1st India-made nuke plant runs in full capacity; congratulations, says PM

PTI, Sep 1, 2023, 10:01 AM IST

New Delhi: India’s first indigenously developed 700 MW nuclear power plant in Gujarat’s Kakrapar has started operations at full capacity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday.

The reactor at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP) had started commercial operations on June 30 but was operating at 90 per cent of its capacity till now.

“India achieves another milestone. The first largest indigenous 700 MWe Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant Unit-3 in Gujarat starts operations at full capacity. Congratulations to our scientists and engineers,” PM Modi said on ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is building two 700 MW pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) at Kakrapar, which is also home to two 220 MW power plants.

Various commissioning activities were underway at KAPP 4, which had achieved 97.56 per cent progress by July, according to officials.

The NPCIL plans to build 16 700 MW PHWRs across the country and has granted financial and administrative sanctions for the same.

Construction of 700 MW nuclear power plants is underway at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan (RAPS 7 and 8) and at Gorakhpur in Haryana (GHAVP 1 and 2).

The government has sanctioned the building of 10 indigenously developed PHWRs in fleet mode at four locations — Gorakhpur in Haryana, Chutka in Madhya Pradesh, Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan and Kaiga in Karnataka.