Print View Posted on: 14 March 2016
On March 11, 2016, Kakrapar-1 was operating at 220 MWe. At about 0852 hrs, primary containment (pump room) pressure high alarm appeared in control room. Both fast acting reactor shutdown systems and liquid poison injection system actuated automatically and brought the reactor to long term sub-critical state. Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) actuated as per design and provided cooling to the core. As per the established procedure, plant emergency was declared at 0910 hrs.Shutdown cooling loop was taken in service and primary coolant temperature was brought to 45 °C. The core continues to be cooled by operation of shutdown cooling system and ECCS long term re circulation system.After the event, radiological surveys of Reactor Building outer containment wall, operating island and outside operating island was carried out and no increase in air borne activity or radiation level was observed. Maximum radiation level of 10-20 microR/hr was observed at outside the main airlock of Reactor Building.Plant emergency is still in place. Leaky location is yet to be identified. Initial assessment has indicated that the leak is from primary coolant system and the leak rate corresponds to ‘Small LOCA’ category. Based on the available information, the event is provisionally rated at level 1 on INES.