NEW DELHI: Indian nuclear technology has come of age with the
Kakrapar atomic power plant
’s (KAPP) third unit in Gujarat reaching full load, raising the Narendra Modi government’s game to treble
nuclear power
capacity with home-grown reactors by 2030-31 as part of climate action.
The 700 MWe (megawatt-electric) unit, which started commercial operation in June and attained full load on August 30, is the country’s first reactor of this size based on PHWR (pressurised heavy water reactor) technology designed by Indian
scientists
and engineers.
The reactor has advanced safety features that are comparable to the best in the world and is a testament to the capabilities of Indian project engineers as well as industry in terms of construction, supply of equipment and execution of work in the spirit of Modi’s mantra of self-reliance.
The 700 MWe Indigenous reactors are substantially superior to the existing 220 MWe PHWRs that were designed by the
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
as the second generation CANDU-based reactors first deployed in the Rawatbhatta atomic power station in Rajasthan.
Unit 3 of KAPP is the first of the 16 reactors of 700 MWe capacity based on the indigenous technology the government proposes to build with a view to progressively ramping up nuclear power capacity to 22,480 MWe from 7,480 MWe.
The government has opened up nuclear power for public sector companies in joint venture with state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India to speed up investment in view of India’s 2070 net zero target, but private or foreign investment is still barred.
Nuclear power has been identified as a clean energy source. N-power capacity accounts for a fifth of the country’s total generation capacity but supplies just 3% of electricity flowing in the grid as India is still heavily dependent on coal-fired power. So far, 23 reactors operated by state-run Nuclear Power Corporation have generated 833 billion units of clean electricity, saving about 716 million tonnes of Co2 equivalent emissions.
Public sector undertakings such as NTPC have drawn up plans to build nuclear power plants of 700 MWe capacity and are in addition also looking at the SMR (small modular reactor) technology — yet to be commercially proven — to achieve 20-30 gigawatts capacity.
