Safety aspects in commissioning of Indian pressurized heavy water reactors

Safety is the guiding principle for performing any activity in Nuclear Power Plants. The major stages of regulatory consenting process for Indian Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) for ensuring safety are a) Siting b) Construction c) Commissioning d) Operation e) Decommissioning. For siting consenting, various site related safety aspects are reviewed to assess the suitability of the site for locating NPPs. For construction consenting, the design of the plant is reviewed to assess that the plant can be built to operate safely. For commissioning consenting, the applications submitted by the utility at various stages of commissioning are reviewed till the plant is brought to operational state. For operation consenting, the results of commissioning are reviewed for their conformity with design information and with the prescribed operational limits and conditions. Decommissioning stage is for decommissioning of the plant after its life time. This paper describes briefly the commissioning aspects of Indian PHWRs vis-a-vis the safety significance and the regulatory requirements. (author)