Nuclear Power Plants In India

              Nuclear power holds the fourth position among the different resources of electricity, Thermal, hydro and renewable resources being first, second and third respectively. Presently 19 nuclear power plants in India are there, which generates 4,560 MW (2.9% of total installed base) and 4 such power plants are in the pipeline and would be generating around 2,720 MW. India's contribution in fusion development is done through its involvement in the ITER project.

Since the beginning of 1990s, Russia has always been a chief supplier of nuclear fuel to the country of India. The deterioration of domestic uranium resources caused the decline of electricity production from nuclear energy in India by 12.83% during 2006 to 2008. The country has signed contracts regarding nuclear power with countries like France, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Mongolia, Namibia, Kazakhstan and Argentina after the Nuclear Suppliers Group declared a waiver in September 2008 to allow India to commence worldwide nuclear trade. India even signed a $700 million agreement with Russia in February 2009 about 2000 tons nuclear fuel supply.

Presently India aims at increasing the input of nuclear energy to the total electricity production from 4.2% to 9% by the next 25 years. The country's capacity of installed nuclear energy production will rise to 6,000 MW. As per the report published in 2009, India holds the 9th position in regards to the count of operational nuclear energy reactors in the world and 9 are still under construction which includes 2 EPRs constructed by Areva in France. TAPS-3 and TAPS-4 are 540 MW atomic reactors of Indian origin. India's $717 million venture of swift breeder reactor is likely to operate before the end of 2010.

India envisages a significant growth of its nuclear power industry in the recent future as according to the Indo-US nuclear agreement, India is allowed to carry out international trade of nuclear power and technologies so as to develop its capacity of power generation. During the operational phase of this deal, the country is expected to improve its total nuclear power production to 45,000 MW by generating an additional nuclear power of 25,000 MW by 2020.

Apart from using imported enhanced uranium and being within the safeguards of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), India has developed several nuclear fuel cycle aspects for supporting its reactors. Limited imports have strongly affected the advancement of selected technologies. The feature of heavy water reactors to allow the burning of Uranium with slight to no enrichment capacities makes its usage more attractive. India has worked hard in developing Thorium based fuel cycle. While there is a limitation in the country's Uranium deposit, there are some greater treasuries of Thorium which can multiply the power with the equal mass of fuel by hundred times. The fact of Thorium being used in heavy water reactors has tied the growth of the two. At Kalpakkam Atomic Power Station located in Madras, a prototype reactor is still under construction which would be able to burn Uranium-Plutonium fuel whilst irradiating a Thorium layer.

Power station	State	Type	Operator	Units	Total capacity (MW)
Kaiga	Karnataka	PHWR	NPCIL	220 x 3	660
Kalpakkam	Tamil Nadu	PHWR	NPCIL	220 x 2	440
Kakrapar	Gujarat	PHWR	NPCIL	220 x 2	440
Rawatbhata	Rajasthan	PHWR	NPCIL	100 x 1 200 x 1 220 x 4	1180
Tarapur	Maharashtra	BWR (PHWR)	NPCIL	160 x 2 540 x 2	1400
Narora	Uttar Pradesh	PHWR	NPCIL	220 x 2	440
Total				19	4560

Some of the nuclear power plant projects which are under construction can be listed below:

Power station	State	Type	Operator	Units	Total capacity (MW)
Kudankulam	Tamil Nadu	VVER-1000	NPCIL	1000 x 2	2000
Kaiga	Karnataka	PHWR	NPCIL	220 x 1	220
Kalpakkam	Tamil Nadu	PFBR	NPCIL	500 x 1	500
Total				4	2720

Some of the nuclear power projects which are planned up for the future are as follows:

Power station	Operator	State	Type	Units	Total capacity (MW)
Rawatbhata	NPCIL	Rajasthan	PHWR	640 x 2	1280
Kakrapar	NPCIL	Gujarat	PHWR	640 x 2	1280
Jaitapur	NPCIL	Maharashtra	EPR	1600 x 4	6400
Kudankulam	NPCIL	Tamil Nadu	VVER	1200 x 2	2400
Kaiga	NPCIL	Karnataka	PWR	1000 x 1, 1500 x 1	2500
	NPCIL		AHWR	300	300
	NPCIL		PHWR	640 x 4	2560
	NTPC		PWR	1000 x 2	2000
Total				10	20600

10th Exam Result Available Here See
[http://nalavan.blogspot.com]