Kalpakkam is a township in Tamil Nadu, India, situated on the Coromandel Coast 70 kilometres south of Chennai. A conglomerate of two villages (Puduppattinam and Sadurangappatinam) and a DAE township, it is about from Thiruvanmiyur and from Pondicherry. This coastal town is humid. Summers here prevail from early March till late May. Temperatures in the Summer vary from 32 degrees Celsius and can go up to 41 degrees Celsius. There is no particular Monsoon season for Kalpakkam as rains are unpredictable here, although there is heavy rainfall in the months of October and November, usually turning into a storm. The coolest months are December and January. A study by the Madras Atomic Power Station(MAPS) revealed that the pollution in Kalpakkam is very low, which when compared to the neighbouring city Chennai is 50 times less. Kalpakkam is known for its nuclear plants and affiliated research installations. These include the Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS), a nuclear power plant, the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), an affiliate of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Kalpakkam hosts the only nuclear plant in India with a Fast Breeder Test Reactor(FBTR) and a Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor(PHWR). Due to increasing congestion in Kalpakkam arising from the need to accommodate more employees, a new township of Anupuram/Amaipakkam, from Kalpakkam, was inaugurated in 1998. On December 26, 2004, the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake generated widespread damage and resulted in 200 deaths in and around Kalpakkam. There is a tsunami memorial having a white oval plaque engraved with the names of 39 people who lost their lives in the tsunami. Facilities Kalpakkam is a well built and planned township. The schools present in the township are Atomic Energy Central School (AECS 1 and 2), Kendriya Vidyalaya-1, Kendriya Vidyalaya-2, Govt Hr. Secondary School and Infant Jesus Matric Hr. Sec. School on Pudupattinam. The township is split into two sides: the Sadras and Pudupattinam sides. Both sides have similar facilities and also good facilities for sports, but Pudupattinam has larger and more complete facilities, such as the hospital and the General Services Organization (GSO). The two sides are separated by two bridges over the canal which joins the sea nearby and well over the backwater. The backwater is a visiting place by many migratory birds especially the rarely seen Siberian crane in the depths of winter.