Nuclear Power in India

[gearedcombustor]

Coal crisis:

Nuclear plants are operating at near full capacity and exceeding their planned targets which is rare as purchasers prioritise cheap coal based power over nuclear if they can avoid although it is against the Central guidelines.

Central guidance says Solar+Wind+Hydro+Nuclear are Must Run category which means any power produced should be considered primary and purchased in full at any PPA price. Cheaper Coal and other thermal is considered dynamic load and should cover the rest only.

KAPS-1, MAPS-1, NAPS-1 are down for their 20-year enmass refuelling. KAPS-3 is operating at low load although it is still in tetsing and not commissioned and is not reflected in this report as it is directly selling to exchange.

Data for September: (October data is much wilder - We are only 10 days into october but they exceeded their 17 days target)

 

[gearedcombustor]

Tenders have been released to complete the final phase of BARC Vizag campus.

Next likely efforts could include start of construction work on High Flux Research Reactor and Innovative High temperature Reactor ar Vizag.

NFC Kota construction seems to be nearly complete and will be primary supplier to all the new PHWRs comping up.

GHAVP-1&2 foundation work seems to be nearing completion. Main buildings likely to start construction around January.

KAPP-4 few months away from completion. Covid delayed this one significantly.

RAPP-7&8 are each a year away from completion.

But most of these delays are due to HR issues and not execution issues. KAPP-4, RAPP-7&8 commissioning and GHAVP-1 &2, KKNPP-3 to 6 construction are putting incredible stress on HR resources in NPCIL. They don't have enough trained and experienced people to execute so many projects at the same time. They are being stretched too far. Training and experience validation of new people takes time.

 

[Tshering22]

Little correction to it. We no longer have any shortage of Uranium after we found massive reserves in Andhra Pradesh. Infact our uranium reserves are now equal to that of America and among the largest in the world.
According to Wikipedia
India 129000 tons and usa 138000 tons.

Now import is still welcome as it will take time and money to mine actual uranium and process it.

But thankfully we have no shortage . We can ramp up our nuclear program whenever we want.

Are you sure of this? Sorry, I don't follow nuclear news as it is too sciency for an expedition specialist like me. But out of curiosity and being a taxpaying citizen, I just wanted to that if we sufficient reserves, assuming that it was a mining study that found the new reserves in Andhra, how come we are not building civil nuclear power plants left, right and centre on a war footing to cut down the coal-fired power plants that generate 56% of our national power?

 

[Chinmoy]

Are you sure of this? Sorry, I don't follow nuclear news as it is too sciency for an expedition specialist like me. But out of curiosity and being a taxpaying citizen, I just wanted to that if we sufficient reserves, assuming that it was a mining study that found the new reserves in Andhra, how come we are not building civil nuclear power plants left, right and centre on a war footing to cut down the coal-fired power plants that generate 56% of our national power?

As per DAE, estimated Uranium reserve in India is about 3,50,000 tonne.

 

[gearedcombustor]

Are you sure of this? Sorry, I don't follow nuclear news as it is too sciency for an expedition specialist like me. But out of curiosity and being a taxpaying citizen, I just wanted to that if we sufficient reserves, assuming that it was a mining study that found the new reserves in Andhra, how come we are not building civil nuclear power plants left, right and centre on a war footing to cut down the coal-fired power plants that generate 56% of our national power?

We aren't building fast due to financial limitations, manpower limitations and site land acquisition issues.

Each plant requires USD 4 Billion for a single unit and GoI doesn't have so much to spare for power plants as the money is being spent on other infrastructure.

Instead, GoI wants project financing for all new power plants mainly from the likes of World Bank, japan, ADB etc. Solar, Wind and other power plants are being financed through this method.

The above international financing method is not available for nuclear plants and hence we have to rely on other methods or pay full cost out of pocket.

Govt currently only has approved financial sanction for 5 plants and is further planning 10 more out of it's own capex budget and local sovereign guaranteed borrowings.

To build more we need external financing which is only possible via government to government deals like Kudankulam where the financing countries expect the reactors to be their designs to support their industries

Hence, this is why govt is courting the French, Americans and Russians for Jaitapur, Srikakulam and Kudankulam respectively although we have our own designs we can build. But French and American projects aren't moving ahead easily due to other resons - French designs are too expensive and not economically viable, the American Westinghouse was recently bankrupt and doesn't have assets to secure funding for their. Russian ones are moving ahead.

Chutka (MP) and Mahi Banswara(RJ) land acquisition is going slower than expected due to local opposition. Haripur(WB) isn't moving at all because WB state govt is not cooperating with centre. One site in Gujarat was cancelled and moved to Mahi Banswara because of local political issues

TL;DR; There is no money build too many at a time.

 

[gearedcombustor]

Hearing that the AHWR design is fully complete and BARC/NPCIL have applied to AERB for Construction consent for the first unit at Tarapur.


As per the 2017 plan this was supposed to be complete by December 2020 but this was delayed due to slow down in experiments due to covid.
One of the reasons that the design took so much time was because the fuel fabrication was too unsafe for operators even while hotcells were being utilised and forced BARC to chnage the fuel loading design to make the fuel fabrication safer.
This required the revalidation of all physics parameters.

The fuelling machine prototype, the coolant pumps have all completed five years of validation testing.

The designs for all components including reactor building, turbine building and associated buildings are complete.

C&I, Physics database have also been completed and signed off.

AERB is conducting the final Consenting design review.

NPCIL is awaiting PMO and FinMin clearance to start publishing tenders.

Real Construction start likely from Mid-2022. Commissioning by 2025-27. If they receive PMO and FinMin approval

 

[Butter Chicken]

 

[lcafanboy]

Indian scientists extract record uranium from seawater that could power nuclear plants

Indian scientists extract record uranium from seawater that could power nuclear plants

Indian researchers, in a bid to push nuclear reactors towards renewable sources, have extracted record uranium from seawater.

www.indiatoday.in

 

[Cheran]

India approves installation of 10 new nuclear reactors in five states

Two nuclear reactors each will be installed in Kaiga, Chutka, and Gorakhpur nuclear power plants.

www.indiatoday.in

India approves installation of 10 new nuclear reactors in five states

Two nuclear reactors will each be installed in Kaiga, Chutka, and Gorakhpur nuclear power plants.

 

[karn]

https://www.barc.gov.in/barc_nl/2021/2021010204.pdf

Indian High Temperature Reactor Development Programme BARC is developing a technology demonstrator Compact High Temperature Reactor (CHTR), and a 20 MW Innovative High Temperature Reactor (IHTR). During the initial developments for HTRs, coolant exit temperature for the reactors was proposed as 1000 °C so as to facilitate hydrogen production from water by Iodine-Sulphur process.

BARC is working on so called "Red hydrogen" Directly producing hydrogen from steam.
The output coolant temperature is so high that excess heat will be used for power generation and further waste heat for thermal desalination.
Status of project.

Current status and way forward As mentioned above, for CHTR, besides designing the reactor, experimental thermal hydraulic studies, development of TRISO coated fuel on natural urania, BeO, graphite oxidation studies, development of high temperature sodium heat pipes have been carried out. Manufacturing of components for a lower power electrical heated facility of the reactor is in progress. Subsequently this facility will be set up to demonstrate integral behaviour of the reactor. The design of the demonstration IHTR is in progress.

 

[Eagle Eye]

I am not comfortable with constructing Nuclear plants near Ganga river or near any rivers.

ps- Chinese focusing more Nuclear plants near coastal areas!

 

[Indx TechStyle]

India's first domestically built 700 MW nuclear reactor starts commercial operations

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is building two 700 MW pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) at Kakrapar, which is also home to two 220 MW power plants.

India’s first indigenously developed 700 MW nuclear power reactor at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP) in Gujarat started commercial operations on Friday, a senior official said.

"With great pleasure, this is to inform that our first indigenous 700 MWe Unit, KAPP-3, has become commercial on 30th June 2023 at 1000 Hrs," a senior KAPP official said.

Presently, the unit is operating at 90 percent of its total power, he said. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is building two 700 MW pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) at Kakrapar, which is also home to two 220 MW power plants.

Various commissioning activities were underway at KAPP 4, which had achieved 96.92 percent progress by May end, according to officials. The NPCIL plans to build sixteen 700 MW PHWRs across the country and has granted financial and administrative sanction for the same.

Construction of 700 MW nuclear power plants is underway at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan (RAPS 7 and 8) and at Gorakhpur in Haryana (GHAVP 1 and 2).

The government has sanctioned building of 10 indigenously developed PHWRs in fleet mode at four locations — Gorakhpur in Haryana, Chutka in Madhya Pradesh, Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan and Kaiga in Karnataka.

 

[Gessler]

This is probably no longer getting anywhere. We don't seem comfortable with the EPR.

In the recent joint statement from Modi's US visit, the Westinghouse 6x reactor plan was brought to the fore again after a long time (originally to be built in Andhra). It helps that the US itself operates the AP1000 (which cannot be said for EPR).

We'll see how this goes.

 

[Cheran]

India's First Indigenous 700 MW Nuclear Power Reactor Begins Commercial Operations

India's first domestically developed 700 MW nuclear power reactor at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP) in Gujarat commenced commercial operations on 30 June, as confirmed by a senior KAPP official to news agency PTI

swarajyamag.com

India's First Indigenous 700 MW Nuclear Power Reactor Begins Commercial Operations

 

[Photon]

New anti India activity against indias primary uranium mine...
illegal surveys near mine with US private university-funded research(Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)

Residents near one of India's largest uranium mines suspect contamination affecting their fields and health

Waste from a tailings pond of a uranium mine is leaching into the groundwater, causing pollution, say residents near Tummalapalle mine in AP.

india.mongabay.com

These cases were reported particularly from the villages near the tailings pond, namely Tummalapalle, Kottala, and MC Palle, according to ethnographic research conducted by Misria Shaik Ali, in September and October 2022, as part of a thesis submitted to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. H

View attachment 217793

 

[LondonParisTokyo]

New anti India activity against indias primary uranium mine...
illegal surveys near mine with US private university-funded research(Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)

Residents near one of India's largest uranium mines suspect contamination affecting their fields and health

Waste from a tailings pond of a uranium mine is leaching into the groundwater, causing pollution, say residents near Tummalapalle mine in AP.

india.mongabay.com

These cases were reported particularly from the villages near the tailings pond, namely Tummalapalle, Kottala, and MC Palle, according to ethnographic research conducted by Misria Shaik Ali, in September and October 2022, as part of a thesis submitted to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. H

View attachment 217793

I just skimmed the affiliated paper. I will include some odd points. The punctuation makes this difficult to read.

"Cognitive Justice “recognizes the right of different forms of knowledge to coexist” and
demands “the recognition of knowledges other than science, seen not within the lens of science
or the litmus test of scientific proof but as ways of living that had their own cognitive validity”
(Visvanathan 2009)" - lol wtf is this?

"However, post positivists, postmodernist and subaltern analyses of scientific
knowledge have been constrained in the fields of STS and postcolonial thought by debates
around science wars and criticism about epistemological relativism (Rose 2007; Go 2016)." - This entire thesis is a complete waste of time and not based in anything but time wasting. How is the GoI allowing people to conduct this type of "research"???

 

[Photon]

I just skimmed the affiliated paper. I will include some odd points. The punctuation makes this difficult to read.

"Cognitive Justice “recognizes the right of different forms of knowledge to coexist” and
demands “the recognition of knowledges other than science, seen not within the lens of science
or the litmus test of scientific proof but as ways of living that had their own cognitive validity”
(Visvanathan 2009)" - lol wtf is this?

"However, post positivists, postmodernist and subaltern analyses of scientific
knowledge have been constrained in the fields of STS and postcolonial thought by debates
around science wars and criticism about epistemological relativism (Rose 2007; Go 2016)." - This entire thesis is a complete waste of time and not based in anything but time wasting. How is the GoI allowing people to conduct this type of "research"???

The "Misria Shaik Ali" profile is totally suspicious with the hidden agendas she is claiming like india doing muslim genocide in one of her post..

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

Misria Shaik Ali

Independent - Critical Nuclear Studies - Feminist Science Studies - Agnotology - Feminist Political Ecology

scholar.google.com

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Some NPCI reactors have set record by operating nonstop for 365 days on 42 occasions: AEC chief
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI) has achieved multiple records with its nuclear reactors, operating continuously for over 365 days on 42 occasions and over 700 days on five occasions, according to Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman AK Mohanty.

MUMBAI: Some nuclear reactors of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI) have set a record by operating continuously for more than 365 days on 42 occasions, and more than 700 days on five occasions, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman AK Mohanty said on Wednesday while addressing the 67th general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at Vienna.

“One remarkable achievement is that Unit-3 at Kakrapar in Gujarat recently commenced commercial operation, the first-of-its-kind 700MW indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR),” Mohanty declared.

The AEC chief recalled that during the recent G20 Summit under India’s presidency, the countries that opt to use civil nuclear energy reaffirmed their role in providing clean energy. These countries will now collaborate in research, innovation, development and deployment of civil nuclear technologies, including advanced and small modular reactors (SMRs), he said.

Referring to some of the other developments, he said Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) had successfully tested the flight of a space exploration capsule at the institute’s balloon facility in Hyderabad on December 7, 2022.

In another breakthrough, he said, the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) has indigenously developed a new state-of-the-art automated machining centre, contributing to Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

Mohanty also told the delegates that Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed beneficial applications of radioisotopes and radiation relating to agriculture, medicine and industry.

The AEC chief said that Heavy Water Board (HWB), the largest global producer of heavy water, has been exporting heavy water to several countries for non-power applications. The Institute for Plasma Research (IPR) is collaborating with the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France for development in fusion technologies, he added.

 

[Tshering22]

Some NPCI reactors have set records by operating nonstop for 365 days on 42 occasions: AEC chief
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI) has achieved multiple records with its nuclear reactors, operating continuously for over 365 days on 42 occasions and over 700 days on five occasions, according to Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman AK Mohanty.

What are the prospects of exporting these reactors to smaller countries? Niger is looking to make its own nuclear power plant. Can NPCL deliver such reactors using financing from the BRICS NDB bank? Given the shadow sanctions on Niamey, they would very much be open to financing in Rubles and Rupees.

Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, etc., are small countries that need small, modular reactors compared to the massive ones that Russia's Rosatom exports. Also, our entry into Niamey will not be seen with as much hostility by the French as they'd see Russian entrance, leaving them some room to return as JV partners or investors in these projects.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

What are the prospects of exporting these reactors to smaller countries? Niger is looking to make its own nuclear power plant. Can NPCL deliver such reactors using financing from the BRICS NDB bank? Given the shadow sanctions on Niamey, they would very much be open to financing in Rubles and Rupees.

India can get fund on its own LCs. Problem remains workload where we have to take our nuclear energy 5 times by 2030.

NPCIL gets the most of work done by L&T, BHEL & Godrej (have worked on one of these reactors ) for building nuclear reactors and is moving faster than ever. Yet is far behind our own targets, leave alone building reactors for others.