‘Core Catcher’ Safety Equipment Installed at Kudankulam Nuclear Plant

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is constructing the fifth 1,000 MW nuclear power facility in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu.

Recently, an important safety component called the “core catcher” has been installed in the plant. The core catcher plays a critical role in ensuring safety during accidents beyond the reactor’s design limits.

The core catcher is positioned under the reactor vessel and acts as a globe-bottom container, weighing over 156 metric tons. It is made up of a number of different parts, such as bottom plate, cantilever truss, maintenance platform, and cartridge units loaded with special non-metallic materials.

During the installation process, significant tasks were completed, such as placing a second layer of concrete and sealing liners in the melt localization pit. In January, the core catcher for Unit 5 was delivered to NPCIL at Kudankulam.

The core melt localization device, or core catcher, serves an essential purpose. In the case of an accident that might harm the reactor vessel, it stops radioactive materials from leaking into the environment.

The safety of the nuclear power plant is guaranteed by the core catcher, which is capable of efficiently holding both liquid and solid fragments of the core and reactor components for an endless time.

At Kudankulam, NPCIL now runs two 1,000 MW reactors (Units 1 and 2), while four more units (Units 3, 4, 5, and 6) are being built.

All six units utilize Russian technology and equipment provided by Rosatom.