4. Identify the wrong pair:
A.computers - C-DAC
B. Indian Institute of Technology - Science
C.Tata Memorial Center - Cancer Research
D.Bhabha Atomic Research Center - BARC
Answers
Explanation:
the Units 3 & 4 of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS-3 & 4) were dedicated to the nation on March 18, by the Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Tracing the history of the RAPS, the Prime Minister said that in spite of sanctions imposed on us following Pokhran, we had continued on the path of development. He praised the scientists/engineers for the excellent work done and promised to extend full support for setting up more nuclear reactors at Rawatbhata. Admiring the safety record, he said that public confidence in nuclear energy was demonstrated by the fact that not a single letter was received by his office opposing nuclear energy. The Minister Smt. Vasundhara Raje explained the non-electricity applications of nuclear technology and particularly referred to the Dai Kit developed by the Department and how it could reduce infant mortality. The Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu complimented the engineers and technical staff associated with the project. He said that we have to add 10, 000 MWe of installed capacity every year from all sources and DAE should add 2000 megawatt installed capacity every year. Shri Anshuman Singh, Governor, Rajasthan and Shri Pradhyuman Singh, Finance Minister, Rajasthan, spoke on the occasion and emphasized the need to set up four more nuclear power plants at Rawatbhata.
RAPS-3 achieved criticality on December 24, 1999 and was declared commercial on June 1, 2000. RAPS - 4 was made critical on November 3, 2000 and commercial on December 23, 2000. Since then these units have been operating satisfactorily.
The Rajasthan site had two pressurized heavy water reactors commissioned in the seventies. Recently the rehabilitation and safety upgradation process was carried out to increase their longevity. With the commissioning of another two units and a Heavy Water Plant operating nearby, Rawatbhata has become the largest nuclear centre of the country.
An important aspect of the Rajasthan Units 3 & 4 is the significant reduction in the commissioning period. Against 854 days taken from hydro-test to commercial operation in Kakrapar Atomic Power Station Unit-2, the period has been reduced to only 161 days in RAPS-4. This was part of the exercise to reduce gestation period of the nuclear power stations to 5 years or less.
The new units are indigenously designed, constructed, commissioned and being operated by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd.(NPCIL). The advance design of new units incorporates state-of-the-art technology and conforms to national and international safety standards. It uses concept of defence-in-depth, redundancy, diversity and ‘fail-safe’ philosophy. The Plant has double containment around the reactor with dome-inside-dome concept and is provided with two fast-acting shutdown systems, improved version of high pressure emergency core cooling and a most advanced state-of-the-art computerized control and monitoring system developed by NPCIL and other units of DAE. The design also safeguards against postulated low probability external events such as flooding of site and severe earthquakes. Different type of cooling towers have been used to prevent thermal and unlikely radioactive releases to the lake.
NPCIL’s plant performance has been on the upswing during the last five years. The fourteen nuclear units with a total capacity of 2720 MWe have been operating close to the world level. The average capacity utilization of these units was 80% during the last financial year (1999-2000) and 80% plus during the current financial year.
NPCIL is now preparing to expand its installed base at a fast pace to meet the commitment of 20, 000 MWe or more by year 2020. Two units 500 MWe are in advance construction stage at Tarapur (Maharashtra). For another two units of 220 MWe each at Kaiga (Karnataka) and two units of 1000 MWe each at Kudamkulam (Tamil Nadu), pre-construction activities have commenced.
Operating Units of the DAE Maintain their Excellent Performance
The major operating units of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) continued to maintain their excellent performance during the fiscal year ending March 2001, by meeting their targets and also significantly improving upon their previous year’s performance. In the core area of nuclear power generation, a record production of about 17, 050 Million Units (MUs) of electricity was achieved. This was nearly 30% more than the nuclear power generated in the previous year. The nuclear power reactors of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of DAE, achieved an annual average capacity factor (or Plant Load Factor) of over 82%. Due to this excellent performance, NPCIL expects to earn a net profit of about Rs 1030 crore during the year. However, like other major power utilities, the company continued to face the problem of recovering its dues, which amount to over Rs 2000 crore from the various State Electricity Boards (SEBs)