An Expert Talk on

CLEAN ENERGY-GREEN ENERGY-NUCLEAR ENERGY

 Jointly Organized By:

 Faculty of Engineering Technology & Research (FETR), Bardoli

&

The Institution of Engineers [I], South Gujarat Local Center, Surat

 Experts:

        Mr. Sunil Kumar, Training Superintendent

Mr. S S Wagh, Scientific Assistant

NUCLEAR TRAINING CENTRE, NPCIL, KAKRAPAR

 TOPICS:

DATE: 25^th February, 2015                                  TIME: 10:30 AM to 01:00 PM

VENUE:

Conference Hall, Faculty of Engineering Technology and Research (FETR),Isroli.

Faculty of Engineering Technology and Research (FETR) organised an expert talk on “CLEAN ENERGY-GREEN ENERGY-NUCLEAR ENERGY” on 25th February, 2015 in association with Institution of Engineers [I], South Gujarat Local Center, Surat. The expert talk was aimed at imparting general awareness among the students that the Nuclear Power is a safe, environmentally benign and economically viable source of electrical energy to meet the increasing needs of country and the technical know-how of the process followed in Nuclear Power Plant.Faculty of Engineering Technology and Research (FETR) is a self-financed degree college situated near Bardoli in Surat district offering five courses, viz.1) Chemical Engg., 2) Mechanical Engg.,3) Electrical Engg., 4) Computer Engg., 5) Civil Engg. with total intake of 420 students per annum.

A Team of eminent personalities from NPCIL, Kakrapar Gujarat Site Mr. Sunil Kumar, Training Superintendent and Mr. S. S. Wagh, Scientific Assistant, BARC and Mr. S. J. Prajapati were invited as experts. They gave a presentation on various topics like, Global Energy Scenario, Need for Nuclear Power, India’s Nuclear Power Programme, Process of generation of Nuclear Energy, Economics of Nuclear Power Generation, Safety in Nuclear Power Generation, Facts about Radiation and Social Benefits of DAE programmes. They also had a good interaction with the attendee students.

The workshop started with the inaugural function at 10:00 a.m. The inaugural session began with lighting of the lamp and prayer. The secretary of SVPES Trust welcomed Mr. Sunil Kumar with a bunch of flowers. The vice president of SVPES Trust, Shree Manahabhai Patel welcomed Mr. S. S. Wagh with a bunch of flowers. Then Dr. Latesh B. Chaudhari, Pincipal welcomed Mr. S. J. Prajapati with a bunch of flowers.

Dr. Latesh B. Chaudhari introduced the Institution of Engineers [I] to the participants and briefly explained the objectives of the expert talk. Mr. Sunil Kumar gave some idea about the importance of this workshop. Total 165 final year students from electrical, chemical and mechanical engineering department of FETR participated in this expert talk.

A brief introduction about invited experts Mr. Sunil Kumar and Mr. S. S. Wagh was given by Prof N. J. Shakwala, Asst. Prof. – FETR.

Profile of Experts:

Mr. Sunil Kumar, after obtaining his B.Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering (Hons) from KNIT Sultanpur (U.P) joined DAE in 1987. He joined Nuclear Training Centre, Kota & after successful completion of one year training, was placed as Scientific Officer/C at Narora Atomic Power Station. At NAPS he served in different departments in various capacities. He worked as a reactor engineer in round the clock shift for commissioning & operation of reactor systems for 2 years. In 1990 he worked for operation & commissioning of different systems of Waste Management Plant. For approximately 20 years he worked in the commissioning, operation & maintenance of Fuel Handling System of standardized Indian PHWR. He worked for refueling operations in the various capacity like CE (F), ASCE (F) & SME (F). During this period he was also involved in Coolant Channel Inspection & Enmass Coolant Channel Replacement (EMCCR) activities of both the units of NAPS. In 2004, he was acknowledged with certificateof Dedicated & Excellent Contribution for carrying out record number of coolant channel inspections in Unit 1 of NAPS (104 nos.). In 2008, he was conferred with NPCIL High Performers Group Achievement Award for de-fuelling of total NAPS 2 Reactor Core & for Fuel Conservation, resulting in savings of approximately Rs. 20 crores to NPCIL. In 2010, he was conferred with NPCIL High Performers Group Achievement Award for retrieval of incapacitated fuelling machine with spent fuel bundles. As Maintenance Superintendent at KAPS in the last 2 years, he has taken lead role in the Outage Management of the units including the works on steam generator. For the past 6 months he has been assigned the responsibility of training superintendent and taking care of public awareness activities and as a Management Representative of the Site for Quality Management System (QMS), Environmental Management System (EMS) & Occupational Health & Safety Management System (OHSMS).

The first session of expert talk was conducted by Mr. Sunil Kumar at 11:00 a.m. He started elaborating about Global Energy Scenario by giving extensive data on global energy consumption, demand and production of energy. Large amount of coal and petroleum are being used to produce energy and their reserve may not meet the energy requirement in future.  On the other hand, these sources also leave bad effect on the environment of the earth. He emphasized that energy is one of the major input for the economic development of any country and explained about need for Nuclear Power Energy for development of the nation as well as for protecting our environment.

The expert gave details about India’s Nuclear Power Programme i.e., India has 21 nuclear reactors in operation and 7 nuclear power plants, having an installed capacity of 5780 MW at different sites i.e., Narora, Rajasthan, Kakarapar, Tarapur, Kaiga, Chennai, Koodankulam. He briefly explained different types of nuclear reactors like PWR, BWR, fast breeder reactors. The expert also highlighted that India has a flourishing and largely indigenous nuclear power program and is expected to have 14,600 MWe nuclear capacity on line by 2020. He also told that 220 MWe PHWRs were indigenously designed and constructed by NPCIL, based on a Canadian design.

Then Mr. Sunil Kumar has explained about process of generation of nuclear energy from the very fundamental level like structure of atom, radioactivity and the number of neutrons determines whether the nucleus is radioactive. Radioactive decay is when an unstable atom emits its excess energy in the form of electromagnetic wave and/or stream of particles. He has also explained the components and function of each component of reactor, heat exchanger process and generation of steam and electricity.

The second session was conducted by Mr. S. S. Wagh. He discussed about the Economics of Nuclear Power Generation, Safety in Nuclear Power Generation, Facts about Radiations and Social benefits of DAE programmes. The expert provided comprehensive and factual overview of radiation and its uses in society. He explained that radiation is present throughout the environment. We live in a naturally radioactive world. Radioactive polonium and radium are present in our bones; our muscles contain radioactive carbon and potassium and we are bombarded by cosmic radiation from space and irradiated from within by the natural and artificial substances we eat and drink each day. He also talked about the benefits of radiation in the field of health for detecting breast cancer, healing of cancer, use of X-ray for bone fracture and many other diagnoses and treatments.

Regarding the safety in power plant, he explained about shields. He said that Thermal and Biological Shields are intended to reduce the temperature and the radiation field inside the reactor building due to gamma rays and fast neutrons. Then he explained how control of radioactivity and maintenance of core cooling is carried out. He also discussed the safety measures for workers i.e, physical shielding, limit of the time a worker spends in the area with significant radiation level.

Towards the end of the session the expert described the societal benefits of nuclear energy in protecting our environment as nuclear energy neither contributes to global warming nor releases toxic chemicals. He talked on how nuclear energy increases the wealth and economy of our nation. The session ended with a question-answer session and experts thoroughly interacted with the students removing all their queries and doubts.

In the valedictory function, a memento as token of love was given away to Mr. Sunil Kumar, Mr. S.S.Wagh and Mr. S. J. Prajapati by Dr. Latesh. B. Chaudhari. The vote of thanks was delivered by Mr. A. K. Desai and the concluding speech was given by Prof. C.D. Desai. The expert talk and the industrial visits were well-coordinated by Mr. S. J. Prajapati from NPCIL and by Mr. D. J. Rana from FETR. The experts were taken round all the departments and the laboratories of FETR by Mr. Sahil Prajapati, Mr. P. R. Polawala and Mr. J. B. Chaudhari.