The commissioning of the Kudankulam atomic power plant has been delayed as the nuclear regulator had found four valves to be “deficient” during a series of tests ahead of starting the reactor.

“During testing of thousands of valves installed in the plant, the performance of four valves of a particular type were found deficient,” the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) said in a statement here this evening.

It, however, did not specify the exact nature of the deficiency in the valves at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant’s Unit-1 being built with Russian help.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India is replacing the valve components as a corrective measure and their performance will also be reviewed by the regulatory officials.

“Subsequent clearances will be granted by AERB only after a satisfactory review,” it said.

Elaborating on the multi-level tests which are carried out, AERB, the sector regulator said a quality assurance programme is adhered to.

The programme “requires formulation of detailed quality assurance plans specifying the sequence of activities and identifying the quality control points at which physical inspection/verifications are performed by the quality assurance groups of contractors/manufacturers as well as independently by NPCIL.”

It added that the AERB had cleared for an initial fuel loading at the plant as part of the commissioning activities and that “satisfactory demonstrations of functional capability are a prerequisite for considering the plant suitable for operating phase.”

Seeking to assuage concerns, the AERB explained that the purpose of commissioning is to establish the achievement of design objectives and meeting the safety requirements.

A thorough performance testing is carried out and the tests conducted during the commissioning process give the necessary data on performance of various components and systems.

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