AERB approves 'first pour of concrete' of nuclear power plants Kaiga 5 & 6 in Karnataka

AERB green lights construction of two 700 MWe units at Kaiga atomic power station.

New Delhi: The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board has approved the “first pour of concrete” for Kaiga-5 & 6 nuclear power plants, setting in motion the process to construct two 700 MWe atomic power plants in Karnataka by 2031.

In an approval letter issued earlier this week, AERB chairman A K Balasubrahmanian granted “consent for first pour of concrete for Kaiga-5&6, subject to satisfactory compliance to the stipulations and conditions.” The consent is valid till Feb 28, 2031.

The pouring of first concrete for a nuclear island is the point at which a site is officially recognised as a nuclear power unit under construction. Excavation works for the units began in May 2022.

The two 700 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) at Kaiga are part of 10 such large nuclear reactors that were approved for construction by the Union government on a “fleet mode” way back in 2017.

Currently, Kaiga houses four 220 MWe PHWR that were connected to the grid between 2000 and 2011.

Heavy engineering firm Larsen & Toubro has already manufactured and dispatched four of the eight steam generators for the units.

Last April, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd gave a purchase order to a Hyderabad based company for the two new Kaiga units.

The Rs 12,800 crore engineering, procurement and construction contract for the two 700 MWe nuclear reactors was the biggest order placed by NPCIL and it was the first major nuclear contract for the company, according to a report in the World Nuclear News.

The two new PHWR units at Kaiga are part of the Union government’s plan to augment the country’s nuclear power capacity, for which the closely-guarded sector has been opened up for private companies.

With India eyeing 100 GW of nuclear power by 2047, nearly 50 per cent of the capacity is to come from the private sector.

But the “fleet mode” reactors will be constructed by the NPCIL. Besides Kaiga, other units would be set up at Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan (four units of 700 MW capacity each); Gorakhpur in Haryana (2 units) and Chutka in Madhya Pradesh (2 units).

Two 700 MWe pressurised heavy water reactor units at Kakrapar, in Gujurat, are already in commercial operation. Another, Rajasthan unit 7, reached full power earlier this month. Construction is ongoing on a second 700 MWe unit at the Rajasthan site.

The NPCIL currently operates 24 nuclear power reactors with an installed capacity of 8180 MW.