Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). - A Public Sector Under taking under the Department of Atomic Energy is spearheading India's nuclear power programme. The NPCIL, with its record of safety and excellence, preserves environment, keeping it healthy; as the nature intended it to be.
To develop nuclear power technology and to produce nuclear power as a safe, environmentally benign and economically viable source of electrical energy to meet the increasing electricity needs of the country is the Mission of NPCIL .
NPCIL re-dedicates itself to increase nuclear power generation capacity in the Country consistent with the available resources in a self reliant, safe, economical and rapid manner in keeping with the growth of energy demand in the Country.
R&D Support to Nuclear Power
The programmes relating to Nuclear Power and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle have been built on the multidisciplinary R&D infrastructure of the Department of Atomic Energy. The indigenisation of equipment and components and has led to the development of technologies for operation and maintenance of power reactors. The technologies emanated from the research and development include development of automation, monitoring, inspection, and repair systems, equipment and gadgets. A number of state-of-the-art instrumentation and control systems for reactors and heavy water plants have been developed at BARC and IGCAR. NPCIL has gained rich expertise in plant life management.
The strong R&D base built over a period of time has led to a number of successes notably repair of overpressure relief device of RAPS-1, En-masse removal and replacement of coolant channels of RAPS-2; Management of Calandria inlet manifold, End-shield repair; Steam generator hair-pin removal, Development of BARCIS system for in-service inspection of coolant channels, and System to relocate garter springs in coolant channels. A number of new technologies, such as servo-manipulators, image processing based alignment system, and others have also been developed. From KAPS-2 onwards, improved coolant channel material and modified channel design have been adopted for longer life of the coolant channel.
Quality Assurance
DAE has been promoting technology relating to quality assurance. This approach has paid dividends to the nation by upgrading quality levels of the Indian industry which has been in progress. Several nondestructive testing techniques and equipment developed by BARC and IGCAR, have found wide use in industry. In view of the high quality standards, NPCIL, in the field of quality assurance, has been awarded the ISO 9002 status
The earlier RCA project RAS/0/028 has helped the Member States in this region to make comparative assessment of electricity generation options. This project also provided the basis to conduct the case studies to assess the role of nuclear power as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol.
Servo Manipulator Workstation of Waste Immobilization Plant at BARC
The Department of Atomic Energy in close association with Central Electricity Authority (CEA), New Delhi, Council of Power Utilities (CPU), Central Board of Irrigation and Power (CBIP), Ministry of Environment and other government agencies is actively participating in the RCA project with full Government support and commitment.
