Kakrapar Atomic Power Station in Tapi district in Gujarat. File. | Photo Credit: Hind
The Indian nuclear regulator, the atomic energy regulator (AERB), granted an operating license for two indigenous developed 700 MWe pressurized heavy water reactors at the Kakrapar atomic power plant (pocket) in Gujarat.
The reactor Kaps-3 was commissioned to be full of power in August 2023, while the unit Kaps-4 followed in the same month later.
“Aerb has closed the safety and commissioning reviews and issued a license for units 3 and 4 from the Chap, the first 700 MWe of the native heavy water reactors (PhWR),” he said from the regulator.
Since the 700 MWe reactor was the first of its kind, it is a license process of strict multi -level safety buckles and a reactor design that covered the entire life cycle in multiple stages from the location.
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) received a license for Kaps 3 and 4 Z Aerb for five years 3 July.
The license is a shot in the arm for NPCIL, which is the head of the 10 PhWRS 700 MWe building in fleet mode.
India has 15 PhWRS 220 MWe and two out of 540 MWe capacity operating in various places throughout the country.
The 540 MWe PhWR design was upgraded to 700 MWe and the first few such reactors are functional in the cacrapar. A similar 700 MWe reactor in Rawatbhata in Rajasthan started commercial operations in March this year.
In addition to ARB, several professionals on the safety of reactors from technical support organizations significantly contributed to reviewing the results of the design and commissioning, which lasted almost 15 years.
As part of the commissioning of CAPS-3, pocket-3 received full energy operation in August 2023, followed by Kaps-4 in August 2024.
After further reviewing plants near the nominal performance, Aerb has now awarded the license to operate NPCIL for five years.
Published – 6 July 2025 20:15
