Kaiga unit to be restarted soon: NPCIL chief

The Kaiga atomic power station (KGS) Unit I, which was shut down for annual maintenance, would be restarted in a couple of days while two other units continue to feed the southern grid, a top NPCIL official said today.

"Unit I of 220 Mw of pressurised heavy water reactor, which was closed for annual maintenance, will be restarted in a couple of days while other two units are operating normally," Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) Chairman and Managing Director S K Jain told reporters here.

He assured that there was no radiation leak as reported by a section of the press, either inside KGS or in the outer environs of the 660 Mw plant.

The state-run utility will commission the fourth 220 Mw unit soon, taking the total installed capacity of Kaiga power station to 880 Mw, he said.

The power station, in the thick of an investigation after 50 employees drank contaminated water, has beefed up security and intelligence measures, he said.

All except two of the affected plant workers, who had consumed water contaminated with tritium, have been certified as normal and resumed their duties in the non-radiation area plant, Jain said.