Arunkumar Huralimath By

Express News Service

KARWAR: The indigenously developed Kaiga Atomic Power Station (KAPS) will set a new world record on December 10, with one of its units operating uninterrupted for more than 940 days. The reactor will set the record among all kinds of nuclear power-generating units, including advanced gas-based reactors (AGR) in the world.

The record was earlier held by Unit 2 of Heysham of the United Kingdom, which operated non-stop for 940 days. On Monday, Unit 1 of Kaiga will surpass that record to set a new one. It will continue to generate power till December 30.

The milestone brings yet another moment to celebrate for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and KAPS. The same unit had set a world record in October this year, by operating uninterrupted for 894 days among Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR). Now it will set the record among all kinds of reactors in the world. An announcement in this regard is expected to come from the NPCIL on Monday evening. KAPS station director J R Deshpande told The New Indian Express that Kaiga Unit 1 has been operating uninterrupted from May 13, 2016, and will surpass all world records and enter 940 days on Monday. “We will shut down the unit on December 30 for maintenance and we have got clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board to operate the unit till December 31,” he said.

Located 56 km from Karwar, the Kaiga plant has four units. Each unit generates 220 MW power, which is supplied to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Karnataka’s share is 33 per cent. The 220 MW capacity Unit-1 has been operating without a break since May 13, 2016. It is an indigenous PHWR fuelled by domestic fuel (uranium) and started operations in 2000.