View source for Engineering:Tarapur Atomic Power Station

{{Short description|First nuclear power station built in India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox power station
| name = Tarapur Atomic Power Station (T.A.P.S.)
| image = Glimpses of the Unit III dome and the project site of Tarapur Atomic Power Project (TAPP) near Mumbai.jpg
| image_caption = Unit 3 of Tarapur Power Station
| coordinates = {{coord|19|49|44.33|N|72|39|40.34|E|region:IN_type:landmark_source:dewiki|display=inline,title}}
| country = India
| location = Tarapur, Maharashtra
| status = Operational
| operator = Nuclear Power Corporation of India
| construction_began = {{start date and age|1961}}
| commissioned = {{start date and age|1969|10|28|df=y}}
| decommissioned = 
| np_reactors = 4
| np_reactor_type = Units 1 & 2: [[Engineering:GE BWR|BWR-1]]<br/>Units 3 & 4: [[Engineering:IPHWR#IPHWR-540|IPHWR-540]]
| np_reactor_supplier = Units 1 & 2: [[Company:General Electric|GE]]<br/>Units 3 & 4: NPCIL
| ps_cooling_source = Arabian Sea
| ps_cooling_towers = 
| ps_units_operational = 2 × 540&nbsp;MW
| ps_units_uc = 
| ps_units_decommissioned = 
| ps_electrical_capacity = 1080
| ps_annual_generation = 7886 [[Kilowatt-hour#Multiples|GW.h]] (2020-21)<ref name="npp_capfactor_2020-21">{{cite web |title=Monthly Genration Reports Actual for Apr-2021 : Central Sector Nuclear |url=https://npp.gov.in/public-reports/cea/monthly/generation/18%20col%20act/2021/MAR//18%20col%20act-10_2021-MAR.pdf |website=National Power Portal |publisher=Central Electricity Authority |access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref>
| ps_electrical_cap_fac = 64.31% (2020-21)<ref name="npp_capfactor_2020-21"/>
| website = 
}}

'''Tarapur Atomic Power Station''' ('''T.A.P.S.''') is located in Tarapur, Palghar, India. It was the first commercial nuclear power station built in India.<ref>[https://www.iaea.org/pris/ PRIS- Power Reactor Information System]</ref>

==History==

Tarapur Atomic Power Station was constructed initially with two [[Engineering:Boiling water reactor|boiling water reactor]] (BWR) units under the 1963 123 Agreement between India, the United States, and the [[Organization:International Atomic Energy Agency|International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)]]. It was built for the Department of Atomic Energy by [[Company:General Electric|GE]] and Bechtel. Units 1 and 2 were brought online for commercial operation on 28 October 1969 with an initial power of 210&nbsp;MW of electricity. Later on this was reduced to 160&nbsp;MW due to technical difficulties.<ref name="NPCIL Active Plants">{{cite web|url=http://www.npcil.nic.in/main/ProjectOperationDisplay.aspx?ReactorID=73|title=Plants Under Operation - Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited|access-date=20 April 2015|url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126101727/http://www.npcil.nic.in/main/ProjectOperationDisplay.aspx?ReactorID=73|archive-date=26 January 2011}}</ref> These were the first of their kind in Asia.

More recently, an additional two pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) units of 540&nbsp;MW each were constructed by BHEL, L&T and Gammon India, seven months ahead of schedule and well within the original cost estimates.  Unit 3 was brought online for commercial operation on 18 August 2006, and unit 4 on 12 September 2005.<ref name="NPCIL Active Plants"/>

The facility is operated by the NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India).

The personnel operating the power plant live in a residential complex called T. A. P. S. colony, {{coord|19.816|72.743|type:landmark_scale:10000_region:IN}} which is a fifteen-minute drive from Boisar, the nearest railway station. The residential complex was also constructed by Bechtel to house both Indian and American employees. Due to this, the residential complex has a very Indian small-town look, with neat sidewalks, spacious houses, a club with tennis courts, swimming pool, a commissary etc.

In 1974 after India conducted Smiling Buddha, its first nuclear weapons test the West chose to no longer honour its agreement to supply the plant with [[Physics:Enriched uranium|enriched uranium]]. [[Physics:Nuclear fuel|Nuclear fuel]] for TAPS has subsequently been delivered from France, China and Russia under [[Physics:IAEA safeguards|IAEA safeguards]].<ref name=nti>{{cite web|url= http://www.nti.org/learn/facilities/77/ |title= Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) |work= Nuclear Threat Initiative |date= 2003-09-01 |access-date= 2017-02-18}}</ref>

The residential colony features 3 central schools namely - Atomic Energy Central School No. 1 (AECS-1), Atomic Energy Central School No. 2 (AECS-2) and Atomic Energy Central School No. 3 (AECS-3), all running under Atomic Energy Education Society (AEES). 
The local beach at Chinchani is approximately {{convert|7|km|mi}} from the colony.

== Units ==
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-datatable"
! rowspan="2" |Phase
! rowspan="2" |Unit<br/>No.
! colspan="2" |Reactor
! rowspan="2" |Status
! colspan="2" |Capacity in MWe
! rowspan="2" |Construction start
! rowspan="2" |First [[Physics:Criticality (status)|criticality]]
! rowspan="2" |Grid Connection
! rowspan="2" |Commercial operation
! rowspan="2" |Closure
! rowspan="2" |Notes
|-
! Type ||Model ||Net ||Gross
|-
| rowspan="2"| I || 1 || [[Engineering:Boiling water reactor|BWR]] || [[Engineering:GE BWR|BWR-1]] || {{no2|Shut Down<br/><small>(under maintenance)</small>}} || 150 || 160 || 1 October 1964 || 1 February 1969 || 1 April 1969 || 28 October 1969 || 18 January 2020
| <ref>{{cite web | url= https://pris.iaea.org/PRIS/CountryStatistics/ReactorDetails.aspx?current=285 | title= Nuclear Power Reactor Details - TARAPUR-1 |date= 11 February 2020 |work= Power Reactor Information System |publisher= [[Organization:International Atomic Energy Agency|International Atomic Energy Agency]] (IAEA) | access-date= 11 February 2020 }}</ref>
|-
| 2 || [[Engineering:Boiling water reactor|BWR]] || [[Engineering:GE BWR|BWR-1]] || {{no2|Shut Down<br/><small>(under maintenance)</small>}} || 150 || 200 || 1 October 1964 || 28 February 1969 || 5 May 1969 || 28 October 1969 || 13 July 2020
| <ref>{{cite web | url= https://pris.iaea.org/PRIS/CountryStatistics/ReactorDetails.aspx?current=296 | title= Nuclear Power Reactor Details - TARAPUR-2 |date= 11 February 2020 |work= PRIS |publisher= (IAEA) | access-date= 11 February 2020 }}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2"| II || 3  || [[Engineering:Pressurized heavy-water reactor|PHWR]]  || IPHWR-540 || {{yes|Operational}} || 490 || 540 || 12 May 2000 || 21 May 2006 || 15 June 2006 || 18 August 2006 || {{N/A}}
| <ref>{{cite web | url= https://pris.iaea.org/PRIS/CountryStatistics/ReactorDetails.aspx?current=300 | title= Nuclear Power Reactor Details - TARAPUR-3 |date= 11 February 2020 |work= PRIS |publisher= (IAEA) | access-date= 11 February 2020 }}</ref>
|-
| 4  || [[Engineering:Pressurized heavy-water reactor|PHWR]] || IPHWR-540 || {{yes|Operational}} || 490 || 540 || 8 March 2000 || 6 March 2006 || 4 June 2006 || 12 September 2005 || {{N/A}}
| <ref>{{cite web | url= https://pris.iaea.org/PRIS/CountryStatistics/ReactorDetails.aspx?current=301 | title= Nuclear Power Reactor Details - TARAPUR-4 |date= 11 February 2020 |work= PRIS |publisher= (IAEA) | access-date= 11 February 2020 }}</ref>
|}

==Incidents==
During maintenance of Tarapur-1, a blast occurred which damaged the chimney. Tarapur-2 was subsequently shut down to avoid any potential issues, completely shutting down the power generation capability of Phase-1 of TAPS in January 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/blast-in-palghars-tarapur-atomic-power-station/articleshow/73733525.cms|title=No power generation at Tarapur phase I plant after blast cause damage to chimney |publisher= Mumbai Mirror |date= 29 January 2020 |access-date= 1 September 2021}}</ref>

==Safety concerns==
The Boiling water reactors (BWRs) at Tarapur 1 and 2 units are similar to the reactors involved in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. The age of the reactors, coupled with their old design, have raised safety concerns and, according to one local leader in 2011, the reactors had already been in operation for 16 years longer than their design lives.<ref name=BBC1>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-13205060|title=Fears rise in India of Fukushima-style nuclear disaster|work=BBC News|first= Julian |last= O'Halloran |date= 2011-04-27 |access-date=20 April 2015}}</ref>

In 2007, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) evaluated seismic safety features at Tarapur 1 and 2 and reported many shortfalls, following which NPCIL installed seismic sensors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-04-19/news/29447150_1_aerb-department-of-atomic-energy-atomic-energy-regulatory-board|title=Atomic Energy Regulatory Board not quite subatomic|work=timesofindia-economictimes|access-date=20 April 2015}}</ref> In 2011, AERB formed a 10-member committee, consisting of experts from Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and India Meteorological Department (IMD), to assess the vulnerability of the Tarapur to earthquakes and tsunamis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/aerb-committee-forms-subgroup-to-carry-tarapur-plant-audit/651393.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110421003721/http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/aerb-committee-forms-subgroup-to-carry-tarapur-plant-audit/651393.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 April 2011|title=AERB committee forms sub-group to carry Tarapur plant audit|access-date=20 April 2015}}</ref> A. Gopalakrishnan, former director of AERB, said that since Tarapur's reactors are much older than the Fukushima units, they should be immediately decommissioned.<ref>[http://expressbuzz.com/cities/hyderabad/doubts-raised-on-tarapur-nuclear-plant%E2%80%99s-safety/265212.html Doubts raised on Tarapur nuclear plant’s safety] {{Dead link|date=April 2015}}</ref>

==See also==
* Advanced Fuel Fabrication Facility
* Nuclear power in India
* [[Engineering:List of nuclear reactors#India|List of Indian Nuclear Reactors]]
* Map showing nuclear plants in India
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==References==
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Heavy water reactors]]

{{Sourceattribution|Tarapur Atomic Power Station}}