RAPS-I nuclear reactor sets new record

Mumbai: The Rajasthan Atomic Power Station Unit 3 (RAPS-3) has set a new record of continuous 766 days of operations on Wednesday, breaking the earlier record of the RAPS-5 of 765 days of non-stop operations in 2014, an official said here.

Another 220-MW nuclear reactor of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) at Kaiga, the KGS-1, has been operating without break for the past 873 days now.

So far, on 28 occasions, NPCIL's reactors around the country have demonstrated continuous operations of over a year, said the official.

"The consistent, safe and reliable operation of reactors for long periods bears testimony to the maturity achieved in nuclear power technology," said A.K. Nema, NPCIL's AD (CP&CC).

NPCIL operates 22 reactors with a total capacity of 6780-MW power generation capacity, including the 100-MW RAPS-I, at Rawatbhata, near Kota in Rajasthan.

However, the RAPS-I, which started commercial operations in December 1973, is now under "an extended shutdown" since October 2004 for techno-economic assessment of its continuance.