“There was a smoke alarm in one of the rooms following which the reactor was shut down as a precautionary measure. However, when we checked there was no fire, Kaiga Station Director J P Gupta told Deccan Herald.|
The Unit-3 was shut down at 4.30 am on April 8 following the smoke alarm. Since NPCIL already planned for shutting down the unit for maintenance work before May, it has decided to keep it shut till April 17.
All nuclear reactors undergo detailed operational and maintenance checks once in two years. The Unit-3 at Kaiga is due for second round of surveillance tests as part of its maintenance work.
Kaiga has four 220 MW pressurised heavy water reactors of which the last one became operational only in January 2011. The other three units are functioning normally, the NPCIL said in a statement.
Fuel leakage in a temperature moderator equipment in the reactor is said to have caused the accident.
The fire caused panic among the staff at the nuclear power plant. However, the fire personnel doused the fire after an ordeal.
DC’s visit
In the wake of the incident, Deputy Commissioner B N Krishnaiah visited the plant on Saturday.
However, he denied that there was a fire accident at the plant and said there was only smoke.
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