Insta
Swarajya Staff
Dec 12, 2018, 12:56 PM | Updated 12:56 PM IST
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Once again Kaiga nuclear power plant of Karnataka has created a world record of longest uninterrupted operation for 941 days which broke the record of 940 days by the United Kingdom, The Hindu has reported. Prime Minister Narendra Modi applauded the Indian scientists and engineers in a tweet.
Another world record by Indian scientists and engineers. The indigenously designed Kaiga-I nuclear power unit has run non-stop for over 940 days! This is a major feat.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 10, 2018
Since 13 May 2016, the plant has been generating electricity and broke the record on Monday, and it has a scheduled shutdown for maintenance on 30 December 2018.
The Heysham-2 Unit-8 in U.K. had the earlier record of 940 days. While Kaiga generating system1 (KGS-1) is a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR), Heysham-2 Unit-8 is an Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (AGR).
An official release of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), has said that the record proves India’s capability in nuclear power generation with PHWR technology and excellence in design, construction, safety, quality and operation and maintenance practices of NPCIL. On 25 October 2018, KGS-1 had broken the earlier world record for the longest uninterrupted operation of 894 days by Pickering-7 in Canada.
KGS-1 is located 56 km away from Karwar, which is indigenously-built and run by domestic uranium. It began operating on 16 November 2000 and has produced 500 crore units of power so far. Earlier in June, KGS-1 set a national record for continuous operation of 766 days.