” said Surat Collector Rajendra Kumar. “Everything within the plant is under control, nobody has been exposed to the leakage and experts are supervising the plant.”

“When the heavy water leaked, the reactor tripped immediately. The reactor shut down automatically. We bottled up the reactor building. Everything is under control," Authoritative sources in the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) said.

By Premji