KUDANKULAM NUCLEAR POWER PROJECT

Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power station currently under construction in Koodankulam in the Tirunelveli district of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Project investment cost to India was estimated to be US$ 3 billion (Rs.13,615 Crores) in a 2001 agreement.

As of November 2011, thousands of protesters and villagers living around the plant are trying to avoid the possible disasters like Fukushima by blocking highways and staging hunger strikes, preventing further construction work, as they believe that the nuclear plant is unsafe.The Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) are fighting for about 25 years in Koodankulam.

An Inter-Governmental Agreement on the project was signed on November 20, 1988 by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. The project remained in limbo for 10 years due to political and economic upheaval in Russia after the post-1991 Soviet breakup, and also due to objections of the United States on the grounds that the agreement does not meet the 1992 terms of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). 

A small port became operational in Kudankulam on January 14, 2004. This port was established to receive barges carrying over sized light water reactor equipment from ships anchored at a distance of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi). Until 2004 materials had to be brought in via road from the port of Tuticorin, risking damage during transportation.

In June 2011, Sergei Ryzhov, the chief designer of the light water VVER nuclear reactors used at this Nuclear Power Plant was killed in an airplane accident. The plane belonging to the Rus-Air airlines was flying from Moscow to the Karelian capital Petrozavodsk.  

Two 1 GW reactors of the VVER-1000 model are being constructed by the Nuclear Power corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Atomstroyexport. When completed they will become the largest nuclear power generation complex in India producing a cumulative 2 GW of electric power. 

Activists leading the agitation against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) want the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) to convert the nuclear power plant into coal-fuelled thermal power station. 

The Rs 13,000-crore Kudankulam Atomic Power Project’s (KKAPP) reactor pressure vessel (RPV), considered to be the heart of the nuclear power plant.  

Solution for Kudankulam project agitation...!

SOLUTION FOR KUDANKULAM PROJECT AGITATION

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project has a chequered history. It is situated on the Gulf of Mannar coast,25km from the Pilgrim town of Kanyakumari ,2.5km north-north east of the project site. On November 20,1988, prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement(IGA) to construct two VVER-1000units at kudankulam. But the project was a limbo for 10 years because of the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

The project came back to life when a supplementary agreement to the earlier IGA was signed in New Delhi on June 21, 1998 by the Russian Minister for Atomic Energy, Yevgeny Adamov, and the AEC chairman, R.Chidambaram. Russia was to provide the design and supply all equipment and subsystems for the two reactors. NPCIL was to build them. The fuel for the reactors is enriched Uranium and Light water functions as both moderator and coolant. India received a “binding commitment” from the Russian Federation that it will supply enriched fuel for lifetime of the reactors. The Estimated project cost was 13,171 crore.

After 9 years of cutting-edge civil and engineering work with no protests from nearby villages the first unit was ready for commissioning. Dummy fuel was loaded into the reactor and a hot run completed. The hot run entailed operating the entire reactor systems at the temperature at which the reactor would operate. After the hot run, the reactor was “cooled down”. After this, plans were afoot to remove the dummy fuel, load the reactor with real fuel assemblies and start the unit in December.

Incipient signs of protests were evident in August when the first unit was undergoing hot run. With the Fukushima accident fresh in their minds, residents of coastal villages, mostly fisherman, were perhaps nervous about the increased activity that the hot run entailed. What could have unnerved them, said KKNPP officials, were the blasts of steam released when the relief valves were being tested during the hot run. Besides ,NPCIL announced an evacuation drill of nearby villages in case of an emergency. In the meantime, the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) began an indefinite fast with 117 people at Idinthakarai. The core demand of the agitation was the closure of the Kudankulam project. S.P.Udayakuumar ,its coordinator and M.Pushparayan, a steering committee member, both of whom took part in the fast, said separately, “we have only one demand”, that is scrap the project.

Although Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in Japan in march was in the back of the minds of the protestors , what fueled the agitation was the apprehension about a scheduled a scheduled mock exercise of evacuation in case of an emergency. Many feared that this was a cloak for a permanent eviction of thousands of people living in a 30kms radius of the project. Fisher man, who formed the majority of the protestors, feared that the condensed water, which would be let into the sea once the first reactor attained criticality, would affect the fish yield and harm marine life. What worried them further was the security ring over a distance of 500mts from the beach preventing them from fishing there.

S.K.Jain, Chairman and Managing Director, NPCIL said he was confident that “despite the heightened apprehensions” of the villagers around Kudankulam after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, “they will see reason and we will be in a position to convince them and allay their fears” about the Kudankulam VVER-1000 reactors. He said they were among “the best reactors in the world” and belonged to the latest generation 3+ of Light water reactors.

The reactors are in operation in Russia, Finland,Hungary and Ukraine. They are now under construction in China and Iran. Besides the indigenous reactors operating in India “have an impeccable record of safety, which id there for all to see.” Jain said there had been no agitation at all those fishing in the sea around nuclear power stations on any Indian coast, including kalpakkam and Tarapur. He asserted that the Russian VVER-1000 reactors, built by NPCIL in Kudankulam, were among the best in the world.

Each unit has a capacity of 1000MWe. Tamil Nadu’s share from this 2,000MWe would be 925MWe, Karnataka’s 442MWe, Kerala’s 266MWe and Puducherry’s 67MWe , 300MWe is unallocated .NPCIL will charge only Rs 2.50 a unit from the state utilities.

The VVEER-1000 reactors had many active and passive systems to cool the reactor core, that is prevent the fuel from melting and ensure that no radioactivity is released into the atmosphere. The reactor plant is placed inside the primary containment, whose wall is 1.20metres thick and made of reinforced, pre-stressed concrete. It is lined with leak-proof steel plates on the inside. The primary containment with a dome is encased in the secondary containment, of thickness 0.60m of reinforced concrete.

Besides, the Kudankulam site is in seismic category zone II and an expected effect of the rising water level I the Gulf of Mannar due to any tsunami activity, the ground elevation of all buildings at the plant starts at 7.5m above mean sea level (MSL), which is much above the expected tsunami levels. Each reactor building at Kudankulam has 154 hydrogen recombiners , which will absorb any hydrogen that would emanate in the reactor building from any possible electrolysis of water and prevent a hydrogen explosion from taking place.

The double-containment’s leakage rate was much better than what was specified. The Kudankulam reactors are safe and they go beyond what happened in Fukushima. The radiation will be confined within the containment because it has many features for cooling the core including absorbing the hydrogen. Recently, the government had appointed a team of specialists from all departments to check everything and to spread awareness among people and leave no stone unturned to allay the people’s fears about the project’s safety. The massive shortage of power in India can be exterminated by starting this project.





          SOURCE: http://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/Essay/Kudankulam-solution.html

CURRENT AFFAIRS 13/09/11...!

World's smallest four-wheel-drive is a billionth of a metre:

Scientists in the Netherlands said on Wednesday(09/11/2011) they had made a four-wheeled molecule that measures just a billionth of a metre - 60,000 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair - and moves in response to a burst of electrons.

The nanometre-sized molecule comprises a central body to which four rotary units, each comprising a few atoms, are attached.

The nanocar is propelled and steered thanks to energy input from a tunnelling electron microscope.

By firing electrons, the microscope induces a change in the interaction between the rotors and a copper surface. As a result, the rotors move around like paddle wheels and drive the wee molecule forward.

The research, reported in the journal Nature, is headed by Ben Feringa, a professor at the University of Groningen.

It marks a new step in a field that developed about half a dozen years ago and sees practical outlets in medicine and nanoscale engineering.


Hubble telescope spots dwarf galaxies:

NASA’s powerful Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a number of young dwarf galaxies brimming with star formation.

The galaxies are many times smaller than the Milky Way, yet they churn out stars at such a fast pace that their stellar content would double in just 10 million years, said NASA.

By comparison, the Milky Way would take a thousand times longer to double its star population, Xinhua reported quoting the U.S. space agency on Thursday(10/11/2011).

The universe is estimated to be 13.7 billion years old, and these newly-discovered galaxies are extreme even for the young universe — when most galaxies were forming stars at higher rates than they are today, NASA said.

Astronomers could spot the galaxies because the radiation from young, hot stars has caused the oxygen in the gas surrounding them to light up like a bright neon sign.

 

“The galaxies have been there all along, but until recently astronomers have been able only to survey tiny patches of sky at the sensitivities necessary to detect them,” said Arjen van der Wel of Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.

"In addition to the images, Hubble has captured spectra that show us the oxygen in a handful of galaxies and confirmed their extreme star-forming nature," said co-author Amber Straughn at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre. "Spectra are like fingerprints. They tell us the galaxies' chemical composition."

Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi resign:

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has resigned after parliament's lower chamber passed European-demanded reforms, ending a 17-year political era.

President Giorgio Napolitano accepted his offer and is likely to appoint technocrat Mario Monti his successor. Mr Berlusconi lost his majority amid an acute debt crisis that threatens the eurozone. He promised to go once MPs had approved new austerity measures. Crowds celebrated outside the presidential palace, shouting "buffoon" as he entered. Reports say Mr Berlusconi's last journey as Prime Minister was an undignified one.

Police struggled to control a large, hostile crowd which booed and jeered as his convoy swept by, and after his resignation he left by a side exit to avoid the protesters.

Mr Berlusconi is Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Minister. His premiership has recently been marred by many scandals. 

PM to release first report of NIC on Tuesday(15/11/2011):

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will release the first report of the National Innovation Council - NIC on Tuesday. NIC has been set up to promote new ideas for inclusive development.

An official release said that NIC was established to recognise the potential of innovation to bridge unmet needs and access gaps in vital sectors like agriculture, education and energy.

It was established in the wake of the Government declaring 2010-2020 as the Decade of Innovation.

In a bid to spur innovation in key sectors of the economy, Dr. Singh had given his nod to set up the NIC headed by telecom czar Sam Pitroda, with special focus on micro, small and medium enterprises for 2010-20, last year in August. 

Gulf region's biggest aviation event gets underway in Dubai today   (13/11/2011):

The Gulf region's biggest aviation event gets underway in Dubai today. Over 100 companies and 55000 visitors are expected to take part in the five day event. Indian delegation is being led by the Union Minster Of State for Defence Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju. The aviation industry is expecting major deal announcements during the event. Leading manufacturer's like Airbus and Boeing are vying for lucrative Mid east markets. Boeing's Dreamliner 787 will make a debut at the event while Airbus will present its modern and cost efficient aircraft family.
Dubai airspace would be closed for three hours on each day of the Airshow. Some airlines have cancelled flights during the event while others have rescheduled. All Emirate Airlines flights departing between 1300 hrs and 1700 hrs daily will have early check-in 90

  

Kidnapped US baseball player rescued(12/11/2011): 

In Venezuela, the US Major League baseball player, Wilson Ramos, who was kidnapped by armed men, has been rescued. Information Minister Andres Izarra said security forces located Ramos in the Montalban mountains near to where he was kidnapped three days ago.

The 24-year-old catcher for the Washington Nationals was abducted by armed men on Wednesday evening while he chatted with friends and relatives outside his mother's home in the Venezuelan city of Valencia.

President Hugo Chavez had authorized an air rescue with support from the national guard this morning. Ramos was found in the mountainous Montalban area of Carabobo state, about 20 miles west of Valencia, and was taken back to the city.

Three people were arrested during the operation, including a Colombian national linked to paramilitary and kidnapping groups.  

‘Drupal' changed communication on web:

‘Over 2 per cent of all websites worldwide use Drupal as their back-end system'

What is however unknown, is the fascinating story of Drupal – the free, open source social publishing platform – that enabled the survival of Al Jazeera's website amid the escalating pressure; besides latching global governments onto its services. 

“Over 2 per cent of all websites worldwide, from blogs to corporate, political and government sites use Drupal as their back-end system. This includes the United States government's official website, the www.whitehouse.gov,” says Dries Buytaert, creator of Drupal. 

A software package that allows you to organise, manage and publish content, with endless customisation; Drupal is used by millions today. And, India is now as much a part of this online revolution. Various government organisations, including the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, have adopted Drupal as their communication platform over the past year.

“Drupal can be downloaded for free and innumerable new features can be added to it. While over 1.5 million users visit our official website, www.drupal.org, nearly one-third of the traffic is from India. The interest for Drupal and the quality of developers here is overwhelming. There is escalating demand for the software in the Indian market,” says Dries, who is in the country on a tour of educational institutions in Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. 

With a name that is Dutch for ‘village', the ‘Drupal' advantage lies in its community aspect. While over thousands of developers maintain the software, ‘tens of thousands' of community volunteers across the world continuously add new features, called modules, to the license-free software. 

While there are over 11,000 modules today that can be used to customise Drupal's behaviour and appearance, there is a steep increase in the demand for trained Drupal developers in the country, who can create websites across industries using the appropriate modules.

With numerous such functions, it has specialised distribution across several sectors like governance, communication, media, education and publishing websites, among others. 

Dries Buytaert, creater of Drupal and Ronald C. Pruett, junior chief marketing officer, at a press conference in Hyderabad on Friday(11/11/2011).

“While hosting a small website using propriety software could cost nearly $400 a month, a similar website would cost merely $5 with Drupal as it free to download. As it is open-source it enables a huge commercial eco-system which allows you to do well, while giving something back to the community,” says Dries.