India's first indigenously developed 700 MWe nuclear power reactor at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Project in Gujarat has achieved operation at full power. Prime Minister Narendra Modi told social media platform X (formerly Twitter): “India achieves another milestone. The largest indigenous 700 MWe Kakrapar Nuclear Power Plant unit 3 in Gujarat starts operations at full capacity. Congratulations to our scientists and engineers.” This marks a major achievement for the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), which currently operates 23 commercial nuclear power reactors with a combined capacity of 7480 MWe.
The reactor fleet comprises two boiling water reactors (BWRs), 19 pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs), including one 100 MW PHWR at Rajasthan owned by the Department of Atomic Energy, as well as two Russian-supplied 1000 MW capacity VVER reactors. Kakrapar 3 began commercial operation in June and has now reached 100% power production. Kakrapar is already home to two existing 220 MWe units (1&2) and commissioning activities are currently underway at KAPP 4, also a 700 MWe PHWR.
Construction of 700 MWe PHWRs is also underway at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan (RAPS 7&8) and at Gorakhpur in Haryana (GHAVP 1&2). The government has approved construction of 10 more PHWRs in fleet mode at four locations – Gorakhpur, Chutka in Madhya Pradesh, Mahi Banswara in Rajasthan and Kaiga in Karnataka.
Image: The Kakrapar Atomic Power Project in Gujarat
