Big Step In Energy / India will build 10 nuclear reactors in three years, will cost Rs 1.05 lakh crore

India is ready to take a big step in the field of energy. In the next three years, 10 nuclear power plants will be set up in the country. These nuclear power plants will be built at a cost of Rs 1.05 lakh crore. India will build 10 nuclear reactors simultaneously in 'fleet mode' over three years, with the laying of the foundation stone of a 700 MW nuclear power plant in Kaiga, Karnataka in 2023.

Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) officials told the Parliamentary Committee that the FPC of Kaiga Units 5 and 6 is expected in 2023. FPCs of Gorakhpur, Haryana Atomic Power Project Units three and four, besides and Mahi Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Project Units one to four are expected in 2024. FPC of one and two in Madhya Pradesh Atomic Power Project Units is likely to be achieved in 2025.

The Center had in June 2017 approved the construction of 10 indigenously developed Pressurized Heavy Water Plants (PHWRs) of 700 MW each. These 10 PHWRs will be built at a cost of Rs 1.05 lakh crore. This is the first time that the government had approved the construction of 10 nuclear power reactors at a time with an aim to reduce cost and speed up construction time.

The DAE official said that bulk procurement was being done for 'Fleet Mode' projects which included Steam Generator, SS 304L Forged Tubes and Plates for End Shield, Pressurizer Forgings, Bleed Condenser Forgings, Incoloy-800 for 40 Steam Generators. Orders were placed for the manufacture of tubes, reactor headers.

He said that engineering, procurement and construction packages have been provided for Gorakhpur Unit 3 & 4 and Kaiga Unit 5 & 6 Turbine Island. One nuclear power plant is expected to be constructed over a period of five years under the 'fleet mode'.

Presently 22 reactors are operational in India with a total capacity of 6780 MW. The 700 MW reactor at Kakrapar in Gujarat was connected to the grid on January 10 last year, but has not started commercial operation so far.

PHWRs use natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as moderator, which have emerged as the mainstays of India's nuclear power programme.

India's first two PHWRs of 220 MW were installed in the 1960s at Rawatbhata, Rajasthan in collaboration with Canada. But after Canada's withdrawal of support after India's peaceful nuclear tests in 1974, the second reactor had to be built with the support of important domestic companies. Over the years, India has built 14 PHWRSs of 220 MW with standardized design and better safety measures.

Indian engineers further improved the design to increase the power generation capacity to 540 MW and two such reactors were commissioned at Tarapur in Maharashtra. Further improvements were made to increase the capacity to 700 MW.