SKB Tensor company (Russia, Moscow region) has developed and successfully commissioned an automated fire safety system for units №1 and №2 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, India (Tamil Nadu).

Built by Russian companies in the south of India in the state of Tamil Nadu, the Kudankulam nuclear power plant has been in operation since 2014. Kudankulam nuclear power plant has two power units with VVER-1000 reactors, having a power output of about 1 GW each. With the commissioning of Kudankulam nuclear power plant, India 50% increased power generation at its nuclear plants.

The automated fire safety system for units №1 and №2 of Kudankulam nuclear power plant, India runs under control of TRACE MODE SCADA/HMI (AdAstrA, Russia) and provides the following features:

• automatic, most early detection of fire and smoke in the fire-risk areas and on the escape routes;
• informing the on duty staff about the origin of the fire for subsequent decision-making and the possibility of alerting staff of the nuclear power plant;
• automatic and remote control of the fire extinguishing equipment (water, gas, powder);
• control of the process equipment and fire extinguishing systems generating information on the progress of the quenching;
• control of ventilation systems, smoke and air overpressure in the stairwells;
• fire doors closing control;
• staff information support;
• hardware diagnostic and alarming when it is not ready for operation;
• information logging;
• providing generalized information to the upper level automation systems.

At the hardware level, the automated fire safety system for units №1 and №2 of Kudankulam nuclear power plant, India  under the control of SCADA TRACE MODE uses SKB Tensor made controllers, as well as third parties sensors, detectors and light and sound alarms.

The operator interface of the automated fire safety system for units №1 and №2 of Kudankulam nuclear power plant, India  is made in the TRACE MODE SCADA/HMI development system. TRACE MODE SCADA/HMI performs the following functions:

• RS-485 field bus control;
• combining multiple devices into a single top-level system;
• automated and remote (by the operator) control for fire extinguishing equipment from the TRACE MODE SCADA/HMI operator PC;
• centralized processing and information display to the operator of the SCADA;
• provision of information about the state of the fire safety protected premises, about the process parameters and operation of fire extinguishing systems, about the status of the equipment of fire extinguishing systems on the screens of the TRACE MODE SCADA/HMI;
• maintaining the current and historical database;
• data exchange with the top-level APCS of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant to enable a single log creation.

The automated fire safety systems for units №1 and №2 of Kudankulam nuclear power plant, (India) under control of TRACE MODE SCADA/HMI are well-proven in commercial operation since 2014.

Currently the automated fire safety systems for power units №3 and №4 are being developed for Kudankulam NPP.