Kalpakkam N-island to have wind profile radar

Chennai: The nuclear island at Kalpakkam will have a wind profile radar to get continuous data on three dimensional winds for weather prediction and also for atmospheric dispersion modelling of radionuclide releases in the event of extremely unlikely accidents, said officials.

The Kalpakkam nuclear island houses two 220-MW power units of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), 13-MW fast breeder test reactor (FBTR), 30-KW mini reactor KAMINI.

Further, the 500-MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is also being built at Kalpakkam by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd (BHAVINI).

"The wind profiler is being installed at Kalpakkam DAE (Department of Atomic Energy) site to obtain continuous data on 3-dimensional winds in the lower and middle troposphere for site specific weather prediction and atmospheric dispersion modelling of radionuclide releases in the event of extremely unlikely accidents," a senior official of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) told IANS preferring anonymity.

"An Online Nuclear Emergency Response System (ONERS) is developed for guidance and decision support in the event of nuclear/radiological emergencies. The continuous wind profile from wind profile radar becomes valuable input for assimilation in Weather Prediction and dispersion models," the official added.

According to the official, the data also will be useful to study the turbulence, mesoscale circulations, and convective phenomena around this tropical site.

With a life span of 20 years, the wind profiler involving an outlay of Rs 7 crore will be installed in collaboration with the Radar Development Group, ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). "We will be supplying the wind profile radar and also the C-band weather radar to be installed at Kalpakkam. The two orders are through ISRO's ISTRAC", S.Rangarajan, Chairman & Managing Director, Data Patterns India told IANS.

According to him, the total order value will be about Rs 15 crore. Data Patterns has already developed, built and supplied a wind profile radar for Cochin University of Science and Technology which is the world's first 205MHz radar.

According to Rangarajan, the company has successfully bid and won a contract for Rs 380 crore from the Ministry of Defence for nine precision approach radars for the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force.

The city based defence and aerospace electronic products maker Rs 226 crore revenue Data Patterns has already supplied a doppler weather radar for the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) and a C-band weather radar for India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Mumbai.

"Our radars under categorised under three broad categories: (i) surveillance radars, (ii) weather radars, and (iii) tracking radars, consisting of (a) IFF (identity friend or foe) Systems for the defence services and (b) Missile Seekers - BrahMos and also for flight path of ISRO rockets," Rangarajan added.