Bharat Small Nuclear Reactors
The first Indian nuclear reactor in India or Asia became “critical” on 04 Aug 1956. The design of this APSARA reactor was conceptualized by Dr Homi Bhabha in 1955. The fuel for the reactor 80% enriched Uranium was provided by Britain.
Next with Indo-Canadian nuclear cooperation started in 1950s India made some more progress in nuclear energy field. Then In the 1960s, the construction of the first 220 MW reactor was taken up as part of Rajasthan Atomic Power Station-1.
However, after the Pokhran-1 tests in 1974, Canadians withdrew support at USA behest to cripple the Indian nuclear programme. Unfazed India on its own , indigenously developed and standardised the design for the 220 MW Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors.
Now this Indian designed 220 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor is being modified and converted to Bharat Small Reactors, preparatory to handing over to the private sector, said RB Grover, member of the Atomic Energy Commission in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
“India already has a live 220 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor design. We have a number of them working in the country including Narora (Uttar Pradesh), Rajasthan, Kakrapar (Gujarat), Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu), Kaiga (Karnataka) and so on.
This particular design is being modified and converted as Bharat Small Reactors… In other words, Bharat Small Reactors are nothing but 220 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) with some improvements,” Grover told reporters on the sidelines of an event at Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A).
“NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited) is in the process of making drawings for this. The modification is minimal”, and change is incremental, he added. “It is not a new design (but) an existing and proven design. Other countries are trying to reinvent the whole thing.
We already have it available and the Department of Atomic Energy is ready to team (up) with the private sector and install them,” added Grover, who is also an Emeritus Professor at Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai.
He said NPCIL would design, install and operate these reactors for private companies that are looking for a captive power plant that can produce hydrogen for industrial use, or electricity.
On the safety features of the reactors, Grover said, “The new 220 MW will also have a steel liner and the control and instrumentation will be replaced. It is already a safe reactor and it will become safer.” He said the modifications to 220 MW PHWR will not take more than a year to implement.
During the Budget speech for financial year 2024-25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government would partner with the private sector for setting up Bharat Small Reactors (BSR) as well as engage in research and development of Bharat Small Modular Reactor or BSMR.
