Nuclear Reactor

AERB grants operational license to two home-built 700 MW PHWRS in Gujarat

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 1st prototype fast-breeder reactor to be commissioned by Sept 2026

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 ...

Maha, Russian firm sign MoU to build thorium-based small modular reactor

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

Meta seeks new nuclear reactors as reliable source to run US data centres

Meta is racing to line up clean energy to meet the massive electricity needs of its artificial intelligence ambitions

Work on 10 more nuclear reactors underway in country, parl panel told

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 700 MW nuclear power KAPS-4 starts ops at full capacity

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

Nuclear tourism: China opens atomic power plants to public, seeks support

Members of the public in China can now book visits to the country's power plants in nice cities, as the country moves to shore up public support to expand its clean energy generation capacity

UN nuclear chief visits Japan to examine Fukushima wastewater release

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

Drone flies into damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor to study melted fuel

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings also began releasing the fourth batch of the plant's treated and diluted radioactive wastewater into the sea on Wednesday

France, India to discuss accord on nuclear reactors to limit coal reliance

India, the world's third-biggest carbon dioxide emitter, is seeking to rapidly expand its use of nuclear power over the next decade as it aims to both decarbonize and meet rising energy demand

US approves new kind of nuclear reactor for first time in 50 years

There's growing global interest in accelerating deployment of nuclear power as a key part of the fight to rein in climate change, but that effort has been hampered by a regulatory process

Japan's PM visits fish market, vows to help fisheries hit by China ban

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

Zelensky, IAEA chief discuss security risks to Zaporizhzhia nuke plant

Ukrainian President Zelensky met visiting IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi to discuss security risks to the ZNPP in the wake of the Kakhovka dam breach last week

What is a small modular nuclear reactor?

To meet the rising electricity demand, the government recently said that it is exploring building small modular reactors. But what are they? Let's find out

S. Korea seeks to resume construction of 2 nuclear reactors in 2025: Report

The project to build the two 1,400-megawatt reactors has been on hold since 2017; they had been scheduled to be completed by 2023

A long-delayed, new costly nuclear reactor goes online in Finland

Finland's long-delayed nuclear reactor went online amid expectations that it will boost the Nordic country's electricity self-sufficiency and help to achieve its carbon neutrality targets

Fire out at key Ukraine nuclear plant, no radiation released: Officials

IAEA's director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said Friday the building hit by a Russian projectile at the Zaporizhzhia plant was not part of the reactor but instead a training center at the plant

KAPP nuclear reactor unit 3 likely to be commissioned by Nov 2020: Govt

Unit 3 of Kakrapar Atomic Power Plant (KAPP), the 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR), is expected to be commissioned by November this year, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said

Iran nuclear site fire: Mystery deepens as videos, messages surface

Analysts say the fire damaged a centrifuge assembly plant at Iran's underground Natanz nuclear site

Trump's India visit: Westinghouse, NPCIL to sign pact for nuclear reactors

The agreement will lay out timelines and the lead local constructor for the reactors to be built at Kovvada in southern India and also address lingering concerns over India's nuclear liability law