Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) has dispatched a team of inspectors to investigate the root causes of leakages in the feeder pipe of Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP) which forced the plant to shut down operations. The spokesman of PNRA said that the team would reach any conclusion after collecting evidence from spot.
Karachi is likely to face additional power load shedding due to loss of 80-90 Mega Watts as plant has been shut down for 15-21 days after the leakage of heavy water from a feeder pipe. It has been learnt that the life of the plant completed its 30 years. However, the Pakistani engineers extended its life for ten more years by bringing in some changes in its internal design.
An official of PNRA said that the causes of leakages were not clear. He said the leakages may be 'design-based'. Such kind of leakages takes place inside the plant, he maintained. Therefore, there is no risk of outside radiation at all unlike the radiations caused by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant which emitted outside the nuclear plant, he maintained.
KANUPP was closed on October 5 for maintenance, but one of the channels that use to carry heavy water for cooling had to be opened as the temperature was increasing because of less flow of water. When the pump started again after maintenance, the heavy water started leaking. Soon after that the emergency was announced on October 19.
Radiation is energy that comes from a source and travels through some material or through space. There are three kinds of radiations; Alpha, Beta, and Gamma rays. According to the sources, Alpha rays can not penetrate even through a thin sheet of paper. Beta rays can pass through the paper but can not be absorbed in plastic while Gamma rays are the most penetrating rays and can easily be absorbed by the human body.
"Beta rays are being emitted inside the plant with low intensity. Usually whenever any worker goes inside the plant, he has to put on the plastic clothing that can not absorb Beta rays. On the uniforms of the workers, the dozy meters have been installed that regularly note the frequency of the radiations being absorbed by the workers while working inside the nuclear reactor", the official explained.
Another official of regulatory authority said that the authority has directed the concerned KANUPP officials to analyse and investigate the matter to find out the defect that caused leakages in nuclear power plant. It has been directed to send the final report regarding the reactor's leakages.
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