Jaipur: Scripting history, the fifth unit of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) on Monday set a world record for continuous operation for 740 days. It broke the record of 739-day operation without a shutdown held by US-based LaSalle nuclear power plant.

Notably, the United States and Canada had refused to give India the technology of nuclear power production. Under the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP), two nuclear reactors were being installed in Rawatbhata with the help of Canada. After the nuclear bomb test in Pokhran in 1973, the nuclear trade links between Canada and India were curtailed and all Canadian engineers left the project in the midway. The second RAPP reactor was completed by Indian engineers without any Canadian assistance.

"The 5th unit of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station began commercial production at 1356 hours on August 2, 2012. At that time, it was thought that we would produce electricity nonstop for one year. As we achieved the set target, we decided to break the record of 539-day continuous operating run held by Kaiga Atomic Power Station. We not only this target as well, but also created a new record of nonstop operation for two years. Finally, we are ahead of the United States," Station Director Vinod Kumar told Bhaskar News.

In November 2012, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) intensively audited over several weeks two reactors at the RAPS for safety. It has concluded that the reactors are among the best in the world, the indigenously made 220 MW atomic plants can withstand a Fukushima type of accident, even suggesting that the "safety culture is strong in India" and that India emerged a winner with a high global safety rank.

In 1994, Pickering Unit 7 set a world record for continuous operation (894 days) without a shutdown, but it cannot be broken as permission to continue to operate for such a long period without a shutdown cannot be obtained because of international safety norms.

The RAPS unit produced electricity worth Rs 1.8 crore per day. It means, the cost of electricity it produced so far stands at Rs 1330.20 crore. An estimated sum of Rs 1200 crore was spent on the unit.

The fifth unit of the RAPS produces 50 percent of the total requirement of electricity in the state.



Image: Fifth unit of Rawatbhata nuclear power station