INDIA'S Nuclear Power Programme has 12 operating reactors -- two boiling water reactors and 10 using pressurised heavy water.
It has four PHWRs under construction. These use natural uranium for fuel and heavy water for moderator as opposed to enriched uranium used in boiling water reactors. Of these, two, at Kaiga and Rajasthan, are of 220 MW, while the others, at Tarapur, are of 500 MW.
The Tarapur Atomic Power Station
Location: Tarapur, Thane district, Maharashtra.
Reactor type: Boiling water
Capacity: 2 x 160 MW
Date of commercial operation: Unit 1, October 28,1969; Unit 2, October 28,1969
India's first nuclear power station. It was constructed in collaboration with the GEC, USA, and connected to the grid in 1969. It uses enriched uranium as fuel. It has two reactors of 160 MW (re-rated, originally 210 MW).
The Rajasthan Atomic Power Station
Location: Rawatbhata, near Kota, Rajasthan
Reactor type: Pressurised heavy water
Capacity: 1 x 100 MW and 1 x 200 MW
Date of Commercial Operation: Unit 1, December 16,1973; Unit 2, April 1,1981
India's first pressurised heavy water power station. It has two reactors of 220 MW. Set up in collaboration with Canada.
The first unit became critical in 1972 and the second unit, which was completed with indigenous efforts, in 1980.
Subsequently, the first unit needed major repairs. After repairs, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has allowed it to operate at 150 MW. The second unit is also operational after its collant channel was replaced. It operates at 200 MW.
After these units, all power reactors in India were indigenously built, with pressurised heavy water technology. The third unit at Rawatbhata commenced commercial operations on June 1, 2000.
The Madras Atomic Power Station
Location: Kalpakkam, near Madras, Tamil Nadu
Reactor type: Pressurised heavy water reactor
Capacity: 2 x 170 MW
Date of commercial operation: Unit 1, January 27,1984; Unit 2, March 21,1986
India's first fully indigenous nuclear power station. It has two units of 170 MW (re-rated, originally 220 MW). The first and second units went critical in 1983 and 1985 respectively. The reactor building is housed in a double-shell containment to ensure total protection.
The Narora Atomic Power Station
Location: Narora, Uttar Pradesh
Reactor type: Pressurised heavy water
Capacity: 2 x 220 MW
Date of commercial operation: Unit 1, January 1,1991;
Unit 2, July 1,1992
Situated about 200km from Delhi, it caters to the northern power grid in India. The first unit attained criticality in 1989 and the second in 1991. Some of the advanced features include two independent, diverse fast-acting shutdown systems, high intermediate and low-pressure emergency core cooling systems and seismic design. The reactors pass all safety requirements.
The Kakrapar Atomic Power Station
Location: Kakrapar, near Surat, Gujarat
Reactor type: Pressurised heavy water
Capacity: 2 x 220 MW
Date of commercial operation: Unit 1, May 6,1993;
Unit 2, September 1,1995
The first unit attained criticality in 1993, the second in 1995. This station has operated very well over the past years and enabled the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited to achieve attractive operational surplus.
The Kaiga Atomic Power Station
Location: Kaiga, Uttar Kanada, Karnataka
Reactor Type: Pressurised heavy water
Capacity: 2 x 220 MW
Expected date of commercial operation: December 2000
India's 11th nuclear power reactor, Unit 1 of the Kaiga Atomic Power Station, achieved criticality at 10:34 hours IST on September 26,2000. This, along with the earlier Unit 2 commissioned last year, will feed the southern grid.