ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT-1988 FOR 1 AND 2 REACTORS OF KUDANKULAM
file:///C:/DOCUME~1/ADMINI~1/LOCALS~1/Temp/EIA%20Manual.htm
[Old EIA procedures for 2001]
file:///C:/DOCUME~1/ADMINI~1/LOCALS~1/Temp/EIA%20Manual.htm
[Old EIA procedures for 2001]
Brief
Environmental Impact Assessment of KKNPP 1 & 2 (1988)
Preamble:
Environmental Clearance
(EC) for KKNPP 1 & 2, was granted by Ministry of Environment & Forests
(MoEF), New Delhi in 1989 based on the Environmental Appraisal data submitted
by NPCIL in 1988 in line with the
requirements of Environment Protection Act-(EPA), 1986. At that time there was
no regulatory requirement of either Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or Public
Hearing (PH) prior to grant of environmental clearance by MoEF. Subsequently,
EIA and PH became a pre-requisite for the grant of environmental clearance for
NPPs vide MoEF EIA - Notifications amendments in 1994 and 1997 respectively.
However, in 1988, NPCIL had submitted a “Brief EIA of KKNPP 1 & 2”, along
with the questioner form of MoEF for “Environmental Appraisal of Industrial
Projects”. Subsequently, for KKNPP 1 & 2, NPCIL completed Comprehensive EIA
(2003) through NEERI, Nagpur for establishing baseline environmental status and
preparation of Environmental Management Plan. This comprehensive EIA report
(2003), was not needed to be submitted to MoEF as EC was already granted in the
year 1989 and re-validated by MoEF in the year 2001. The Brief EIA of KKNPP 1 &
2 (1988) is presented in the following paragraphs.
ANNEXURE-17
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ASSESSMENT FOR THE PROPOSED KUDANKULAM ATOMIC POWER PLANT
1. INTRODUCTION:
The Nuclear Power Plant (NPP)
at the proposed Kudankulam site will initially consist of two reactors of
1000MW each of the pressurized water reactor (VVER in Russian) type with a provision to add two
more units of1000MWe each. This plant
belongs to the latest VVER-RB type of
the Soviet VVER design evaluation and incorporates several new safety features
developed as a result of considerable design and operating experience.. On the
previous 440 MWe VVER reactors as well as a sizable number of 1000 MWe VVER
reactors which are already operating. In
this report the general safety objectives for Nuclear Power Plants and specific
features of proposed Kudankulam NPP and its impact on the environment are
outlined.
2. THE PHILOSOPHY OF RADIATION PROTECTION:
The radiation protection
philosophy developed for Indian power programme will be adopted for this power
plant also. The Radiological Protection
Programme (RPP) adopted in the Indian NPPs is based on the recommendations of
the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). The International Atomic Energy Agency, World
Health Organisation and the International Labour Organisation have formulated
these recommendations into a joint document called the Basic Safety Standards (BSS) of Radiation Protection. India as Member State of the IAEA has used
the BSS as the basis for its RPP.
Figure-1 gives the exposure control philosophy of the RPP.
3. SAFETY OBJECTIVES:
The overall safety objectives
adopted in the programme are based on the principles enunciated by the founders
of the atomic energy programme in the early years.
“Radioactive materials and
sources of radiation should be handled not only in a manner which fully ensures
that no harm can come to workers in the establishment or any one else but also
in an exemplary manner so as to set a standard which other organizations in the
country may be asked to emulate”.
To fulfill these objectives,
the following measures are taken:
the plant is designed with
multiple barriers and built-in engineered safety features which (i) prevent
accidents, (ii) limit the magnitude of the accident and (iii) mitigate the
consequences of an accident should one occur.
These measures reduce both the probability and the potential magnitude
of the consequences of an accident.
During normal operations the
dose equivalent to workers and members of the public at the fence post (1.6km
radius exclusion zone boundary around the plant) are to be kept as low as
reasonably achievable (ALARA) and should not exceed the dose equivalent limits
set by ICRP (figure1)
The non-radiological accident
in the plant should be very low in frequency and severity compared to those in
similar non-nuclear plants.
Notwithstanding the site
safety features and the inbuilt plant safety features outlined above, every
plant prepares plans and procedures for emergencies. It is recognized that emergency planning and
protective measures are regarded only as second level of protection to mitigate
the consequences of an accident.
Each plant trains its staff in
the disciplines such as plant operation, maintenance activities, radiological
protection and emergency control and qualify them for the work entrusted to them. This is with a view to reduce the chances of
human errors.
To minimize the impact on the
environment, the following principles are adopted’
a) The
plant operations shall not interfere in any manner with utilization of
environmental resources in the area outside its control.
b) No
deleterious effects, either of an acute or chronic nature, shall accrue from
plant operations.
c) The
ecological balance of life forms
including humans shall not be disturbed.
d) The
discharges of radioactive/non-radioactive pollutants from the plant to the
environment shall be at such levels and quantities that the resultant
accumulation of the pollutants in any component of the environment including
life forms will not affect them in a manner detrimental to the ecosystems.
4. SAFETY ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY:
4.1 Siting:
The main considerations
governing safety in the siting of NPP
are:
a) The
risk to the NPP from external events (natural and man-induced) should be less
than the intrinsic risk from the NPP itself:
b) The
radiological consequences in the environment due to the NPP should be “as low
as reasonably achievable (ALARA)” both for normal operation as well as accident
situations.
To meet these conditions
detailed analysis of the following are undertaken.
4.2 External Natural Events:
4.2.1 Seismicity: The site
lies in seismic zone II as per IS 1893-1984.
The bed rock type in the site area is biotite gneisses enclosing
lenticular bands of charnochites and quartzites which is suitable for
foundation. Geology and seismo-tectonics
over an area of 300km radius around the plant have been examined to arrive at
the earthquake design basis. As per the
interim report, for S2 (Safe shutdown earthquake) level, maximum peak
horizontal ground acceleration of 0.15g has been arrived at, on the basis of
deterministic approach (IAEA-50-SG-S1).
On probabilistic basis the S2 level event has an average return period
of 50,000 years.
4.2.2 Flooding: The flood analysis of this site is mainly based
on analysis of tropical cyclones and resulting storm surges.
A reference was made to CWPRS,
Pune for the flood analysis relating to this site. CWPRS have recommended on a
preliminary basis the following surge height to be safe against flooding:
Chart datum 0.00 m
Tidal range 1.00 m
Storm surge 1.40 m
Wave
run up 3.50 m
Total
5.90 m
On this basis an elevation of
+6.0 m above chart datum is considered to be safe against flooding on a
conservative basis. The sit elevations
generally vary from +5 m to about +40m above chart datum and hence the
structures can be located above the postulated flood level. The actual pinpointing of the layout has been
made such that the plant structures are above the flood level. A further detailed analysis taking into
account the actual shore profile is likely to reduce the margin provided for
wave run-up and may result in lower flood levels. This study will be carried out for further
refinement.
4.3 Man induced events: For this purpose, air craft crashes,
storage and use of flammable, corrosive or toxic chemicals and explosivesin the
vicinity of the site have been considered.
Adequate screening distances are available in this regard. There are no airports nearby within a radius
of 50km around the plant. Major storage
of toxic chemicals, explosives, corrosives, flammable liquids are neither
existing nor permitted within the sterilized zone. No industries are reported in the area within
10km around. There is no mining activity within 10km
around the plant. A very small area of
67.95 acres at a distance of 3km from the proposed plant has been leased out by
Tamilnadu Government for limestone quarrying (open quarrying upto about 2m
depth). The Tamilnadu Government have
been requested not to renew the lease subsequently beyond the present lease
period ending upto 6th Jan 1994.
Industiral development in the vicinity of the plant will be regulated
through the state Government for reasons stated in 4.4.1.
4.4. RADIOLOGICAL IMPACT AND ITS
ASSESSMENT:
4.4.1 General: The average doses to the individual and collective
doses to the population are functions of the surrounding population and its
distribution. To minimise the
radiological impact, regulation of the population and its distribution is
required. The 2km radius exclusion area
defines the boundary between the plant and public habitation. A sterilized zone of upto 5km is also
established such that within the sterilized area, only natural growth is
permitted and the option to sample environmental matrices such as food items,
water, air, meat, fish, eggs and milk is exercised. These measures help in obtaining assurances that
control measures to limit doses to the public are indeed effective. They also make implementation of emergency
measures more practicable in the event of an accident (Fig-2)
The meteorology, surface
hydrology and hydrogeology at the site are also evaluated to ensure that
discharges of gaseous and low level liquid effluents will not pose problems
during normal operations as well as accident situations.
4.4.2 Population Distribution:
The details of population
distribution for this site are as given below.
The State average population density of Tamil Nadu is 371 persons/sq.km
(1981). The average population density
within 10km radius around the site is 130 persons/sq.km (Total Population of
about 41000 within 10km around the plant as per 1981 census). There are no population centers having a
population of more than 1 lakh within 30km radius around the site. Nagarkoil, a population center with a
population of 1,71,641 as per 1981 census is
at a radial distance of 30km. The
population within the sterilized zone (5km radius around the proposed reactor
locations) is about 15,000 belonging to villages Kudankulam, Vijayapati (mostly
Idinthakarai village) and Erukkanthorai ( a small portion). There is no resident population within the
exclusion zone-2km radius around the proposed reactor locations. Hence no rehabilitation is required for
establishing the exclusion zone.
4.4.3 Meteorology:
The Meteorological data as
available at Kanyakumari Meteorological station about 27km from site have been
collected. The average annual rainfall
is about 810mm (1976-80) Based on wind speed observations (1976-80) the prodominent
wind frequencies are 44.5% and 16.2% the
directions being from west and northeast respectively. The frequency for occurrence of calms is only
2.6% . The topography and wind speed are
considered to be good for dispersion. A
stack height of about 100m is proposed for this site. As per details of by storms crossing the
coast from 1891 to 1980 it is seen generally that storms have crossed near Nagapattinam
most of the times which is 375 km away from the site. A few time storms have crossed near Pamban
which is about 200km away from site. In
1912 a storm has crossed South of Tuticorin and in 1922 near Kanyakumari with wind speeds of 91 to
98km/hr. The intensity of cyclones in
the general vicinity of the site is lower than the ones that normally strike the east coast north
of Tuticorin. The ambient temperature
varies from a minimum of 19.2oC to a maximum of 36.8oC
(1976 to 80). The relative humidity
ranges from 60 to 85% (1976 to 80) Detailed meteorological investigations at
the site will be carried out in due course.
4.4.4 Land Use:
About 60% of the area within
10km radius around the site falls in the sea.
The remaining area consists of agricultural land and barren land. The main agricultural crops are paddy, millets
and chillies with annual yields of about 14400
Te, 4300 Te and 3000 Te respectively.
The subsidiary crops are tobacco, pulses, cotton and oil seeds with
annual yields of about 380 Te, 850 Te, 250 Te and 70 Te respectively.
About 35% of the area within
2km radius exclusion zone around the proposed reactors falls in sea. The remaining area of 650 to 700 Ha of land
will need to be acquired to establish the exclusion zone. This land is mostly barren and
unirrigated. Due to top soil being
limestone, less rainfall and lack of irrigation, agricultural yields are
poor. About 12 Te ofmillets and 1 Te of
cotton per year are reported as agricultural produces in the land falling in
exclusion zone.
About 400 acres of land have
been identified for the housing colony near Chettikulam village. In this land also, agricultural activity is
limited.
No forest land needs to be
acquired either for the plant, its exclusion zone and colony.
Fishing activity in the sea
nearby is existing in a limited scale.
No mechanized fishing activity is seen nearby. There are three fisherman villages ,
Idinthakarai, Koothankuzhi and Perumanal within 10km around with a total annual fish catch of
about 3200 Te from the sea. About 3000
fishermen in the above villages are engaged in fishing. Near Kanyakumari (about 27km at Chinnamuttam,
there is a fishing harbor recently constructed and mechanized fishing activity
is existing.
4.4.5 Geo Hydrology:
The site area slopes towards
the sea and groundwater occurring under unconfined water table conditions shows
a gradient towards the4 sea. This is
indicated by the water table contour map prepared for the area. Depth to water table is found to increase
away from the coast. Near the site, it
is about 5m as noted in a well located within the site and further away towards
Vijapati and Parameswarapuram villages, the depth to water table increases to
about 8m. Ground water is limited in quantity in this area due to low rainfall
and poor replenishment.
4.4.6 Envrionmental Survey Laboratory:
At the proposed Kudankulam
site, a an environmental survey laboratory will be set up long before the
reactors begin to operate, for undertaking environmental studies which consists
of two phases namely, 1) the pre-operational phase and 2) the operational
phase. The following investigations form
part of the pre-operational phase.
i)
Information on background radioactivity levels
in the vicinity of the plant;
ii)
The distribution of the radioactive material in
the various matrices of the environment and the estimations of the recipient capacity
(thus helping in identifying the critical pathways of exposure and the dilution capacity of the environment).
iii)
Data on bioaccumulation factors for potentially
hazardous radio nuclides, by study of stable element distribution. These yield data on uptake of trace elements
and possible isopotic dilution effects.
iv)
Micrometeorological characteristics of the sit
efor evaluating dispersion of airborne radio nuclides.
Figure -3 gives the
environmental path ways for the air route and Figure-4 presents the pathways of
exposure for radio nuclides discharged to the aquatic environment.
During the operational phase,
the investigations done during the pre-operational phase are used as base line
data upon which any noticeable impact on the environmental can then be
attributed to the NPP and its operation.
Routine surveillance helps in
detecting any effect on the environment not hitherto foreseen and also in
checking the adequacy of design provisions in controlling effluents form the
plant.
4.5 Foundation conditions:
The site is generally
underlain by banded and foliated biotite, granite gneissic rocks covered by varying
thicknesses of weathered gneiss and shell limestones. The bed rock of biotite granite gneiss
encloses lenticular bands of charnockites and quartizites. Rock outcrops are seen at the tie between the
high and low tide lines all along the shore and also in the high ground and
nala cutting in the area.
Limited bore hole
investigations indicate that a fairly competent foundation grade rock of
biotite granite gneiss with lenticular bodies of charnockite and quartizites is
available at depths of 5m to 16m below ground level beneath the shell limestone
cover. Bouldery weathered zones are
likely to be encountered within the depth of 16m below ground.
Detailed sub-soil investigations
involving more number of bore holes will be carried out and work in this regard
is being commenced. However, based on
the preliminary data and investigations, the foundation conditions are
considered suitable for the designs proposed to be adopted at this site.
4.6 Water availability:
Condenser cooling system will
be on once-through basis with sea water as the coolant. Process water system will have multiple loops
with closed primary, closed secondary and tertiary systems. The tertiary system would use sea water on
once-through basis. Fresh water will be
used for make up of the closed process systems, domestic needs and colony
use. The requirement of about 10 cusecs of fresh
water for 200 MWe power potential has been assured from Pechiparai reservoir
across Kodayar river. Pipelines for 65km
distance will be laid to draw fresh water from Pechiparai reservoir to the site.
4.7 Other factors:
Other factors such as
electrical system aspects, construction facilities, access etc are aspects that
have been taken into account.
5. DESIGN SAFETY FEATURES:
The design of the proposed
Kudankulam reactors incorporates a number of safety features which supplement
the natural safety features offered by the site. This Defence-in-depth approach can be described in terms of three
levels of safety as described below.
Level-1: The safety features of this level are intended to prevent
an accident. These include reactor
control systems, reactor protection system, liquid poison system, radiation
monitoring systems and emergency equipment.
Besides the design adopts principles
such as redundancy in protective and safety systems, diversity, physical separation
and independence of systems and fail-safe philosophy.
Testability of components and
systems, in-service inspection and selection of proven equipment with known and
low failure rates are additional features intended not only to enhance the
safety level of the plant but also to obtain a high reliability.
A comprehensive system of
quality assurance at all stages of the NPP is enforced such that fabrication of
equipment and their installation and commissioning produce the desired
quantified level of safety.
Level-2: This includes those systems intended to minimize the
magnitude of an accident should one occur. Examples are:
i)
Fast acting shutdown systems (two independent
systems)
ii)
Engineered limits on the rate of power rise.
iii)
Emergency core cooling system
iv)
Off-site and on-site redundant electrical power
supply to all components important to safety.
Level-3: Safety features of
this level limit the consequences of an accident when the first two levels of
safety are assumed to fail simultaneously.
The containment system,
containment heat removal
systems
filteration and
pump back system.
The ventilation system and the
high efficiency particulate and iodine filters and the stack belong to this
level.
The proposed Kudankulam plant employs
the improved version of the containment system, namely a double containment
blended to a vapour suppression pool and filtration and pump back system.
Design and construction of all
components, systems and structures
associated with reactor safety follow the best applicable codes, standards and
practices. Factors influencing common
cause failures are identified and corrective action taken in design.
Every stage in design,
construction, commissioning and operation of the NPP takes into account aspects
of safety and reliability. Well
documented methods are adopted during procurement, quality assurance, erection
and commissioning of systems.
6. SAFETY ANALYSIS:
A uniquie feature of the
safety assessment methodology in NPP is the systematic study of the plant behavior
under conditions which may result in uncontrolled release of radioactivity to
the environment. As shown in Fig-1 the
ICRP recommendations provide for dose control during accident situations
also. To comply with this provision the
siting criteria outlined earlier have been formulated to include also the
impact of a maximum conceivable release of radioactivity following a maximum credible
accident to the NPP.
The following are considered
in the evaluation of the safety aspects of the NPP under accident conditions:
a) The
acceptable intervention and contamination levels.
b) Evaluation
of the site parameters such as dispersion under worst meteorological
conditions, hydrological dispersion, environmental utilization and population
distribution.
c) Evaluation
of the design and operating conditions of the NPP for identifying the spectrum of
possible accidents and release of radioactivity associated with each accident
and the overall containment capability of the plant.
A safety analysis report outlining the safety features
of the design, their description, performance characteristics and failure
analysis is prepared The report also
includes documented safety analysis describing and evaluating the predicted response
of the plant to initiating events (such postulated disturbances in process
variables, postulated malfunctions or failure of equipment, human errors,
influence of external evens etc.)leading to accident conditions, including
relevant combinations of such disturbances, malfunctions, failures, errors and
events. The result of such analysis are
expressed in terms of likelihood of the events, the extent of damage to the
barriers between the sources of radioactivity and the public and the radiation
doses to the public and site personnel.
i)
The reactor design incorporates a highly
reliable mechanical shut down system which can shut down the reactor in a few
seconds, under any accident conditions, without need of electrical power.
ii)
Another system for shutdown is the boron
injection system which can safety shut down the reactor and keep it under shut
down for a prolonged period.
iii)
Core cooling system is backed up by an emergency
core cooling system (ECCS) which will get actuated automatically in the event of a loss
of coolant accident.
iv)
The power supply to plant equipment is graded in
different levels of reliability.
v) Power
supply for safety related systems is backed up by power from diesel generators
and DC storage batteries
The reactor building is a thick
reinforced concrete air-tight building (containment) lined with steel on the
inside face. In the event of an
accident, the containment will be boxed up and will be isolated from the environment
and releases through stack will be controlled.
The ICRP has recommended
control measures, protective counter measures and intervention levels for accident
situations which will be followed.
The safety analysis report is
reviewed by AERB through a series of safety committees constituted by
AERB.
After a satisfactory review of
the report the plant is formally “licensed” by the AERB after final review to
operate under a given set of limits and condtions.
7. SAFETY IN OPERATIONS
Prior to commissioning of the
plant , the staff for operation, maintenance and related services are given
training and authorization at various levels as outlined in the Safety Report. Formal class room training with practicals
and prolonged on-the-job training at similar plants are given. The requirements for authorization include
successful completion of written examinations, checklists, walk-though and
orals. Familiarisation of the emergency
plan as well as radiological protection are important pre-requisites.
Along with the safety report,
another document, containing the operating limits and conditions is prepared by
the plant organization. This document
called the “Technical Specifications” is reviewed and approved by the Atomic
Energy Regulatory Board(AERB)
During operation, safety
surveillance in the plant and environmental survey in the public domain are
provided by a team of qualified personnel independent of the station operation
and management. In a similar manner, the
design and operation of all waste management facilities are also undertaken by
an organization independent of station management. This set up ensures that radiation protection
procedures and the technical specifications are followed properly by the plant
management and that exposures of site personnel as well as effluent releases to
the environment are properly monitored and recorded. Violations, if any, and all unusual
occurrences having a bearing on safety are promptly reported and corrective
action taken in a timely manner.
The RPP provides for inter
alia, monitoring of a workers for external radiation as well as internal contamination,
if any . Over exposures, if any, are
reported promptly and investigated by a special committee whose recommendations
are binding on the plant management.
Records of all activities are
maintained in a timely and systematic manner.
These are reviewed periodically such that the lessons learnt are applied
to other facilities as appropriate.
8. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT:
8.1 General: The
environmental impact of an NPP can be assessed in terms of the following categories:
i) the impact due to
acquisition of land needed to set up the plant buildings and other support
facilities.
ii) the impact due to
discharges into the environment which include radioactive materials,
conventional chemical pollutants, if any and thermal plumes.
iii) the potential impact due
to the unlikely event of an uncontrolled release from the plant reaching the
public domain.
8.2 Acquisition of Land:
The land requirement and rehabilitation
of the villages if any, within the acquired area, are aspects which are not new
only to nuclear power stations but common to all major projects. However, only in the case of nuclear power stations, the precaution
is taken to ensure that public habitations in the vicinity is not too close to
the plant and that in the case of emergencies the population upon which counter
measures are taken are within manageable levels. The magnitude of the rehabilitation of the
public and the resulting impact on the human settlement is much lower than
normally encountered in hydel projects.
Regarding the site at
Kudankulam , the population within the 1.6km exclusion zone is nil and
therefore there will be no rehabilitation of people. The same is the case for colony. The details of land needs for the plant and
colony are already given in 4.4.4. There
is practically no displacement of people except acquisition of land involving
mostly barren and unirrigated land of private ownership for which appropriate
compensation will be paid.
8.3 Releases during normal operations:
The nuclear power reactors are
not associated with conventional pollutants.
Therefore the environmental impact assessment mainly relates to
radioactive releases from the plant.
This aspect has been adequately controlled and regulated from the early
stages of nuclear power development. In
case of the impact due discharges into the environment, the radiation
protection philosophy envisages a dose equivalent limit of 1.0 mSv per year to
members of the public from all sources excluding natural and medical
exposures. Out of the total dose
equivalent limit as above separate allocations are fixed by AERB for each of
the facilities at the site and leaving a margin for future expansion also.
8.3.1 Air releases during normal operation
Out of the limit as above the
air route is given a separate allocation.
Based on this allocation for air route, authorized limits for releases
are fixed by the AERB. Taking into account the contributions of
important radionuclides it can be shown that the per caput dose of an
individual living within 100km from the plant would not be higher than 0.4 micro
Sv per annum if the plant were to operate close to the authorized limits. Experience at similarly operating plants in
Soviet Union indicates that the releases were much less than of the authorized limit
of iodines and particulates. Thus the
actual value of the per caput dose could be less than 0.1microSv per year. Even in the case of the most exposed
individual, the additional burden incurred by him is well within the natural
variation of the natural background radiation.
A stack height of about 100m will be provided.
The air release from the plant are passed through high efficiency particulate
absolute filters (0.3 micro meter) which essentially remove all the particulates. The discharge air may contain minute
quantities of tritium and active inert gases which will be well below the authorized
limits.
8.3.2 Release through water route:
Out of the total limit as in
8.3 an allocation is also stipulated for the water route for each facility at
the site. Authorised limits will be
fixed by AERB. Waste waters in the plant
are segregated right at the source based on different levels of activity. A separate waste management plant for the
liquids will be set up which provides for segregation, collection, treatment,
storage and safe disposal in a manner that fulfills the intent of ALARA (as low
as reasonably achievable.) Treatment
methods include filtration, ion exchange, evaporation and chemical treatment,
waste waters containing radioactivity are sent to the waste management plant
for treatment. After treatment the radioactive
residue is fixed in cement for containment and burial within the exclusion zone boundary of the
plant. The treated liquids with
appropriate dilution is released into the water body within authorized limits
stipulated by AERB
The treated effluents from the
waste treatment facilities before dilution are expected to contain only 10
E-9ci/lit of total activity, which is already very low. The quantity of treated liquid effluents for
release would amount to about 200 Cu.m for two units per day. Once through condenser cooling would be
adopted for the proposed 2 x 1000 MWe NPP.
The quantity of treated liquid effluents as above would be mixed with
the large (about 600000 Cu.m per hour) once-through sea water flow in the
outfall, thereby, further getting diluted by orders of magnitude. Hence there will be practically negligible
activity in the discharge water. With a
very small increase in temperature (5oC)) across and the natural
large dilution in the sea and appropriate separation between intake and outfall
determined by model studies, thermal pollution of aquatic body will not be of
any consequences.
The fishing activity in the
nearby coast will be taken not of in
setting up authorized limits through the relevant pathways.
8.3.3 Solid Wastes:
Low level solid wastes after
treatment are buried within the plant complex in the exclusion zone. These are contained in leak tight RCC vaults. In special cases, internally steel lined external
water proofed RCC pits called tile holes are used which are shielded and
sealed. High integrity containers are
used for retrievability. In the burial
area adequate bore well facilities are provided as a check for any migration of
activity.
8.4 Accidents:
With respect to the potential
impact of the uncontrolled releases in cases of accidents, it may be mentioned
that the plant is designed to accommodate a design basis accident (DBA) as
outlined earlier such that intervention levels given in Fig-2 are not
exceeded. The proposed Kudankulam
reactors are provided with double containment and full vapour suppression.
For the remotest possibility
of an accident more severe than the DBA, emergency plans are available to
ensure that the public are not unduly exposed and that a number of protective
counter measures are included in the emergency plan.
8.5 Environment at NPP sites
The early planners of nuclear
energy development have shown foresight in emphasizing the aspect of improving
the environment at the sites of all its installations. Tree plantation is given prime importance not
only from aesthetic point of view but also to reduce the impact on the
environment due to the plant operation both during normal and accident conditions,
to minimize dust load, reduce heat radiation and improve micro climate around
the nuclear power stations and laboratories which house sophisticated machinery
and equipment. Organized tree planting
activity will be state dafter approval of the proposed project and a number of
threes will be planted within the exclusion zone of the proposed plant and the
colony.
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