Unit 3 of India’s Kakrapar Atomic Power Project (KAPP) in Gujarat is expected to begin commercial operation by December after obtaining staged regulatory clearances, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha (parliament) on 20 July.
KAPP-3 is India’s first indigenously designed 700MWe pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) with innovative features. The unit was connected to the grid in January and is expected to be operating at full power by October/November following “design validation to rectify safety issues.
Dr Singh said unit 3 is now being readied for start-up and progressive power increase to full capacity in line with the regulatory clearances. He added that required modifications or improvements based on commissioning feedback had been carried out, and had been validated during hot testing.
“During the unit commissioning, following synchronisation with the grid, elevated temperatures were observed in certain areas of the reactor building. These have since been addressed by carrying out requisite modifications and improvements,” the Department of Atomic Energy said.
The Kakrapar site already has two 220MWe PHWRs (KAPS-1 and KAPS-2) in operation, and another 700MWe PHWR (KAPP-4) Unit 4 had been scheduled to start commercial operation this fiscal year ending March 2023, according to a 2022 power ministry report but has face delays of around a year. However, it is now at an advanced stage of construction – some 93% complete.
The Union Cabinet earlier approved construction of ten 700MWe units in fleet mode at a cost of INR1,050bn ($13.7bn) with the aim of reducing cost and speeding up construction time. In April, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) granted permission for excavation to begin for two units (5&6) at the Kaiga NPP in Karnataka. This is expected to be followed by first concrete for units 3&4 at the Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana in 2024. Construction is also scheduled to begin on four 700MWe units at Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan in 2024, followed by first concrete for units 1&2 of the Chutka Madhya Pradesh Atomic Power Project in 2025.
