CHENNAI: The core catcher, which will provide safety in the unlikely event of fuel meltdown, has been installed in the design position under the reactor pit of the fourth unit of the nuclear power plant in Kudankulam which is under construction under VVER-1000 Russian design, according to Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom).
“The installation of the core catcher in the design position is an important step of the nuclear power plant construction," said Vadim Khlivenko, Deputy Director for Projects in India, Head of Construction Division at Kudankulam NPP Construction Site.
"It is the first large-size equipment item that is installed in the reactor building. Currently, core catchers are installed at all the nuclear power plants constructed under Russian designs," the release quoting him stated.
After the 2011 Fukushima Daichi incident in Japan due to overheating of the reactor, India has sought enhanced safety measures from Russia for Kudankulam nuclear plant including the passive heat removal system (PHRS), hydrogen recombiners to protect the plant from hydrogen explosion as it happened in Fukushima Daichi atomic disaster and core catcher to prevent chain reaction among the radioactive materials if all the safety systems fail.
Core melt localization device or core catcher is unique equipment developed by Russian nuclear experts and is one of the most important nuclear power plant safety systems. The case of the device weighs over 160 tons. A heavy-duty crane was used for its installation. The core catcher for Unit 4 was shipped to Kudankulam NPP on the ZEA FOCUS marine vessel in December 2019.