TN likely to face 100 MW power shortage
C Shivakumar
Chennai:
A fire broke out outside the building
of second unit of Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) when it tripped due
to a fault in the transformer feeding to the grid, according to a top MAPS
official.
MAPS Station Director T J
Kotteeswaran said that the fire broke out on the top of the transformer after
the second unit of MAPs which was operating at 110 MW tripped. “The bushing
(the top of the transformer) had some oil which caused the fire. The fire
lasted for about 15 minutes,” said the MAPS director.
He said MAPS used the water
sprinkler system besides calling for a fire tender to put out the blaze.
He said the reactor was brought to
cold shutdown stage. “There is nothing to worry about the safety of reactors as
there are adequate mechanisms in place,” Koteeswaran said.
Interestingly, the fire has resulted
in shutting down of the second reactor which supplies power to Tamil Nadu.
Kotteeswaran said the maximum potential
of the two nuclear reactors was 440 MW. But due to lack of fuel both the
reactors were generating only 340 MW of power. The MAPS director said that the
state was getting 75 per cent of power which runs to around 230 to 240 MW.
Following the accident, the state
will be short of around 80 to 90 MW, which is crucial as power consumption is
likely to be more during the summer.
To a query on how long will it take
to rectify the fault, Kotteeswaran said that they have yet to identify the
fault. “If the fault is related to outside the transformer, then it will be
rectified in a month. But if it is inside then it will take lot of time may be
around two to three months,” the senior scientist said.
The MAPS director also said that
once the problem is rectified then officials would discuss ways to avoid such
incidents in all the nuclear power stations.
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