The state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) is tentatively planning to reach a total installed nuclear capacity of around 54 GW by 2047 through indigenous Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) and Light Water Reactors (LWRs).
Moreover, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is planning to establish three indigenous reactor technologies: the 220 MW Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR-200), the 55 MW Small Modular Reactor (SMR-55), and a High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor (HTGCR) of up to 5 MW thermal capacity for hydrogen production.
The initiatives will boost the current nuclear power capacity of 8.78 GW, which will potentially increase to approximately 22 GW by 2031-32 as ongoing projects are completed.
These are in light of the government’s planned roadmap to scale up India’s nuclear power generation capacity to 100 GW by 2047 under the Nuclear Energy Mission (NEM). The roadmap will majorly focus on indigenous small modular reactors (SMRs), increased private sector participation, and improved nuclear safety.
The centre also stated that it has sanctioned engineering and construction of both the BSMR-200 and SMR-55, and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has approved Tarapur in Maharashtra as the site for both projects. Additionally BSMR-200 proposal holds administrative and financial approval from AEC and the Empowered Technology Group.
The rest of the 46 GW is anticipated to be produced from projects developed by central and state public sector enterprises, state governments, private companies, and joint ventures under various business models and reactor technologies.
