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It is estimated that before the accident at Tarapur, lack of proper maintenance exposed more than 3000 Indian personnel to "very high" and "hazardous" radiation levels. Researchers at the American University calculated at least 124 "hazardous incidents" at nuclear plants in India between 1993 and 1995.<ref name=bks>[[Benjamin K. Sovacool]]. A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia, ''Journal of Contemporary Asia'', Vol. 40, No. 3, August 2010, p. 380.</ref>
It is estimated that before the accident at Tarapur, lack of proper maintenance exposed more than 3000 Indian personnel to "very high" and "hazardous" radiation levels. Researchers at the American University calculated at least 124 "hazardous incidents" at nuclear plants in India between 1993 and 1995.<ref name=bks>[[Benjamin K. Sovacool]]. A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia, ''Journal of Contemporary Asia'', Vol. 40, No. 3, August 2010, p. 380.</ref>


==See also==
==Protests==
Environmentalists, local farmers and fishermen have been protesting for months over the planned six-reactor nuclear power complex on the plains of Jaitapur, 420km south of Mumbai. If built, it would be one of the world's largest nuclear power complexes. Protests have escalated in the wake of Japan's [[Fukushima I nuclear accidents]] and, during two days of violent rallies in April 2011, a local man was killed and dozens were injured.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/fisherman-shot-dead-in-indian-nuke-protest/story-e6frg6so-1226042424159 |title=Fisherman shot dead in Indian nuke protest |author=Amanda Hodge |date=April 21, 2011 |work=The Australian }}</ref>
*[[:Category:Nuclear power stations in India]]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{reflist}}


{{Nuclear power in India}}
{{Nuclear power in India}}

Revision as of 10:08, 21 April 2011

Nuclear power is the fourth-largest source of electricity in India after thermal, hydroelectric and renewable sources of electricity.[1] As of 2010, India has 20 nuclear reactors in operation in six nuclear power plants, generating 4,780 MW[2] while 5 other plants are under construction and are expected to generate an additional 2,720 MW.[3] India's nuclear power industry is undergoing rapid expansion with plans to increase nuclear power output to 64,000 MW by 2032.[4] The country is involved in the development of nuclear fusion reactors through its participation in the ITER project and is a global leader in the development of thorium-based fast breeder reactors.[5]

India's domestic uranium reserves are small and the country is dependent on uranium imports to fuel its nuclear power industry. Since early 1990s, Russia has been a major supplier of nuclear fuel to India.[6] Due to dwindling domestic uranium reserves,[7] electricity generation from nuclear power in India declined by 12.83% from 2006 to 2008.[8] Following a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group in September 2008 which allowed it to commence international nuclear trade,[9] India has signed bilateral deals on civilian nuclear energy technology cooperation with several other countries, including France,[10] the United States,[11] the United Kingdom,[12] and Canada.[13] India has also uranium supply agreements with Russia,[14][15] Mongolia,[16] Kazakhstan,[17] Argentina[18] and Namibia.[19] An Indian private company won a uranium exploration contract in Niger.[20]

India now envisages to increase the contribution of nuclear power to overall electricity generation capacity from 4.2% to 9% within 25 years.[21] In 2010, India's installed nuclear power generation capacity will increase to 6,000 MW.[22] As of 2009, India stands 9th in the world in terms of number of operational nuclear power reactors and is constructing 9 more, including two EPRs being constructed by France's Areva.[23] Indigenous atomic reactors include TAPS-3, and -4, both of which are 540 MW reactors.[24] India's US$717 million fast breeder reactor project is expected to be operational by 2010.[25]

Nuclear Power Growth in India

Growth

India, being a non-party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has been subjected to a de facto nuclear embargo by members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and adherents to the NSG Guidelines, which rule out most nuclear exports to states with nuclear activities that are not under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. This had prevented India from obtaining commercial nuclear fuel, nuclear power plant components and services from the international market, thereby forcing India to develop its own fuel, components and services for nuclear power generation. The NSG embargo had both negative and positive consequences for India's nuclear industry. On one hand, the NSG regime constrained India from freely importing nuclear fuel at the volume and cost levels it would like to support the country's goals of expanding its nuclear power generation capacity to at least 24,000 MW by 2020.[citation needed] Also, by precluding India from taking advantage of the economies of scale and safety innovations of the global nuclear industry, the NSG regime drove up the capital and operating costs and damaged the achievable safety potential of Indian nuclear power plants. On the other hand, the NSG embargo forced the Indian government and bureaucracy to support and actively fund the development of Indian nuclear technologies and industrial capacities in all key areas required to create and maintain a domestic nuclear industry. This has resulted in the creation of a large pool of nuclear scientists, engineers and technicians that have developed independent capabilities in the areas of fast breeder reactors, thermal breeder reactors, the thorium fuel cycle, nuclear fuel reprocessing and tritium extraction and production.[citation needed] Ironically, had the NSG sanctions not been in place, it would have been far more cost effective for India to import foreign nuclear power plants and nuclear fuels than to fund the development of Indian nuclear power generation technology, building of India's own nuclear reactors, and the development of domestic uranium mining, milling and refining capacity.[citation needed]

The Indian nuclear power industry is expected to undergo a significant expansion in the coming years thanks in part to the passing of the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement. This agreement will allow India to carry out trade of nuclear fuel and technologies with other countries and significantly enhance its power generation capacity.[26] when the agreement goes through, India is expected to generate an additional 25,000 MW of nuclear power by 2020, bringing total estimated nuclear power generation to 45,000 MW.[27]

India has already been using imported enriched uranium for light-water reactors that are currently under IAEA safeguards, but it has developed other aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle to support its reactors. Development of select technologies has been strongly affected by limited imports. Use of heavy water reactors has been particularly attractive for the nation because it allows Uranium to be burnt with little to no enrichment capabilities. India has also done a great amount of work in the development of a thorium centered fuel cycle. While Uranium deposits in the nation are limited (see next paragraph) there are much greater reserves of thorium and it could provide hundreds of times the energy with the same mass of fuel. The fact that thorium can theoretically be utilized in heavy water reactors has tied the development of the two. A prototype reactor that would burn Uranium-Plutonium fuel while irradiating a thorium blanket is under construction at the Madras/Kalpakkam Atomic Power Station.

Uranium used for the weapons program has been separate from the power program, using Uranium from indigenous reserves. This domestic reserve of 80,000 to 112,000 tons of uranium (approx 1% of global uranium reserves) is large enough to supply all of India's commercial and military reactors as well as supply all the needs of India's nuclear weapons arsenal. Currently, India's nuclear power reactors consume, at most, 478 metric tonnes of uranium per year.[28] Even if India were quadruple its nuclear power output (and reactor base) to 20GW by 2020, nuclear power generation would only consume 2000 metric tonnes of uranium per annum. Based on India's known commercially viable reserves of 80,000 to 112,000 tons of uranium, this represents a 40 to 50 years uranium supply for India's nuclear power reactors (note with reprocessing and breeder reactor technology, this supply could be stretched out many times over). Furthermore, the uranium requirements of India's Nuclear Arsenal are only a fifteenth (1/15) of that required for power generation (approx. 32 tonnes), meaning that India's domestic fissile material supply is more than enough to meet all needs for it strategic nuclear arsenal. Therefore, India has sufficient uranium resources to meet its strategic and power requirements for the foreseeable future.[28]

New Uranium Deposits In Andhra Pradesh

Huge deposits of natural uranium, which promises to be one of the top 20 of the world's reserves, have been found in the Tummalapalle belt in the southern part of the Kadapa basin in Andhra Pradesh in March 2011. The Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) of India, which explores uranium in the country, has so far discovered 44,000 tonnes of natural uranium (U3O8) in just 15 km of the 160-km long belt.

Nuclear power plants

Currently, twenty nuclear power reactors produce 4,780.00 MW (2.9% of total installed base).[29][30]

Power station Operator State Type Units Total capacity (MW)
Kaiga NPCIL Karnataka PHWR 220 x 4 880
Kakrapar NPCIL Gujarat PHWR 220 x 2 440
Kalpakkam NPCIL Tamil Nadu PHWR 220 x 2 440
Narora NPCIL Uttar Pradesh PHWR 220 x 2 440
Rawatbhata NPCIL Rajasthan PHWR 100 x 1
200 x 1
220 x 4		 1180
Tarapur NPCIL Maharashtra BWR (PHWR) 160 x 2
540 x 2		 1400
Total 20 4780

Planned or Proposed projects

The projects under construction are:[31][citation needed]

Power station Operator State Type Units Total capacity (MW)
Kudankulam NPCIL Tamil Nadu VVER-1000 1000 x 2 2000
Kalpakkam NPCIL Tamil Nadu PFBR 500 x 1 500
Kakrapar NPCIL Gujarat PHWR 700 x 2 1400
Rawatbhata NPCIL Rajasthan PHWR 700 x 2 1400
Banswara NPCIL Rajasthan PHWR 700 x 2 1400
Total 8 6700

The planned projects are:[citation needed]

Power station Operator State Type Units Total capacity (MW)
Kudankulam NPCIL Tamil Nadu VVER-1200 1200 x 2 2400
Jaitapur NPCIL Maharashtra EPR 1650 x 6 9900
Kaiga NPCIL Karnataka PWR 1000 x 1, 1500 x 1 2500
Bhavini PFBR 470 x 4 1880
NPCIL AHWR 300 300
NTPC PWR 1000 x 2 2000
NPCIL PHWR 640 x 4 2560
Total 21 21540

The following projects are firmly proposed:[32]

Power station Operator State Type Units Total capacity (MW)
Kudankulam NPCIL Tamil Nadu VVER-1200 1200 x 2 2400
Jaitapur NPCIL Maharastra EPR 1600 x 2 3200
Pati Sonapur Orissa PWR 6000
Kumaharia Haryana PWR 2800
Saurashtra Gujarat PWR
Pulivendula NPCIL 51%, AP Genco 49% Andhra Pradesh PWR 2000 x 1 2000
Kovvada Andhra Pradesh PWR
Haripur West Bengal PWR
Total 15

The following projects are proposed and to be confirmed soon.

Power station Operator State Type Units Total capacity (MW)
Kudankulam NPCIL Tamil Nadu VVER-1200 1200 x 2 2400
Total 2 2400

Accidents

Main article: Nuclear accidents by country
See also: Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents

Several nuclear accidents have occurred in India:[33]

Nuclear power plant accidents in India[34][35]
Date Location Description Cost
(in millions
2006 US$)
4 May 1987 Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, India Fast Breeder Test Reactor at Kalpakkam refueling accident that ruptures the reactor core, resulting in a two-year shutdown. 300
10 September 1989 Tarapur, Maharashtra, India Operators at the Tarapur Atomic Power Station find that the reactor had been leaking radioactive iodine at more than 700 times normal levels. Repairs to the reactor take more than a year. 78
13 May 1992 Tarapur, Maharashtra, India A malfunctioning tube causes the Tarapur Atomic Power Station to release 12 curies of radioactivity. 2
31 March 1993 Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, India The Narora Atomic Power Station suffers a fire at two of its steam turbine blades, no damage to the reactor. All major cables burnt. 220
2 February 1995 Kota, Rajasthan, India The Rajasthan Atomic Power Station leaks radioactive helium and heavy water into the Rana Pratap Sagar dam, necessitating a two-year shutdown for repairs. 280
22 October 2002 Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, India Almost 100 kg radioactive sodium at a fast breeder reactor leaks into a purification cabin, ruining a number of valves and operating systems. 30

It is estimated that before the accident at Tarapur, lack of proper maintenance exposed more than 3000 Indian personnel to "very high" and "hazardous" radiation levels. Researchers at the American University calculated at least 124 "hazardous incidents" at nuclear plants in India between 1993 and 1995.[33]

Protests

Environmentalists, local farmers and fishermen have been protesting for months over the planned six-reactor nuclear power complex on the plains of Jaitapur, 420km south of Mumbai. If built, it would be one of the world's largest nuclear power complexes. Protests have escalated in the wake of Japan's Fukushima I nuclear accidents and, during two days of violent rallies in April 2011, a local man was killed and dozens were injured.[36]

References

  1. ^ "~6429693.xls" (PDF). Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  2. ^ "India's 20th nuclear power plant goes critical". Hindustan Times. 27 November 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  3. ^ Verma, Nidhi (18 August 2008). "Westinghouse, Areva eye India nuclear plants-paper". Reuters. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  4. ^ "India eyeing 64,000 MW nuclear power capacity by 2032: NPCIL". The Economic Times. 11 October 2010.
  5. ^ Pham, Lisa (20 October 2009). "Considering an Alternative Fuel for Nuclear Energy". New York Times.
  6. ^ "Russia fulfis promise, supplies uranium to India". Expressindia.com. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  7. ^ "Uranium shortage holding back India's nuclear power drive - Corporate News". livemint.com. 30 June 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  8. ^ "Ministry of Power". Powermin.gov.in. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  9. ^ "news.outlookindia.com". Outlookindia.com. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  10. ^ "India, France agree on civil nuclear cooperation". Rediff.com. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  11. ^ "Bush signs India-US nuclear deal into law - Home". livemint.com. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  12. ^ "UK, India sign civil nuclear accord". Reuters. 13 February 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  13. ^ "Canada, India reach nuclear deal". Montrealgazette.com. 29 November 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  14. ^ "India to get 510 tonnes of uranium from Kazakhstan, Russia". Hindu Business Line.
  15. ^ "South Asia | Russia agrees India nuclear deal". BBC News. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  16. ^ "India, Kazakhstan sign nuclear pact". Financial Express.
  17. ^ Sanjay Dutta, TNN, Jan 23, 2009, 01.35am IST (23 January 2009). "Kazakh nuclear, oil deals hang in balance - International Business - Business - The Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 22 August 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ India, Argentina ink agreement on peaceful uses of N-energy, the Hindu
  19. ^ "India, Namibia sign uranium supply deal".
  20. ^ "Indian firm acquires uranium mining rights in Niger | Uranium, Niger, Company, Bajla, Government". taurianresources.co.in. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  21. ^ "Slowdown not to affect India's nuclear plans". Business-standard.com. 21 January 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  22. ^ "Nuclear power generation to touch 6,000 Mw by next year". Business-standard.com. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  23. ^ "Areva to build two nuclear reactors in India-paper". Reuters. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  24. ^ (http://www.npcil.nic.in/PlantsInOperation.asp
  25. ^ "India's fast breeder reactor nears second milestone". Chennai, India: Hindu.com. 16 June 2009. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
  26. ^ [1][dead link]
  27. ^ "At G-8, Singh, Bush reaffirm commitment to nuclear deal - Economy and Politics". livemint.com. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  28. ^ a b http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/atomsforwarfinal4.pdf
  29. ^ "Nuclear Power Plants In India - Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited". Npcil.nic.in. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
  30. ^ "India's 20th nuclear reactor connected to power grid". The Times of India. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  31. ^ "Projects Under Construction - Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited". Npcil.nic.in. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  32. ^ "Pati Sonapur of Ganjam identified as N-power plant site". orissadiary.com. 7 July 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  33. ^ a b Benjamin K. Sovacool. A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 40, No. 3, August 2010, p. 380.
  34. ^ Benjamin K. Sovacool. A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 40, No. 3, August 2010, pp. 393–400.
  35. ^ Benjamin K. Sovacool (2009). The Accidental Century - Prominent Energy Accidents in the Last 100 Years
  36. ^ Amanda Hodge (21 April 2011). "Fisherman shot dead in Indian nuke protest". The Australian.

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