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Indian Nuclear Reactors
Details of existing and planned Indian nuclear reactors, safeguarded and unsafeguarded
Under the recent Indo-US nuclear deal India agreed to place 14 out of its 22 commercial nuclear power reactors under safeguards, amounting to about two-thirds of current nuclear power generation as against two-fifths at present (Two reactors each at Tarapur, Rawatbhatta and Koodankulam built with US, Canadian and Russian assistance respectively are already under safeguards). All future commercial power reactors will also be placed under international safeguards.
Contents
* List of Reactors
* Why We Need Eight Unsafeguarded Commercial Reactors
* Planned Russian Reactors
* Nuclear fuel from Russia
* French Evolutionary Power Reactors (EPRs)
* US Supplied Nuclear Reactors
* Nuclear Power as Total Installed Capacity Percentage
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Thakur, Vijainder K. Indian Nuclear Reactors
etails of existing and planned Indian nuclear reactors, safeguarded and unsafeguarded [Internet]. Version 21. Knol. 2010 Apr 21. Available from:
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India currently operates 18 commercial nuclear power plants with a total installed capacity of 4,340 MW. Four nuclear power plants with a total installed capacity of 2,440 MW are under construction.
The nuclear power capacity addition target for the XI plan (2007-12) is 3160 MW which will bring the total installed capacity to 7280 MW.
Project for 2800 MW capacity addition by 2016/2017 have been approved in the year 2009.
List of Reactors
Location Unit Name Capacity (mw) Utility Type Reactor Supplier Percent Complete Expected / Actual Date of Operation
Kaiga,
Karnataka Kaiga 1 220 NP PHWR NPCIL 100
11/2000
Kaiga 2 220 NP PHWR NPCIL 100
03/2000
Kaiga 3 220 NP PHWR NPCIL 100
05/2007
Kaiga 4 220 NP PHWR NPCIL 97.0 06/2010
Kakrapar,
Gujarat Kakrapar 1 220 NP PHWR DAE/NPCIL 100
05/1993
Kakrapar 2 220 NP PHWR DAEC/NPCIL 100
09/1995
Kakrapar 3 700 NP PHWR NPCIL 0 /2015
Kakrapar 4 700 NP PHWR NPCIL 0 /2015
Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu Kalpakkam 1 220 NP PHWR DAE 100
01/1984
Kalpakkam 2 220 NP PHWR DAE 100
03/1986
Kota,
Rajasthan Rajasthan 1 100 NP PHWR AECL 100
12/1973
Rajasthan 2 200 NP PHWR AECL/DAE 100
4/1981
Rajasthan 3 220 NP PHWR NPCIL 100
06/2000
Rajasthan 4 220 NP PHWR NPCIL 100
12/2000
Rajasthan 5 220 NP PHWR NPCIL 100
03/2010
Rajasthan 6 220 NP PHWR NPCIL 99 03/2010
Rajasthan 7 700 NP PHWR NPCIL 0 06/2016
Rajasthan 8 700 NP PHWR NPCIL 0 12/2016
Kudankulam,
Tamil Nadu Kudankulam 1 1,000 NP PWR Russia 93.9 09/2010
Kadunkulam 2 1,000 NP PWR Russia 83.7 03/2011
Narora,
Uttar Pradesh Narora 1 220 NP PHWR DAE/NPCIL 100
01/1991
Narora 2 220 NP PHWR DAE/NPCIL 100
07/1992
Tarapur, Maharashtra Tarapur 1 160 NP BWR GE 100
11/1969
Tarapur 2 160 NP BWR GE 100
11/1969
Tarapur 3 540 NP PHWR NPCIL 100
08/2006
Tarapur 4 540 NP PHWR NPCIL 100
09/2005
Research Reactors 1Apsara 1 BARC PWR UK 100
08/1956
2Cirus 40
PHWR Canada 100
1960
3Dhruva 100
PHWR BARC 100
11/1969
4FBTR 100 NP Sodium Cooled DAE 100
7/1997
5Kamini 100 NP Sodium Cooled DAE 100
1989
Prototype FBR 500 BARC Sodium Cooled DAE ? 2010
1This reactor is slated to be moved out of the BARC complex, which along with the research facilities at Kalpakkam will not be subject to safeguards under the purview of the recent nuclear deal with the US.
2Under the deal India has promised to phase out Cirus over the next five years. The reactor went critical in 1960 and is capable of producing up to 10kg of weapons-grade plutonium in its spent fuel annually. Although the reactor is not under IAEA safeguards, a 1956 Indo-Canadian agreement prohibits the use of plutonium produced in the reactor for non-peaceful purposes. However, the agreement includes no enforcement mechanism and India has interpreted the prohibition to exclude "peaceful nuclear explosions." India used plutonium produced in the Cirus reactor for its 1974 nuclear test, causing Canada to cease all nuclear cooperation with India, including nuclear fuel shipments.
3Capable of producing up to 30kg of weapon grade plutonium each year. It is likely that most Indian nuclear warheads use plutonium extracted from this research reactor.
4Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) uses indigenously developed mixed uranium-plutonium carbide fuel core.
5The Kamini reactor is fueled by U-233 (irradiated thorium) and is part of India's strategy to eventually use U-233 as the primary fuel for India's nuclear program. The Kamini reactor is the only reactor in the world fueled by U-233.
BARC has announced plans to replace the aging Cirus and Druva reactors. A 100MW reactor based on the Dhruva design is very optimistically expected to become operational by 2010.
Another reactor design team at Trombay has completed a preliminary plan for building a new 500 megawatt electric (MWe) Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) that will burn mixed-oxide (MOX) and thorium fuel.
Why We Need Eight Unsafeguarded Commercial Reactors
The uranium fuel rods used in India's heavy-water nuclear power plants can be processed to extract plutonium that can be used in nuclear weapons. However, normally for electrical power production the uranium fuel remains in the reactor for three to four years, which produces plutonium of 60 percent or less Pu-239, 25 percent or more Pu-240, 10 percent or more Pu-241, and a few percent Pu-242. The Pu-240 has a high spontaneous rate of fission, and the amount of Pu-240 in weapons-grade plutonium generally does not exceed 6 percent, with the remaining 93 percent Pu-239. Higher concentrations of Pu-240 can result in pre-detonation of the weapon, significantly reducing yield and reliability.
Under normal conditions, plutonium extracted from commercial reactors is not desirable for use in nuclear weapons due to a low concentration of Pu-239. For the production of weapons-grade plutonium with lower Pu-240 concentrations, the fuel rods in a reactor have to be changed frequently, about every four months or less. Indian heavy water reactors do not have to be shut down in order to change fuel rods. So India has the option to harvest weapons-grade plutonium from those of its 8 commercial nuclear power plants not under safeguard, by changing some of the fuel rods.
The Nuclear treaty with the US mandates that all future commercial nuclear power plants will be subject to safeguards. In other words, to augment its supply of plutonium in the future India will need to construct dedicated military nuclear plants whose electrical output could not be utilized commercially, something that would drive up the cost of the plutonium exponentially.
A large part of the plutonium supply from the 8 commercial reactors not under safeguards will need to be diverted to India's fast breeder program which will initially be fueled by plutonium. While it is true that the plutonium fed into a fast breeder reactor can eventually be recovered, the process takes time. Indeed, it was for this reason that putting the fast breeder reactors under safeguards at this stage was unacceptable to India since it would have starved our nuclear weapons program of the quantum required to achieve a credible nuclear deterrence.
India's military weapon program requires Tritium for producing boosted fission and thermonuclear warheads. India extracts the Tritium from heavy water used in commercial PHWR.
Fast Breeder Reactors
The 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor being constructed at Kalpakkam is expected to become operational by 2010.
Central government has approved four more FBRs of 500 MW each during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period.
Of the four additional FBRs to be constructed, two will be located at Kalpakkam. A site for the other two reactors is yet to be identified. These reactors are expected to go critical by 2020.
Planned Russian Reactors
During the state visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, India and Russia signed an agreement on Friday, December 5, to build an additional four reactors for the Kudankulam nuclear power plant and construct two new nuclear plants in India.
Russia is seeking two additional plant sites in addition to Kudankulam, one of which has already been allocated at in Haripur, West Bengal.
Russian ambassador Alexander Kadakin told the Hindu in December 2009 that each of the three plant sites could have 10 reactors each.
In a separate deal, Russia agreed to supply $700 million worth of nuclear fuel to India.
During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Russia in December 2009 it was announced that the two new nuclear reactors to be setup with Russian assistance will be located at Haripur in West Bengal.
Each of the Russian reactors will cost $1.5 billion.
Nuclear fuel from Russia
A civil nuclear deal was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday, December 7.
The deal is described as "better than the 123 agreement" that was signed with the United States since Russia agreed to continue nuclear fuel supply to India for operational reactors of Russian origin in the country in the event that the supply agreement is cancelled for any reason.
The deal additionally allows India to reprocess the uranium supplied by Russia
Russian nuclear fuel producer TVEL signed a $780 million contract for supply of 2,000 metric tons of uranium pellets to India on February 11, 2009 in Mumbai.
The contract made Russia the first country to supply nuclear fuel to India since the Nuclear Suppliers Group lifted a three-decade ban on nuclear fuel sales to the country on September 6, 2008.
TVEL delivered its first shipment of nuclear fuel for Indian heavy-water reactors in April 2009.
TVEL, one of the world's leading manufacturers of nuclear fuel, supplies it to 73 commercial (17% of global market) and 30 research reactors in 13 countries.
French Evolutionary Power Reactors (EPRs)
Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and France's Areva singed a MOU on Wednesday, February 4, 2009, for construction of up to six new generation Evolutionary Power Reactors (EPRs) in western India.
Areva will initially supply two EPRs OF 1,650 mw each for nuclear plants that the company will be build near the village of Jaitapur in the western state of Maharastra on the Arabian Sea. Orders for an additionals four reactors will be placed subsequently.
EPR reactors feature a leak proof design and four independent cooling systems for safety.
Areva and India's Atomic Energy Department signed a commercial agreement last December for the supply of 300 tons of uranium to be used in NPCIL nuclear reactors under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
US Supplied Nuclear Reactors
Under the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, India has dedicated wo nuclear reactor sites in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat to US companies.
Progress on the construction of US supplied reactors is awaiting the passage of a liability legislation in India as desired by US suppliers.