writingonblog uncensored: India conducts out-of-pile tests for first time to...

writingonblog uncensored: India conducts out-of-pile tests for first time to...: C Shivakumar Chennai: India is now conducting out-of-pile tests for the first time to ensure foolproof security of its nuclear reactors, a...

India conducts out-of-pile tests for first time to ensure foolproof nuke security

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

India is now conducting out-of-pile tests for the first time to ensure foolproof security of its nuclear reactors, according top scientists of the nation.



Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research director S C Chetal told reporters on Saturday that the test is first of its kind and is conducted at CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC) Taramani in Chennai to ensure the safety of the reactor before going in for in-pile tests at the nuclear site in Kalpakkam.



Currently, the Rs 40 crore collaborative project between IGCAR and SERC will test the functionality of full-scale prototype reactor system for Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor during quakes of high intensity through the 30 tonnes shake table, said Dr Nagesh R Iyer, director of SERC.



“In Chennai, the expected gravity at acceleration is .0273. But we are testing it by assuming we have a quake six times higher which is roughly .16 gravity at acceleration. This is to make sure we do not miss out any eventuality like that happened in Japan,” said Chetal.



Dr P Chellapandi, director of nuclear safety and engineering group, IGCAR, said the facility, about 17.5 metres high, is the biggest in India, and the second highest in the world. France has the biggest facility that is about 20 metres high, he added.





But how does the facility work. Chetal says once the quake is being felt, the boron road is inserted into the core to stop the neutrons from mutating and bringing the reactor to a total shutdown in seconds.



“The outcome of the experimental study will demonstrate the reliable operation of the reactor shutdown system even under severe earthquakes,” said Chellapandi.



The results of the study have high quality academic data, which would be provided to the academic institutions to theoretically predict the seismic response of the complicated system towards enhancing the confidence on seismic design and analysis of structures in general,” said Iyer.

writingonblog uncensored: TN seeks private investment to tide over power cri...

writingonblog uncensored: TN seeks private investment to tide over power cri...: Chennai: Tamil Nadu government on Friday urged private investments in power generation, transmission and distribution to make the state a...

TN seeks private investment to tide over power crisis

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu government on Friday urged private investments in power generation, transmission and distribution to make the state a power surplus one.



Speaking at the valedictory session of a day-long seminar on Sustainable Energy for Economic Development here, state Minister for Electricity and Prohibition and Excise Natham R Viswanathan said that the state is generating 6,067 MW of wind energy but the irony is that it is left untapped due to lack of infrastructure.



“We can’t utilize the wind power, which is 47 per cent of the total nation’s output, due to lack of transmission lines and substations,” he said.



Charting out the state’s strategy in trying to tide away power crisis, he urged the delegates participating in the event organized by South India Chamber of Commerce India (SICCI) to invest in evacuation and transmission of power.



He said the state is investing Rs 5,000 crore in building 230 KV and 400 KV substations and transmission lines.



The minister said that by August 2012, the state will have no power cuts and will fulfil industry’s power demand by having an addition 4,640 MW. “You could now see the difference. The power cuts have been reduced from three hours to two hours,” he added.



He also said the state is tragetting 23,000 MW of power by 2016. Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board chairman Hans Raj Verma urged private sector to set up power plans along the coastline.



“Although we don’t have coal but are strategically located near the coast and have an advantage,” he said. Energy secretary Ramesh Kumar Khanna said the state will shortly bring out a comprehensive policy on renewable energy and is seeking the suggestions of individuals and private sector.



Meanwhile, the recommendations of the forum was submitted to the minister who said it will be taken into account while drafting the state’s policy.



The recommendations include power utility management, reconfiguring the utility into generations, transmission and distribution delivery functions and lay down performance and benchmarking norms instead of sticking to age old transmission and distribution losses. It also stressed on smart metering , which can be used to disconnect all non-essential loads during peak hours.

writingonblog uncensored: City’s first water supply came into existence in 1...

writingonblog uncensored: City’s first water supply came into existence in 1...: C Shivakumar Chennai: Madras was surviving on shallow wells and tanks until the city’s first water supply system came into existence...

City’s first water supply came into existence in 1881

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

Madras was surviving on shallow wells and tanks until the city’s first water supply system came into existence in 1881.



Metro Water sources said the first project to supply water to Chennai city from Red Hills lake was executed by a British civil engineer Fraser.



Fraser built an intake tower in Red Hills, known as Jones Tower in 1881 at Red Hills Lake. And water from Red Hills lake was conveyed through an open earthen channel by gravity into masonry shaft at Kilpauk and distributed without treatment or pumping.



This system of supply however continued till 1914 when several major improvements were effected to the water supply system by one Madeley, a special engineer in Water Works Corporation of Madras. He was the pioneer for the design and execution of the Madras City water supply and sewerage system, according to records available with Metro Water.



Thus came the existence of Kilpauk Water Works building, which was constructed based on the Indo-Sarcenic style of architecture and commissioned on December 17, 1914.



Meanwhile, an underground masonry conduit was also commissioned in the year 1914 to convey raw water from Redhills lake Jones Tower to Kilpauk Water Works in the place of old open earthen channel.



This was the first major milestone towards protected water supply by adopting slow sand fileteration to purify water. Seventeen slow sand filters to purify water and four underground storage tanks to store filtered water were constructed.



Pumps driven by steam engines were initially installed and they were later converted to oil fired engines for pumping the treated water. A 166 feet tall masonry was used to discharge the smoke.



An elevated steel tank of 104 feet in diameter was used as balancing tank to ensure adequate pressure in the water mains. A 48 inches diameter steel pumping main was laid for conveying the water to shaft and then for the city distribution system. Subsequently, the water distribution system was remodeled and extended to other areas of the city

writingonblog uncensored: writingonblog uncensored: Madras Varsity to be par...

writingonblog uncensored: writingonblog uncensored: Madras Varsity to be par...: writingonblog uncensored: Madras Varsity to be part of DRDO’s biodefence str... : C Shivakumar Chennai: Madras University will soon partner ...