Nuclear Power in India

Chinmoy

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tribes grown up respecting and worshiping their land and everything on it , contrast to the modern definition of "civilize" where own grown up exploiting the land where he grew up. It's govt duty to talk with them and realize them that what inside their land have no use if u can't extract it .
What our problem is we use those ppl are mediator who are hell bound to stop the project ,except act as a mediator they highlight the bad things to them , all these environmental fighter , liberal and these idiots from JNU etc if works as mediator then it's hard for us to crack these thing .
@Adioz ....Wahkyn and Lostoin are small hemlets in the remote Jaintia Hills and Khasi hills dist of Meghalaya. These are basically small cluster of villages.

@ezsasa @IndianHawk .......... Mining in Meghalaya has nothing to do with ULFA. ULFA is mere a shadow of its past now. If you talk about terrorism in Meghalaya, its GNLA. But that too is active in Garo Hills sector basically. The real terrorist in these sectors are the NGOs and the prevalent State Government. Only a few days back some activists with political backing vandalized the UCIL office in Shillong. On top of that the state government had sued the corporation instead for taking out mining in the area without any prior info.

As far as the locals are concerned, they simply want good compensation in the form of alternate settlement to allow mining to be carried out. Its some of the local politicians who is fueling the fear to cook their own bread.
 

wuzetian

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tribes grown up respecting and worshiping their land and everything on it , contrast to the modern definition of "civilize" where own grown up exploiting the land where he grew up. It's govt duty to talk with them and realize them that what inside their land have no use if u can't extract it .
What our problem is we use those ppl are mediator who are hell bound to stop the project ,except act as a mediator they highlight the bad things to them , all these environmental fighter , liberal and these idiots from JNU etc if works as mediator then it's hard for us to crack these thing .
I have been to Meghalaya and Shillong. The local good tribals whom you are praising have cut down all the forests , they are doing limestone and coal mining ..Hundreds of rat hole mines line the road from Shillong to cherrapunji alone . The deforestation by tribals only is causing water scarcity in cherrapunji despite it getting high rainfall. Not all tribals are the nature loving Amazonian ones , all tribals are humans who have human greed .
 

Indx TechStyle

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Second unit of Kudankulam nuclear power plant starts commercial generation
The second unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power plant started commercial generation of power on Friday.
The second unit attained its full power generation capacity of 1000 Mega watt in January.
The second unit attained criticality in July last year and was synchronized with southern grid in August.
Tamil Nadu receives 562 megawatt of power Telangana 50 MW, Karnataka 221 MW and Kerala 133 MW Puduchery 33 MW from the first unit.
Tamil Nadu is expected to get 562 MW from second unit also.
Nuclear power generation has gone up to 6,780 MW in the country with power generation in the second unit.
The 1000 MW nuclear power plant is built with Russian expertise.
 

Indx TechStyle

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India’s quest for nuclear power

Representational image (Photo: Getty Images)
To meet its energy requirement, India is currently looking at new locations to build up its nuclear power production. Nuclear power is currently India’s 5th largest source of electricity after Coal (61 per cent), Natural Gas (7.6 per cent), Hydroelectric (14 per cent), other renewables (14 per cent) and Nuclear (3.5 per cent). India aims to increase the percentage of nuclear power production in the overall energy supply to 9 per cent by 2026. It is part of India's plan to expand nuclear generation capacity to 63 gigawatts by 2032 from 6.8 gigawatts presently.
As of 2016, India has seven nuclear power plants, with an installed capacity of 6.80 GW and producing 34644.45 GWh of electricity. India is planning five more nuclear plants - in Jaitapur in Maharashtra, Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh, Chutka in Madhya Pradesh, Banswara in Rajasthan and Gorakhpur in Haryana. This is expected to generate an additional 4.3 GW of power. The new sites India is looking for are in addition to the already identified sites.
India has had issues about its nuclear energy sites in the past, such as the local protests surrounding the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu. It has had to back out of a couple of sites due to these protests. Therefore, the objective of seeking new sites is to have them away from the sea (to prevent another Fukushima disaster) and in distant locations to prevent a huge public uproar. These new sites would supplement the existing list.
In anticipation of these new sites, the Modi Government has been busy signing Civil Nuclear Agreements for the purchase of uranium. In 2014, 2015 and in 2016, India signed agreements with Australia, the UK and Japan respectively for purchase of uranium for manufacturing nuclear power.
Speaking of public uproar, following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, there was a combined effort to block Indian nuclear projects. These protests gained popularity throughout the country. A couple of protests that have received significant traction in the media are against the French-partnered Jaitapur nuclear project in Maharashtra and the Russian-partnered Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu. Other proposed power plants have also been halted due to protests. The former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India said in a lecture said that the scheme for the Haripur Nuclear Power Plant in West Bengal has not completely been deleted though appropriate background work was to be a decisive factor in the future of the power plant. However, the lifeline of the power plant is still hanging more than three years after plans were halted.
There have been other such power plants as well, like the Mandla Nuclear Power Project in Madhya Pradesh. This was proposed by the Central Government in 1982. The power plant is located in the catchment area of the Bargi dam on the Narmada River. The compensation received by the local villagers is pennies compared to the prices of land in the area currently. Especially so, as a Hindustan Times report mentioned, a farmer with 20 acres who lost 17 acres for the dam construction now may lose the remaining three acres for the Nuclear Project.
India has been bent on exponentially increasing its energy production. It plans to expand its nuclear energy capacity tenfold. These plans however have been hampered due to delays in construction and suppliers’ concern over the liability laws in India in case of a disaster. To solve the first problem, as mentioned, sites are being picked in places with low populations. As for the liability laws, the law allows for claims from the companies that are setting up the power plant. This has discouraged companies from General Electric to Toshiba from setting up plants.
Toshiba said that it would only set up six reactors in India if there is a change in the nuclear liability law. It cannot be expected to take up the risk of building the new nuclear plants, the company said, following a $6.3 billion write-down. In the US, the Price–Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act, first passed as early as 1957, restricts liability of nuclear power plant operators. The object of the Act is to partially compensate the plant operators against claims arising from nuclear incidents to ensure that compensation is provided to the public. The Act creates a no-fault insurance-type system with an industry-funded piggy bank of around $12.6 billion (as of 2011). Any claim above this amount is to be covered by the US government.
Nevertheless, India is proceeding with the domestic projects and looking for new sites. It has provisionally selected one site in the state of Haryana that is to be finalised in the next five years. Many Indian companies have shown an interest in collaborating in projects with the GOI monopoly company, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India.
Specifically, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India’s chairman has said that ONGC would be interested in exploring energy production opportunities in the nuclear sector. However, more attention needs to be paid to siting nuclear power plants in places that will not lead to popular resistance. Additionally, if India wants to invite foreign companies, it will have to enact laws like the Price-Anderson Act to reduce the liability that these foreign companies face.
 

sthf

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. The power plant is located in the catchment area of the Bargi dam on the Narmada River. The compensation received by the local villagers is pennies compared to the prices of land in the area currently.
I have been hearing this bullshit all my life. My relatives had some land in the catchment area of Indira sagar dam. They were paid well by government and used that money to buy property in Indore. Villagers on the otherhand built rickety multiple stories on their small pieces of land, some as small as 200-300 sq feet and claimed compensation.

These "homes" were built with very little use of cement & steel. You can kick the walls down like a frigging bollywood hero and wouldn't have lasted a single monsoon.
 

Cutting Edge 2

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Indo-US civil nuclear deal deadline will be missed

Kolkata: The June 2017 deadline for operationalising the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation will "certainly" be missed, former National Security Adviser MK Narayanan said here on Monday.

At the same time, Narayanan expressed optimism about things falling into place, especially with India boosting its uranium supply.

"The deadline will certainly be missed by every stretch of the imagination," Narayanan told IANS here when quizzed on the recent speculations about the deadline.

Expanding on the major issues that led to the delay, the former West Bengal governor said: "Two big issues were the insurance package, so to say, and there were a lot of discussions that had to be conducted and in the midst of that happened Fukushima (Japan nuclear disaster) which aggravated concerns about what will be the impact of a major nuclear disaster."

"So I think that took a good amount of time (more or less from 2010 to 2013 to 2014) that is one basic issue with deadlines being missed."

Narayanan had played a significant role in the negotiation of the landmark Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement which was announced in 2008.

A joint US-India statement said India and the US Export-Import Bank were "working to complete a financing package for the project, and that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and Toshiba Corp`s Westinghouse Electric had confirmed engineering and site design work would begin immediately."

However, the implementation of the pact has been held up further with Westinghouse Electric running into financial troubles.

"Then of course you run into the problem that the company Westinghouse has run into major problems so as a result, what I would say, at one level (not due to non-performance from our side), more due to other factors, administrative (and other factors across the world) we have had to delay the thing. Hopefully, things will come around," Narayanan said.

The former Intelligence Bureau chief also highlighted that India has shored up its uranium supplies.

"One of the major drawbacks that would have happened... would have been if we didn`t get enough uranium. That is one of our major short supply but that is being assured now... Australia and Canada have agreed to supply us uranium so I think our supplies are assured."

However, he said, "You have to get over some of the administrative and related matters so it will be delayed (nobody can say for how long) but I am optimistic. It is quite an extraordinary deal."

He was speaking on the sidelines of an international energy conference organised by The Neotia University.

http://zeenews.india.com/india/indo-us-civil-n-deal-deadline-will-be-missed-1996938.html
 

Prashant12

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India boosts nuclear power generation as cabinet approves 10 atomic plants
Each reactor will have the capacity to produce 700 MW of electricity


To ramp up nuclear power generation in the country, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared a proposal to build ten indigenous pressurised heavy water reactors.

Each reactor will have the capacity to produce 700 MW of electricity.

"A total of 7000 MW capacity will be added. It will help produce clean energy," Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said.

http://www.business-standard.com/ar...approves-10-atomic-plants-117051700779_1.html
 

Cutting Edge 2

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India boosts nuclear power generation as cabinet approves 10 atomic plants
Each reactor will have the capacity to produce 700 MW of electricity


To ramp up nuclear power generation in the country, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared a proposal to build ten indigenous pressurised heavy water reactors.

Each reactor will have the capacity to produce 700 MW of electricity.

"A total of 7000 MW capacity will be added. It will help produce clean energy," Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said.

http://www.business-standard.com/ar...approves-10-atomic-plants-117051700779_1.html
A welcome step by GOI.:clap2: A straight answer to Russia, USA, etc. No NSG seat, no deals for your companies. We are now going solo on nuclear front. This will increase our self reliance, boost scientific research and protect us from international sections. Not to mention byproduct of these reactors will be used in other interesting programs.:biggrin2:
 

xeaaex

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This is slap in the face of Russia.
Nice stance by government, no nsg no signing of nuclear deal.
And all this was done before Putins visit to India.
 

Cutting Edge 2

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India, Russia Discuss Agreement on New Units for Kudankulam NPP
ASIA & PACIFIC
20:26 19.05.2017
India is working on a memorandum of understanding with Russia for units five and six of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, discussions on unit five and six of the Kudankulam plant is at the internal approval stage.

"Discussions have been held on Kudankulam document. The process is at the stage of internal approval," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Baglay told media.



Earlier, the general framework agreement for units five and six of the KNPP was cleared by the inter-ministerial group.

There is every possibility that the MoU for the fifth and sixth units of KNPP will be signed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia for the India-Russia Annual Summit which will be held in St. Petersburg on June 1.

Russia is to build all the six nuclear reactors at Kudankulam in collaboration with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India. The first and second units of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Corporation are connected to India's southern power grid, while the third and fourth units are being constructed.

https://sputniknews.com/asia/201705191053794671-indiarussia-npp/
 

Prashant12

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Kudankulam Nuclear Plant Unit 3, 4 Construction Begins In India

MOSCOW – Construction of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant units 3 and 4 with Russian participation has begun in India as part of the second stage of construction, the project's general contractor said Thursday.

"A concrete pouring ceremony into the base slab of the Kudankulam NPP third unit's reactor building took place on June 29, 2017, marking the beginning of construction work at the site of construction of the nuclear power plant's second stage," Rosatom state corporation's Atomstroyexport (ASE) Group said.

Kudankulam NPP is being built since 2013 in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The works are carried out by two organisations within Russia's Rosatom state nuclear corporation. The bilateral agreement on the plant’s construction between Moscow and New Delhi was signed in November 1988.

https://sputniknews.com/asia/201706291055081548-kudankulam-nuclear-plant/
 

The Last Stand

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India's Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor the most advanced Indian power plant to start this year.



Advanced reactor type in general, really, because all the others only have small prototypes for testing, and this one will have a ~500 MW capacity if fired up to max. (I think we have a 40 MW test reactor as well)

The problem is not the tech, but that people's initial fears about uranium deposits (many countries found a lot more after the 60s and hence price is cheap) were unfounded and hence most dropped research in Fast Breeders for a few decades.
 

gadeshi

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Advanced reactor type in general, really, because all the others only have small prototypes for testing, and this one will have a ~500 MW capacity if fired up to max. (I think we have a 40 MW test reactor as well)

The problem is not the tech, but that people's initial fears about uranium deposits (many countries found a lot more after the 60s and hence price is cheap) were unfounded and hence most dropped research in Fast Breeders for a few decades.
Russians have production one (BN-800) for 800MWt and BN-1200 under construction.

Отправлено с моего XT1080 через Tapatalk
 

Cutting Edge 2

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Coming soon : Indian fast breeder reactor:clap2:
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-nuclear-reactor-at-kalpakkam-world-s-envy-india-s-pride-2490004



Hidden from public, on the shores of the Bay of Bengal at Kalpakkam near Chennai, Indian nuclear scientists are in the final throes of starting a high-tech giant stove more than 15 years in the making.


This novel nuclear reactor is a kind of an 'akshaya patra', the mythical goblet with a never-ending supply of food.

The Department of Atomic Energy is getting ready to commission its ultra-modern indigenously designed and locally mastered fast breeder reactor.

Experts say to make nuclear energy sustainable, one sure shot way is to make fast breeder reactors mainstream.

Yukiya Amano, Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, says "fast reactors can help extract up to 70 per cent more energy than traditional reactors and are safer than traditional reactors while reducing long lived radioactive waste by several fold." Easier said than done, since these reactors are also notoriously unstable and hence difficult to run reliably over long periods.

Called a 'Fast Breeder Reactor', these are a special kind of nuclear reactors that generate more atomic fuel than they consume as they work.

India has been running an experimental facility called a Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) now for 27 years.


This is a small nuclear reactor a forerunner for the monster that India has constructed at Kalpakkam called the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR). This will generate electricity commercially using the fast breeder route.

The world's only commercially operating fast breeder reactor is situated in the Ural Mountains of Russia at the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant, not far from Russia's fourth largest city Yekateringburg.

The Russians today are the global leaders in fast breeder reactors having operated a fast breeder reactor called BN 600 since 1980.

In 2016, the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom commercially commissioned its big brother -- the BN 800 fast breeder reactor.

This reactor produces about 800 MW of electricity and supplies it to the Ural region including the city of Yekateringburg.

While electricity that is produced is no different than any other electricity but the global community of atomic boffins is suitably chuffed about this unique achievement.

M Chudakov, now with the IAEA and well-known Russian fast breeder expert, calls "these reactors a bridge to the future as they can supply an almost unlimited supply of electricity".

All eyes are now on southern India where another global nuclear milestone is likely to be crossed this year.

Arun Kumar Bhaduri, Director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam says, "Fast breeder reactors are far safer than the current generation of nuclear plants and that all efforts are being made to kickstart within this year India's first commercial fast breeder reactor at Kalpakkam."

Such is the interest in fast breeder reactors that more than 700 of the best atomic scientists from over 30 countries gathered at Yekateringburg in IAEA's conference on the 'next generation nuclear systems for sustainable development'. The scientists deliberated on how to make nuclear energy last for several centuries.

Given India's expertise, the co-chair of the conference was Suresh Chetal, one of the early pioneers of fast breeder reactors who helped tame fast breeder reactors for New Delhi when he was at the IGCAR.

Many countries have dabbled with fast breeder reactors and have given up, first off the block was the US but it gave up since inherently American governments have an allergic response with re-processing of nuclear waste in addition since USA has enough supplies of fissile material there is no hunger to maximally extract energy from uranium.

Japan and France both had robust programs with fast breeder technology but repeated failure to safely handle liquid sodium forced them to more or less give up on fast reactors.

China is more than a decade behind India in trying to master this complex beast.

Russia invested heavily in developing the fast breeder technology but since it commissioned its first fast breeder reactor BN 600 in 1980 it suffered an economic meltdown as the former Soviet Union broke up and only recently Russia could gather enough resources to complete its upgraded fast breeder reactor BN 800.

Today the BN 800 is a flagship reactor that uses both uranium and plutonium as fuel and generates electricity that is supplied to the grid. A visit to the facility reveals a squeaky clean reactor where seasoned operators like Ivan Sidrow are also experimenters as they go about trying to design a bigger 1200 MW fast breeder reactor.

India's own PFBR is unique and rather different from the Russian fast breeder reactor though both use the same basic principle of physics.

Fast breeder reactors are called such not because they run faster but because the neutrons that sustain the atomic chain reaction travel at a much higher velocity than neutrons that help run the traditional atomic plants.

These are called breeders as they generate more fuel than they consume a fact hard to fathom since they seem to defy the laws of conservation of energy.

But a very unique quirk of elemental uranium makes this possible.

Nuclear reactors use a flavour of uranium called U-235 which unfortunately constitutes a minuscule quantity even in super purified uranium.

The larger component is what is called U-238 this flavour is the bulk but is essentially a waste product as the atomic reaction cannot be sustained by this elemental flavour.

In a fast breeder reactor the very special fast neutrons interact with the so called wasted uranium U-238 and converts it into a valuable resource. This is why fast breeders are akin to an 'akshaya patra'.

India's fast breeder reactor is even more unique as within it the country also deploys special rods of thorium which when they get exposed to or irradiated by fast neutrons they generate U-233 and a normally benign thorium turns into a valuable atomic material.

It is well known that India is very energy hungry and as economic growth takes place mega quantities of electricity will be required.

Unfortunately, nature has not been bountiful on India as the Indian land mass is not endowed with enough uranium but on the other hand the country has the world's second largest store of thorium.

Today the country in a well thought out strategy is mastering fast breeder reactors that can be an effective via media for utilising the vast thorium reserves.
 
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Cutting Edge 2

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India to add 7K MW nuclear power capacity: Piyush Goyal
At present, India generates about 6,800 MW of nuclear energy.

The Centre is looking at doubling the nuclear power generation capacity to about 14,000 MW, Union minister Piyush Goyal said today even as he ruled out its becoming the main source of energy for the country.

“We have recently embarked on a plan to expand it by about 7,000 MW more and this will be through indigenously manufactured equipment. So, 10 units of 700 MW each we have proposed and we shall be investing in and we will start on that,” the power and coal minister said at an event in Mumbai.

The Union Cabinet in May had already approved the setting up of 10 indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) for nuclear power generation.

“But, nuclear power will never ever become the main source of energy for India because it is very expensive. It has its own benefits. It is quite free of carbon, it does not pollute the environment and therefore, our government is encouraging it. We do need clean renewable sources of energy which is available 24 hours,” Goyal said.

He said solar energy can only be generated during the day time and wind energy can be generated only during windy hours.

“Therefore, there is a need of a resource, which can be available 24 hours. Hydro is one such energy which we will promote and nuclear energy also we are promoting. But both these source are still quite expensive,” he added.

Goyal further said: “We are dependent on foreign sources for Uranium. As you are aware, China is blocking our entry into the NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group), so we have some challenges. But, we are confident we will make progress.”

In a veiled reference to Donald Trump’s rejection of the Paris climate change agreement, Goyal said India does not agree with the US President’s views on the issue.

“There is an effort and an attempt by some senior leaders of very large countries to belittle the issue of climate change and try and say that it is not really a problem for the world. But, we in India don’t believe so.

“For all of us Indians, we have always respected nature. We have always believed that the environment is an integral part of human existence,” he added.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...iyush-goyal/story-XkL2i8gIIgZA73ns7uE46L.html
 

Cutting Edge 2

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Bright prospects for India’s future fleet
India has approved construction of 9GW of new nuclear plant. Saurav Jha looks at how this boost to its generating capacity will be achieved.

In May 2017, India’s Union Cabinet approved the construction of ten 700MWe Indian Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (IPHWR-700s) in ‘fleet mode’. This decision came just before India’s state-owned nuclear utility, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) concluded a ‘General Framework Agreement and Credit Protocol’ with Russia’s ‘Atomstroyexport’ (ASE, a subsidiary of Rosatom) for units 5&6 of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant.

Both decisions will help India consolidate its nuclear construction industry in different ways. However, these new-build plans also reveal that there are now two pathways for India to boost its nuclear generation capacity in the short to medium term – one based on domestic IPHWR-700s and the other centred around Russian origin VVERs. Other avenues for international collaboration are not really on the table at the moment, given supplier wariness about India’s nuclear liability law and high capital costs and general turmoil in the global nuclear industry.

India is also likely to commission the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) located at Kalpakkam by next year and a Cabinet nod for constructing two 600MWe commercial fast breeder reactors is expected to follow.

IPHWR-700s – the future mainstay
With Cabinet approval, NPCIL, which is controlled by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), will set into motion activities at the various sites where the ten IPHWRs will be built. The sites for these units are to be Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan (units 1,2,3 &4), Chutka (units 1&2) in Madhya Pradesh, Gorakhpur in Haryana (units 3&4), and Kaiga (units 5&6) in Karnataka. All of these are inland sites, in keeping with India’s aim of building new IPHWRs in the hinterland while reserving the coastline for larger imported light water reactors.

Since project activities are already underway for Gorakhpur 1&2 and ‘in-principle’ approval for constructing two IPHWR-700s at Mahi Banswara has already been granted, this latest decision is a move to consolidate domestic IPHWR-700 build plans by looking to construct a fleet of reactors in one go, instead of the usual practice of giving piecemeal orders.

At the moment, four IPHWR-700 units are under various stages of construction in India. Of these four units, the most advanced is Kakrapar 3 in Gujarat, which is currently undergoing cold hydrostatic tests. Hot fuel commissioning is expected to commence by August 2017. The reactor is expected to reach criticality by November 2017 with commercial operations likely to start by early 2018. Its twin unit, Kakrapar 4, is supposed to begin commercial operations 6-7 months later.

The other two IPHWR-700s presently under construction are Rajasthan 7&8 in Rawatbhatta, Rajasthan. All major equipment for these two plants has already been set up and these reactors are likely to be commissioned in the 2019-20 timeframe.

In fact, construction at all of these units is actually experiencing time over-runs. At the time of Cabinet approval in 2009, it was believed that these units could be built in 66 months flat. However, that has turned out to be rather ambitious and each of these units is delayed by about 2-2.5 years with respect to expected completion dates at the time first concrete was poured. The delays have chiefly been on account of slow delivery of supplies and issues related to fine-tuning the IPHWR-700 design itself.

Nevertheless, the decision to build ten IPHWR-700 units in fleet mode does reveal a certain confidence in this design going forward. It seems that NPCIL’s membership of the CANDU Operators Group may have also come in handy in sorting out some of the residual issues with the design, especially now that India and Canada have a nuclear deal in place.

Though the IPHWR-700 design retains many features of the baseline IPHWR-540 units, such as two diverse and fast-acting shutdown systems, double containment reactor building, water-filled calandria vault and integral calandria/end-shield assembly, it also exhibits certain key improvements.

An uprating from 540MWe to 700MWe has been achieved by allowing partial boiling at the coolant channel outlet, even though the number of coolant channels stays the same as before. The design also has enhanced safety features such as the interleaving of primary heat transport system feeders, to reduce the core void coefficient and minimise reactor over-power during a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) or core meltdown. The IPHWR-700 also incorporates for the first time in IPHWR design history a passive decay heat removal system, regional over-power protection, containment spray system, mobile fuel transfer machine, and a steel liner on the inner containment wall. The passive decay heat condenser is capable of removing up to 3% decay heat.

Perhaps the greatest attraction of these reactors is that they can be wholly built via domestic supply chains. Indeed, the ‘fleet mode’ decision is driven by the need to place sizeable orders with Indian industry to achieve economies of scale and ensure that delivery timelines can be met, unlike in the past. The Indian government expects that the construction of these ten IPHWR-700s will generate orders worth $11 billion for Indian industry and result in the employment of some 33,400 people. The ‘fleet mode’ aims to break the ‘capacity creation vs existing orders’ conundrum that plagues any heavy industry and ensure that hard-won manufacturing ability does not atrophy due to long lean periods.

The chief beneficiaries of this new plan are expected to be companies like HCC, which is the lead engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm for Kakrapur and Rajasthan, as well as heavy engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T), which has supplied major heavy forgings based equipment such as steam generators for the same units.

Overwhelmingly domestic sources of supply are expected to keep capital costs for these reactors under control, although these IPHWR- 700s are likely to be more expensive than the IPHWR-700s already under construction. While each of those units will end up costing over Rs61.60 billion (taking Kakrapur 3 as a benchmark), the average build cost for the new units will be around Rs82.75 billion (based on the projected cost for Chutka 1&2). With these figures, IPWHR-700s are going to cost about $1850 per kilowatt to build at current exchange rates. In terms of levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) estimates, these plants will be competitive with new coal-fired units.

Presently, NPCIL operates a fleet of two IPHWR-540s and 14 IPHWR-220s, besides two smaller PHWRs in Rajasthan, one of which is now essentially a research reactor. The total number of new IPHWR-700s approved for construction is now twelve to add to the four already being built. Taken together, these 16 new IPHWR-700s will add 11,200MWe (gross) or 10,080MWe (net) to the Indian grid system.

Up to 40% of their fuel could be slightly enriched uranium (SEU) – with about 1.1% U-235, to achieve a higher fuel burn-up of about 21,000 MW-day per tonne (MWd/t) instead of around 7000MWd/t. Initially, the required SEU can be imported given that some of these reactors will be placed under safeguards, but by 2025 India’s new gas-centrifuge enrichment plant in Chitradurga in Karnataka is expected to supply the fleet’s needs.

The Russian option
The IPHWR-700 would be classified as a medium-sized reactor by the IAEA. For true large capacity reactors, Russian pressurised water reactors (PWRs) or VVERs are currently the only game in town as far as the Department of Atomic Energy is concerned.

In Tamil Nadu, two 1050MWe (gross) AES-92 units, Kudankulam 1&2, are currently operational while Kudankulam 3&4 (which are also AES-92 designs) are under construction. In June 2017 NPCIL signed a general framework and credit protocol agreement (GFA) with Atomstroyexport for two more AES-92 units at the site (Kudankulam 5&6.) With the GFA, the contract negotiations for the two units has entered what Rosatom calls the ‘practical phase’ with ‘the obligations of the two sides, costs and other important conditions of their cooperation’ being delineated, apparently setting the stage for the project to take-off.

Overall, the Kudankulam project seems to have stabilised now despite a huge delay and a variety of problems, not the least of which were massive protests in 2011-12 when Kudankulam 1 was undergoing pre-commissioning tests. The first two units were also delayed due to issues related to the turbine sets supplied by Russia’s Silmash. In addition NPCIL’s engineers, who were mostly conversant with PHWRs, took time to absorb Russian PWR technology, and only 80 Russian supervisory staff were present at the site at any given time.

Owing to the significant delay in their commissioning, Kudankulam 1&2 ended up being some Rs90 billion over budget. Subsequently, haggling related to the vendor liability sub-clause in India’s Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010 (CNLD 2010), with ASE demanding India provide re-insurance for future reactors, meant that India and Russia signed contracts for Kudankulam 3&4 only at the end of 2014 and for a project cost of Rs398 billion, which is more than double what was agreed for the initial two units. The sharp escalation in build costs was in no small measure due to liability issues. So while Kudankulam 1&2 are supplying power at around the Rs4.0 per kWh mark, it is unlikely that the power from Kudankulam 3&4 will cost anything less than Rs6.0 per kWh when they are ready for commercial operations sometime in the mid-2020s.

It seems that Kudankulam 5&6 will be even costlier, with the contract for building these two reactors expected to be worth Rs500 billion ($7.76 billion at current exchange rates). The Indian side is keen that costs do not escalate and that the spend also ends up boosting India’s nuclear industry. So the final contract for these units is linked to the implementation of the ‘Programme of Action for Localisation in India’ signed by India and Russia on 24 December 2015, to increase the domestic value content of Russian VVERs built in India.

India hopes that local content will rise to as much as 60% by the time Kudankulam 7&8 are built. Incidentally, Kudakulam 7&8 will be 1200MWe AES-2006 units, taking the total gross capacity envisaged for Kudankulam to nearly 10GWe. All Russian reactors built in India will come under safeguards with Russia guaranteeing the supply of enriched fuel. India has the ‘right to reprocess’ the spent fuel from these reactors. India and Russia are also in talks to set up a fuel fabrication plant for Russian origin reactors on Indian soil.

Since NPCIL now feels confident about Russian VVERs, and the fact that the Russians offer substantial credit lines for their reactors in addition to the promise of localisation, another six 1200MWe AES-2006 units are being projected for construction at Kavali in Andhra Pradesh on India’s East Coast. Kavali is an alternate site that is being offered to the Russians following the West Bengal state government’s reluctance to allow the already surveyed Haripur site be used to set up a nuclear plant.

Other options?
Unlike the Russian VVERs, other foreign designs are unlikely to be built in India any time soon despite the projections that were made at the time of India’s waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group. India’s CNLD is still a major deterrent for Western and Japanese suppliers, despite New Delhi instituting an Indian Nuclear Insurance Pool in June 2015 to serve as a workaround to supplier liability.

For example, even as EDF submitted a revised proposal to NPCIL in July 2016 for six EPR-1650s to be built at Jaitapur In Maharashtra, it sought guarantee of ‘the same level of protection’ in relation to liability that is available at the international level, while citing the Vienna convention on liability. Earlier in September 2015, GE-Hitachi also said that it would not proceed with any project in India unless the latter’s liability regime was consonant with international standards. Toshiba-Westinghouse has said in the past that it would wait to supply equipment to India till such time the country ratified the Convention on Supplementary Compensation, something that has now happened.

But liability is not the only issue getting in the way of these reactor types being built in India. Even though both coastal zone and environmental clearances are in place for the Jaitapur site, DAE is now rather wary of building this type given the high LCOE projections that are being made on the basis of estimated project costs for EPR-1650 construction in India, even with appreciable localisation levels. LCOEs north of Rs12.0 per kWh are being projected and this would be prohibitive in India’s increasingly liberalised power market. In fact, DAE had earlier sought to obtain a commitment from Areva that the cost of power from Indian EPRs would not exceed Rs7.0 per kWh. There are now also doubts about the quality of certain French- origin forgings after reports about them from Flamanville in France and Taishan in China.

The prospects for GE-Hitachi’s Economic Simplified Boing Water Reactor (ESBWR) to be built in India are dimmer. In June 2016, DAE stated that it would not support the construction of any reactor design in India that did not have a reference plant, basically ruling out the ESBWR for the foreseeable future. At the same time, DAE re-assigned the Kovvada site in Andhra Pradesh, which was earlier reserved to host GE-Hitachi-supplied reactors, to Toshiba-Westinghouse’s AP1000 design.

The allocation of Kovvada to Westinghouse happened due to land acquisition issues ruling out the Chhaya-Mithi Virdi site in Gujarat that had been originally earmarked for building AP1000s. However, the AP1000’s prospects for construction in India have also fallen, due to Westinghouse filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the USA. Though Westinghouse insists that the Kovvada project is ‘structured in a manner that does not include construction risk’, DAE insiders are now sceptical about Westinghouse’s staying power for this venture. No commercial contract has followed the submission of a techno-commercial offer by Westinghouse in 2016 for building six AP1000 units at the Kovvada site, thereby making Westinghouse’s plan to start the project in 2018 very unlikely.

Capital cost is also an issue for the Kovvada project. India fears a major escalation in capital costs as the project gets stretched out. The massive increase in estimated project costs for the AP1000 build proposals at the Levy County site in Florida over a period of just five years are adding to these fears. DAE has formed a panel to flesh out the broad financing for the six AP1000s and has tasked a finance negotiating committee with getting the details of a possible funding package from US Exim Bank, which has agreed to partly finance the Kovvada project. DAE is also concerned about the delays that have plagued the commissioning of the first Chinese AP1000 unit, Sanmen 1.

Given these developments, it is seeming more and more likely that the first non-Russian LWR to be built in India will be the indigenous 900MWe Indian PWR or IPWR, whose design is now complete. The IPWR has the support of India’s heavy industry and boasts generation III+ safety features including a core-catcher. Indian industry is keen to build up capacity to support this design and DAE is confident of sourcing fuel from both domestic and international sources, since it is likely to be placed under safeguards.

Second stage
What is not likely to be placed under safeguards anytime soon is the 500MWe PFBR awaiting criticality at Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu. India’s first medium-sized FBR is being built by Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam or Bhavini, which is a DAE-controlled utility specifically set up to manage India’s future fleet of FBRs. Bhavini expects that the PFBR will attain first-criticality sometime in late 2017 and the reactor will be fully commissioned by mid-2018.

Commissioning of the project, on which about Rs54.00 billion has been spent thus far, has already been delayed by almost seven years. The delay to some extent is on account of Indian scientists looking to ‘get things right the first time over’, given typical fears of a sodium coolant leak from a liquid-metal cooled FBR of this design and the negative publicity such an event would entail for the second-stage of India’s three-stage nuclear programme.

Once the PFBR attains criticality, a Cabinet nod is expected for two 600MWe CFBRs which will boast a better breeding ratio and enhanced safety features – besides being easier to produce as a more standardised design.

For the time being, however, India is banking on IPHWR-700s and Russian-designed VVERs to boost nuclear generation capacity to 25,000MWe by 2030 at a time when India is looking to chart a carbon-light growth path for itself.
 

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India, European Union restart talks on civil nuclear agreement

NEW DELHI: India and European Union have restarted negotiations on a civil nuclear agreement that was virtually mothballed after being signed way back in 2009. European Union experts from Brussels held discussions with officials from department of atomic energy last week in Mumbai.

With Europol beginning a working relationship with India's NIA to tackle terrorism and track terror groups that might target either side, there is a greater emphasis on security, counter-terrorism and foreign policy between India and EU, indicating the two are moving beyond their stalled free trade agreement.

The India-EU civil nuclear agreement, unlike others, focuses on nuclear safety and "non-power technologies in the areas of water, health care and medicine, environment, etc." Indicating a new interest in cooperating on maritime security, EU has asked India to escort World Food Program (WFP) ships through the Indian Ocean as they travel to African states with food aid, recognising India's capacities and intentions of being a security provider in the Indian Ocean.



India is re-engaging Europe, which is a significant development as the world enters a period of profound changes. The UK is peeling away from the EU creating a great deal of uncertainty. Over in the US, Trump appears to be upending an international order with his inexplicable tactical moves. To the east, the growth of China as an aggressive expansionist power impacts both India's interests and growth trajectory. From treating the EU with a degree of exasperation, Modi signalled a change this summer when, in the presence of Angela Merkel, he declared, "the cohesiveness of EU is very important."


Nevertheless, the lack of progress on a free trade agreement sends the wrong signals. German ambassador Martin Ney lent voice to this collective frustration when he said last week that India and EU had "failed" to realise the true potential of their relationship. The lack of a bilateral trade and investment agreement (BTIA) is telling on many European investments which cannot invest in India in the absence of an investment protection environment. After a meeting between commerce minister Suresh Prabhu and his European counterparts in Marakesh, sources said, chief negotiators from both sides are scheduled to meet in Delhi in mid-November to restart negotiations.


A proverbial late entrant, India will be playing catch-up, as EU is on the verge of completing FTA negotiations with Vietnam among a host of Asian countries. However, EU sources said they had stepped up EU public investment via the European investment bank which has pledged euro 1.5 billion in key infrastructure projects like Lucknow and Bengaluru metros and climate change projects. To give a helping hand to European investments, sources said, a bilateral committee acts as a facilitator by working through the difficult Indian system.


India is trying to reach out to EU for development cooperation and implementation of Modi government's flagship projects. Officials point to the growing canvas of the India-EU relationship. It is significant, diplomats said, that the initiative for scheduling the 2017 India-EU summit was taken by India. Europe and India took a similar stand on a "rules based international order," giving a thumbs down for the China model of development.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...il-nuclear-agreement/articleshow/61138556.cms
 

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has asked India to escort World Food Program (WFP) ships through the Indian Ocean as they travel to African states with food aid, recognising India's capacities and intentions of being a security provider in the Indian Ocean
now that is going to burn a certain neighbor of ours \
 

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