Chennai, Apr 9 (IANS): The second 220 MW unit at the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), which was shut down due to fuel machine problem/minor leak, is expected to restart within six days, a top plant official said.

"In six days time the unit will be back into operations. It was shut down due to a minor leak. Later, we decided to take this opportunity to carry out some maintenance operations," station director R. Satyanarayana told IANS on Friday.

On April 5, 2016 around 11.30 p.m. the unit was stopped due to fuel machine problem. It was expected to restart operations on April 8.

"We had been thinking of shutting down the unit for maintenance work for the past 15 days. Now we will be carrying those activities," Satyanarayana added.

According to him, the leak is very minor in comparison with the leak at Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS).

The MAPS belongs to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). The station has two 220 MW pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR).

The first unit generates power around 150 MW.