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Union Minister for Power Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday said the Centre has asked state governments to examine the feasibility of setting up nuclear power plants in their respective areas and send proposals. The possibility of setting up a nuclear power plant in Goa was discussed during a review meeting with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Union Minister of State for New and Renewal Energy Shripad Naik, Goa Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar and Urban Development Minister Vishwajit Rane here, he said. "Right now, we are generating eight gigawatts of nuclear power. Our aim is to generate 100 gigawatts by 2047," Khattar told reporters after the meeting. Asked about Goa, he said the coastal state does not have any thermal, hydro or solar power plants. "We are of opinion that wherever there is a possibility of setting up a nuclear power plant, it should be considered," he said, adding "in future, if Goa puts up a proposal for a nuclear power plant, it would be considered positively." The .
An extendable robot on Tuesday resumed its entry into one of three damaged reactors at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to retrieve a fragment of melted fuel debris, nearly three weeks after its earlier attempt was suspended due to a technical issue. The collection of a tiny sample of the spent fuel debris from inside of the Unit 2 reactor marks the start of the most challenging part of the decadeslong decommissioning of the plant where three reactors were destroyed in the March 11, 2011, magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami disaster. The sample-return mission, initially scheduled to begin on Aug. 22, was suspended when workers noticed that a set of five 1.5-meter (5-foot) add-on pipes to push in and maneuver the robot were in the wrong order and could not be corrected within the time limit for their radiation exposure, the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said. The pipes were to be used to push the robot inside and pull it back out when it finished. Once ..
The head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog on Tuesday described the situation at Europe's largest nuclear power plant as very fragile following fresh attacks near the site in central Ukraine, and vowed to expand the agency's inspections to include critical electricity supplies. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was making his 10th visit to Ukraine since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022. He was headed to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after talks in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top energy officials. I think the situation I have very often characterized it as very fragile, Grossi told reporters in the Ukrainian capital. The station is again on the verge of being on a blackout. We've had eight of those in the past. A blackout (means) no power: no power, no cooling. No cooling, then maybe you have a disaster. Earlier, Grossi posted on X that he was on his way to Zaporizhzhia to help
A 220 MW nuclear power plant at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan has been reconnected to the grid after its life was extended by about 30 years by undertaking a major renovation and modernisation exercise, the plant operator said. Unit 3 of Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS-3) was commissioned on June 1, 2000, and continued commercial operations for over 22 years before being taken up for renovation and modernisation (R&M) on October 27, 2022. It said RAPS-3 was connected to the grid on July 24 this year. "The unit underwent Enmasse Coolant Channel Replacement (EMCCR), Enmasse Feeder Replacement (EMFR) and other upgrades during the R&M," the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) said in a statement. R&M activities were carried out in the core of the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor remotely using precision technologies developed indigenously. "The NPCIL has over the years attained maturity in carrying out in-core jobs using sophisticated remotely operated tools. The .
The head of the UN atomic agency told local Japanese representatives at a meeting in Fukushima on Wednesday that the ongoing discharge of treated radioactive wastewater at the ruined nuclear power plant has met safety standards and that any restrictions on products from the region are not scientific. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi joined local officials and representatives from fishing and business groups and reassured them that the discharges are being carried out with no impact to the environment, water, fish and sediment." Grossi, who arrived in Japan on Tuesday, visited Fukushima for the first time since the release of the treated water began in August. Grossi examined the discharge and sampling facility on Wednesday, escorted by Tomoaki Kobayakawa, president of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings. He last visited the plant in July after issuing an IAEA review predicting only negligible impact from the discharges. An IA
India will add 18 more nuclear power reactors with a cumulative capacity to generate 13,800 MWe of electricity, taking the total share of atomic power in the energy mix to 22,480 MWe by 2031-32. This was announced by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) after Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated two home-built 700 MW nuclear power reactors at Kakrapar in Gujarat last week. Presently, the NPCIL operates 24 reactors with a total capacity of 8,180 MWe. The prime minister dedicated units 3 & 4 of Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS 3 & 4) to the nation on February 22. KAPS-4 was connected to the western power grid on February 20, two days ahead of PM Modi's visit to Kakrapar. KAPS 3 & 4 (2 X 700 MW) are the largest indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) with advanced safety features comparable to the best in the world, the NPCIL said. "These reactors have been designed, constructed, commissioned, and operated by NPCIL, with the supply of ...
Security at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant remains fragile amid worrying recent staff cuts enacted by Russian authorities occupying the facility, which is one of the 10 biggest atomic power plants in the world, the United Nations nuclear watchdog chief said Tuesday. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi, who is in Kyiv, told The Associated Press that his upcoming visit to the plant as the war approaches its two-year milestone will aim to assess the impact of recent personnel reductions after Russia denied access to employees of Ukraine's Energoatom. This huge facility used to have around 12,000 staff. Now, this has been reduced to between 2,000 and 3,000, which is quite a steep reduction in the number of people working there, Grossi said. To man, to operate these very sophisticated big installations you need a certain number of people performing different specific functions. So far the situation is stable, but it is a very, very delicate equilibrium, he
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sampled seafood and talked to workers at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market on Thursday to assess the impact of China's ban on Japanese seafood in reaction to the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi plant to the sea. The release of the treated wastewater began last week and is expected to continue for decades. Japanese fishing groups and neighbouring countries opposed it, and China immediately banned all imports of Japanese seafood in response. One of the seafood business operators told Kishida that sales of his scallops, which are largely exported to China, have dropped 90 per cent since the treated water discharge. We will compile support measures that stand by the fisheries operators," Kishida told reporters after the market visit. We will also resolutely call on China to scrap its trade restrictions that has no scientific bases. China had stepped up testing on Japanese fisheries products, causing long delays
Massachusetts environmental regulators have denied a request by the company dismantling a shuttered nuclear power plant to release more than 1 million gallons (3.8 million litres) of radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. The state Department of Environmental Protection's draft decision issued Monday said it denied Holtec's request for a permit modification because the discharge from Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth would violate a state law that designates the bay as an ocean sanctuary. The draft will not be finalised until after a public comment period that ends Aug. 25. Environmentalists and politicians praised the decision. Release of the treated wastewater would pose a threat to the bay's environment, human health, the fishing and shellfishing industries, and the economy of the region, Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, said in a statement. Holtec sought to profit at the expense of the people, the environment and economy o