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India's nuclear regulator AERB has granted operation license for two indigenously developed 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat. The KAPS-3 reactor was commissioned at full power in August 2023, while the KAPS-4 unit followed the same month a year later. "The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has concluded the Design and Commissioning Safety Reviews and issued the License for Operation of Units 3 and 4 of KAPS-3&4, the country's first 700 MWe indigenous Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs)," a statement from the regulator said. Since the 700 MW reactor was the first of its kind, the licensing process involved rigorous multi-tiered safety reviews and assessment of the reactor design, covering the entire life cycle in multiple stages from siting, construction to commissioning at full-power. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) received the License for Operation for KAPS 3&4 from the AERB for a ..
India's first prototype fast-breeder reactor in Tamil Nadu's Kalpakkam is expected to be commissioned next year, nearly two years after it got the go-ahead from the nuclear regulator, officials have said. The commissioning of the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) will mark the second stage of India's three-stage nuclear programme that aims to recycle spent fuel to reduce the inventory of radioactive waste. The PFBR being developed in Kalpakkam is the first-of-its-kind nuclear reactor to use plutonium-based mixed oxide as fuel and liquid sodium as coolant. It will also utilise the spent fuel of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors, which form the mainstay of nuclear power in India at present. While the state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) operates nuclear power plants in the country, the PFBR in Kalpakkam is being developed by the Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (BHAVINI). "BHAVINI's 500 MW PFBR is in the advanced stage of integrated commissioning, with ...
Maharashtra on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Russia's state-owned company ROSATOM for development of a Small Modular Reactor based on thorium fuel. The MoU was signed in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis between Mahagenco and ROSATOM's 'Small Modular Reactor with Thorium Fuel' initiative. The main objective of this MoU is to jointly develop a thorium reactor in Maharashtra, commercialise thorium reactors as per safety standards of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), and establish an assembly line for thorium reactors under the 'Make in Maharashtra' initiative. "CM Devendra Fadnavis presided over the MoU signing between Maharashtra State Power Generation Co. Ltd (MAHAGENCO) and Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM for the development of a Small Modular Reactor based on Thorium Fuel," the CMO said in a post on X. The Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA) will provide strategic support for the joint development
At least 10 nuclear reactors are being installed in the country while two reactors in Gujarat's Kakrapar have started generating power commercially, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology was informed on Monday. According to sources, the new nuclear reactors coming up in states like Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana are of 700 MW capacity and will start operating in the next few years. The details of the new nuclear reactors were provided to the members of the Standing Committee of Parliament on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change during a meeting here. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who is a member of the committee as well as its former chairman, said members of the panel were informed during the meeting that the Kakrapar-3 and Kakrapar-4 nuclear reactors in Gujarat have been fully synchronised with the grid and are generating power commercially. "This is a major accomplishment since these are indigenously designed 700-megawatt ...
India's second home-built 700 MW nuclear power reactor at Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat on Wednesday started operating at its full capacity, the plant operator said. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) said Unit 4 at KAPS had been operating at 90 per cent capacity before raising it to full power of 700 MWe. "The full power operation of KAPS-4 after the smooth operation of its twin unit KAPS-3 at full power demonstrates the strength of the first of a kind indigenous 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) design," the NPCIL said. The KAPS-4 unit achieved first criticality on December 17 last year and commenced commercial operations on March 31. The power level of the unit, which commenced commercial operation on March 31, 2024 was raised in line with the permissions of the regulatory authority, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). India is building 14 more 700 MW nuclear power reactors of the same design which are expected to commenc
The head of the United Nations' atomic agency is in Japan to examine discharges of treated radioactive wastewater from the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and to discuss further cooperation with Japan to promote peaceful use of nuclear energy and non-proliferation. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi is visiting the country Tuesday for the first time since releases of the treated water began in August. It also comes one day after Japan marked 13 years after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami struck, triggering the Fukushima disaster. "This date has a special meaning in Japan," Grossi said as he met with Japanese Environment Minister Shintaro Ito, his first in a series of talks with top Japanese officials planned for the three-day visit. The disaster caused many difficulties, but also led to "strengthening of the links and the cooperation between the IAEA and Japan, Grossi said. A massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 damaged the
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sampled seafood and talked to workers at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market on Thursday to assess the impact of China's ban on Japanese seafood in reaction to the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi plant to the sea. The release of the treated wastewater began last week and is expected to continue for decades. Japanese fishing groups and neighbouring countries opposed it, and China immediately banned all imports of Japanese seafood in response. One of the seafood business operators told Kishida that sales of his scallops, which are largely exported to China, have dropped 90 per cent since the treated water discharge. We will compile support measures that stand by the fisheries operators," Kishida told reporters after the market visit. We will also resolutely call on China to scrap its trade restrictions that has no scientific bases. China had stepped up testing on Japanese fisheries products, causing long delays