No shortcuts to safety; four faulty valves replaced: NPCIL

Making it clear that it would not take any shortcuts to safety, India's nuclear operator NPCIL today said it has replaced the four faulty valves of the Kudankulam atomic power plant which is not undergoing pre-commissioning tests.
A day after nuclear regulator Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) pointed out deficiencies in the valve components, NPCIL said safety was reinforced with a close scrutiny of performance of the components and taking corrective actions in the Kudankulam plant.
"Further commissioning activities in Kudankulam will be taken up in accordance with clearance accorded by AERB and approved procedures," Nalinish Nagaich, executive director of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited said in a statement.

He said the four valves in question were tested in factory facilities in simulated conditions and later tested in-situ in an integrated manner during the commissioning of the system.
As a normal industry practice the performance of components is evaluated under the operating conditions to ascertain their performance as per the design intent, he said.
"During such testing by Kudankulam commissioning team of NPCIL, it was found that these valves showed variation from expected performance," he said.

Nagaich said the performance test reports and corrective actions were reported to AERB as a part of laid down procedures.
"These four valves have since been replaced and the performance reports are under review by the AERB," he said.

Nagaich said that during commissioning, testing of several systems to verify and fine tune the systems is taken up in parallel.
"It is reiterated that Kudankulam nuclear power plant safety is reinforced with a close scrutiny of performance of the components and taking corrective actions thereof, as intended in the commissioning process prior to operation of the plant," he said.
The People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy has complained to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa that KNPP has been constructed with substandard equipment and parts supplied by a Russian company.