Report Nuclear Power in India

8/9/2019 Report Nuclear Power in India

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A

REPORT

ONNUCLEAR POWER IN INDIA

SUBMITTED TO

Prof V.L.RAO

BY

C.VISHAL CHANDRA

SEC B

1226109210

GIIB 22nd

DEC 2009

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Contents

1. Problems faced by India 2

2. Existing nuclear power plant India 2

3. About NPCIL 3

4. Competitiveness of Indias nuclear power to the world 3

5. Nuclear power projects under operation 4

6. Plants which are being implemented presently 5

Kudankulam nuclear power plant 5

Other projects under proposal 5

7. Suppliers for the nuclear power plant 6

8. Latest investment in nuclear power sector in India 7

9. Reduced emission with nuclear plants 8

10. Issues with nuclear power plant 8

11. Power plant security 9

12. Indias future scope of expansion in nuclear sector 9

13. Conclusion 9

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NUCLEAR POWER IN INDIA

With the growing concern over the emissions from the coal fired plants and the thermal plants

operated currently and over dependency of the conventional fossil fuels throughout the world,the demand for establishment of nuclear power plants has been increased drastically over the

years. Nuclear power has gained importance over the conventional fuels coal and petroleum as it

has almost zero carbon emissions. Also, with the increase in technology the advantages gained

are low operational costs and high safety. Nuclear power is also cheap source of power generated

with the costs of only 83 paisa per unit.

Problems faced by India:

As India is outside the nuclear non-proliferation treaty it has been largely excluded from trading

nuclear power materials or fuel until recently where it signed nuclear deals with different

countries. This hampered the growth of nuclear power plants establishment due to non

availability of upgraded technology and nuclear plant infrastructure.

Also the electricity demands in India are fast growing and now the country is under serious

power crisis which made the government inevitable to invest in the development of nuclear

plants and development of existing nuclear plants.

Existing nuclear power plants in India:

The establishment and maintenance of nuclear power plants in India are completely under public

sector. No private partnerships are allowed to participate in the operations of nuclear power plants in India. Nuclear Power Corporation of India ltd (NPCIL) is responsible solely of

construction, design, commissioning and operation of thermal nuclear power plants in our

country.

Presently there are 17 nuclear power plants are under commercial operation with 15 small sized

plants and 2 medium sized plants. Some of these plants are already using PHWR (pressurized

heavy water reactors) which is the latest technology in building of nuclear plant reactors. The

total installed capacities of all these plants come up to 3779MW. The nuclear plants that are

under operation are shown in the form of the following table

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As a part of it India signed several treaties with different countries like USA, France, Russia,

UK, and Argentina.

Nuclear power projects under operation:

Presently there are six plants under construction including two large ones and one operating withfast breeders. Also there are several plans for upgrading the present nuclear reactors with the

standards specified by IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) which includes high

operational standards and low costs compared with the existing technology.

India's nuclear power reactors under construction:

Reactor TypeMWe net,

eachProjectcontrol

Commercialoperation due

Safeguards status

Kaiga 4 PHWR 202 MWe NPCIL 12/2009Rajasthan 5 PHWR 202 MWe NPCIL 11/2009

by 2008 under newagreement

Rajasthan 6 PHWR 202 MWe NPCIL 12/2009by 2008 under new

agreement

Kudankulam 1PWR

(VVER)950 MWe NPCIL 12/2009 item-specific

Kudankulam12

PWR(VVER)

950 MWe NPCIL 9/2010 item-specific

KalpakkamPFBR

FBR 470 MWe Bhavini 2011 -

Total (6)2976MWe

Dates are for start of commercial operation.

Plants which are being implemented presently:

Kudankulam nuclear power plant:

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NPCIL has constructed a plant near Kudankulam in Tamilnadu whose capacity is about

2000MW. The first unit of the plant is already been completed and the second unit is under

progress and is estimated to be completed by October 2010.

The plant is constructed in three stages. The first stage comprises of pressurized heavy water

reactors (PHWR), fuelled by natural uranium is fissioned to generate electricity. These reactorsare fuelled by natural uranium. The significance of the first stage is to produce Pu (plutonium)

which is the basis for launching the second stage. The second stage comprises fast breed reactors

fuelled by mixed oxide Pu and U238. While plutonium undergoes fission and releases energy for

electricity generation and U238 is converted to Pu by absorption of neutrons at the same time.

This Pu is extracted and recycled as fuel reload. The important point is that fast breed reactors do

not require any external fuel. The plutonium fuel with thorium is introduced in the fast breed

reactor, where thorium is converted to U233, and used as fuel in the third stage. Thus, the third

stage is based on thorium and U233 cycle which has immense potential and can be only

deployed only after sufficient capacity in the second stage has been built up.

In the Kudankulam plant the construction and testing of the first two stages are already been

completed successfully and also the safeguards standards according to IAEA has also been

achieved. The third stage of the plant is near completion and a dummy fuel to substitute for

thorium cycle had been planned to test the plant. The final testing of the plant had planned in the

month of December 2009. After the plant has been tested for third stage also then the natural fuel

is imported and the plant will be operated under commercial level. The first consignment of the

fuel for the first stage of the plant is already received and the consignment for the dummy fuel to

be used will also be received by the end of November 2009. Almost 95% of the plant i.e.

construction of plant and building up the infrastructure have already been finished. BHEL and

L&T are doing the civil constructions for the security considerations in this plant.

Other projects under proposal:

Apart from kudankulam project NPCIL with the support from Areva is about to install a new

1650MW nuclear power plant in Maharashtra. The plant is estimated to be started in Jaitapur of

Maharashtra in the month of October 2009. A MoU is also signed between Areva and NPCIL for

installing pressurized reactors in the nuclear plants and the plant is said to be constructed under

two units.

The other projects include setting up plants at Kumharia in Haryana, Bargi in Madhya Pradesh,and Markandi in Orissa. Also plans are there to construct new plants in Andhra Pradesh and

West Bengal. These are planned for achieving the targets in the next ten years.

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Suppliers for the nuclear power plants:

The consignment of fuel received by the Kudankulam plant for the first stage is supplied by a

Russian based company called Atoms troy Export. The dummy fuel for testing the third stage is

also supplied by the Atomstroryexport. Dummy fuel is similar to that of a real fuel for firing the

thorium cycle in the third stage but it is without uranium. NPCIL had signed the MoU with theRussian company Atoms troy Export for all the fuel consignments for the Kudankulam plant.

Also the company has supplied some of the reactors for the plant. All the light water reactors of

the plant are been supplied by Atoms troy Export.

Another Russian company is to set up the power reactors for two units in Rajasthan, one unit in

Kaiga and one unit in Maharashtra and would be ready by the end of the year 2010. NPCIL is

also importing nuclear reactors from Areva, a French company, General Electric and

Westinghouse, US based companies for setting up and upgradation of various nuclear plants

across the country. Also, India tied up with France for setting up two new nuclear power plants

in India. The French company Areva is going to supply the nuclear reactors for the new unitswhich are to be set up in Jaitapur, Maharashtra.

Areva is having an Indian branch named Areva T&D which is holding operations in India. It also

tied up with major companies like NPCIL, Tata group and BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd)

for setting up the infrastructure for transmission and distribution of the generated electricity.

Areva is also planning a large scale nuclear reactors forging facility with India to set up

2000MW nuclear reactor and tied up with Bharat Forge for setting up the reactor. The company

also bagged the order of setting up two European Pressurized Reactors (EPR) in nuclear power

park of Maharashtra. Areva tied up with Indian majors like BHEL, L&T and NFC for the

partnership in engineering procurement and construction (EPC) for supporting the company to build infrastructure required for the nuclear power plant in India.However, India signedcooperation agreements with GE Hitachi, JSC Atomstroryexport, Westinghouse Electric

Company, LLC (Westinghouse) and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AEC) for importing

latest technology reactors in India.

US energy major Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) and Nuclear Power Corporation of

India Limited (NPCIL) signed an MoU for starting techno-commercial aspects to set up six to

eight AP1000 type nuclear power reactors in India.India's first Prototype Fast Breeder Reactoris also in advanced stages of construction and is expected to be operational in 2011.

Also the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), the lone supplier of indigenous fuel to power the nuclear

power plants is setting up a 1000 crore Greenfield fuel fabrication facility in Rajasthan. This

would support the Rajasthan plant to increase its capacity to meet the expected fuel demands. At

present, NFC is meeting the demand for operating of 15 nuclear power plants in India. And

another three plants already gained acceptance from central government for setting up the

fabrication facilities. NFC formulated ventures with different French and Russian companies for

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establishing the fabrication facilities and bringing up the technology for establishing light water

reactors.

Also Indian government had tied up different ventures with the countries such as Argentina,

Korea, Kazakhstan, and And Japan which are known as nuclear giants for establishing new

plants in India.

Latest investments in nuclear power sector in India:

According to the Indo-French nuclear energy meet the projects and plants that are being set up

by French companies in India will have a debt equity ratio of 70:30 which is 70% of the total

investments required will be tapped through debts from different modes and the rest 30% will be

in the form of equities. With the cash reserves with the NPCIL the equity component will be met

for setting up the plants.

Also, NPCIL chose to tap the investments through Export Credit Agency (ECA) and External

Commercial Borrowings (ECB) for raising debts. The interest rates are also agreed to be charge

less than ECBs prime rate. For the first phase of raising debts French banks will be funding in

the projects. Banks are funding for the projects are BNP Paribas and Calyon which are investing

about 2 billion Euros. These are done through the techno commercial talks made by NPCIL with

the specific banks.

For the first phase NPCIL has estimated the project cost would be around Rs.33, 000 crore for

Jaitapur plant in Maharashtra. Out of which 15,000 crore would be funded by French ECA at the

interest rate of six percent. Also Rs.8, 000 would be raised through overseas in the form of

external commercial borrowing and the rest Rs.10, 000 crore will be in the form of equity with

NPCIL. BNP Paribas, Natixix, Calyon and HSBC are the French banks which are the part of

ECA funding the project.

NPCIL recently decided to invest 150 crores for a 26% stake in a joint venture with Larsen and

Toubro (L&T) to make special steels and ultra heavy forgings for installing them in different

nuclear plants across the country. This joint venture will supply finished forgings for nuclear

reactors, and pressurisers and steam generators, besides heavy forgings for critical equipment in

the hydrocarbon sector and thermal power plants. The L&T plant at Hazira will be used for this

joint venture. This plant contains dedicated steel melt shop producing ingots and heavy forge

shop for forging presses. This joint venture helps the country to become self-reliant in steel

forgings for utilizing in nuclear power plants. This is the first step to develop domestic forgings

and also have plans to develop technology for improving technology for infrastructure

applications in hydrocarbons and nuclear power.

Reduced emissions with the nuclear plants:

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With the increased emissions with the thermal plants, nuclear plants became the safe and

efficient option for the economies for the power consumption and infrastructure development. It

is a safe option for the developing countries like India where the demand for power is increasing

at a very rapid pace. Nuclear power plants are capable of producing huge amounts of energy with

little or no carbon emissions. Therefore the countries are planning for efficient energy mix for

the optimal usage of power plants.

Issues with nuclear power plants:

Though the nuclear power plants are almost zero emissions plants, there are certain issues with

the mining and handling of uranium which is vital fuel for the plants. The uranium has to be

mined, processed and transported, waste has to be stored and eventually plant has to be

decommissioned which is considered to be complex and challenging process. These processes

indirectly are said to produce small amounts of carbon emissions. Technologies are developed to

make this processes more environmental friendly but are still under progress and are not

implemented in all the plants throughout the world. Also these technologies will reduce theoperating costs of the plants drastically.

Also the handling of uranium wastes is becoming a major issue due to its radioactive nature

which may harm environment and people if proper maintenance is not done. Solutions such as

using multiple reactors for decaying the uranium wastes to thorium were helpful to some extent,

but this cannot become the permanent solution for the problem. The costs for maintenance of the

uranium wastes are exceeding as the plant size is more and a separate process must be employed

for it.

Power plants security:

Since the nuclear power plants run on the radioactive fuels security must be provided to the

nuclear reactors and plants as a whole to avoid mishaps and accidents. This is due to the nuclear

fusion processes can be more dangerous where even small errors in operation will cause a huge

destruction to the plant and the personnel. NPCIL is keen in the securities related to the nuclear

reactors for all its plants in the country. From the accident happened in the Kaiga plant, the

security is being upgraded in all the nuclear plants in the country. Additional surveillance

cameras with recording capabilities are being upgraded. Also the water coolers in the plants are

replaced with pedal operated water fountains to provide additional securities in the case of

uncontrolled fusion reactions.

Utmost care is taken in the heavy water processing for reducing even the minor errors after the

incident of Kaiga plant where the ordinary water is being mixed with the heavy water

accidentally. Also plants are being automated and the monitoring is done with more sophisticated

technologies.

Indias future scope of expansion in nuclear sector:

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Nuclear installed capacity is estimated to grow in the future as it became one of the alternatives

for the thermal plants in India. Government is planning to increase the installed capacity of

nuclear power to 20,000MW by the year 2020 and increase its capacity to 60,000MW by the

year 2032. Currently nuclear power share in total Indian installed power is only about 3%.

Government of India aims to increase the share of the nuclear energy in the total share to 25% in

the future so that the power demands can be met and operate environmental friendly. Also it is

being planned to improve the technology to run the thorium based nuclear power reactors to

improve the efficiency and also to use the fuel economically. This also reduces the costs.

Conclusion:

Thus, nuclear energy is becoming vital in the globalised world and the countries in the hunt for

energy securities are increasing dependence on nuclear power to play safe and meet the demand

requirements. Asia pacific region particularly with developing nations is increasing its installed

capacity of nuclear power. India is planning to double the existing capacity in nuclear power in

the next five years to meet the energy requirements due to its fast growth. NPCIL which is themost important organization in setting up nuclear power plants in India is trying to reach the

targets with greater speed and efficiency. India set the target to be achieved by 2020 of being in

the hub of countries with most dependence on nuclear power.

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REFERENCES

1. India plans massive nuclear energy boost 2008

www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/india_plans_massive_nuclear_ener

gy_boost_999.html

2. Future nuclear power - S.K. Jain (27th august 2009)

(NPCIL Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited)

www.npcil.nic.in/press_27aug09.pdf

3. Areva planning major investments in India PB Jayakumar and NevinJohn ( 13th July 2009)

www.businessstandards.com/india.news/areva_planning_major_invest

ments_in_india/363745/

4. NPCIL- annual report 07-08

5. Sudhinder Thakur- Nuclear power

Hindu - Survey of Indian industry - 09

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http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/india_plans_massive_nuclear_energy_boost_999.htmlhttp://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/india_plans_massive_nuclear_energy_boost_999.htmlhttp://www.npcil.nic.in/press_27aug09.pdfhttp://www.businessstandards.com/india.news/areva_planning_major_investments_in_india/363745/http://www.businessstandards.com/india.news/areva_planning_major_investments_in_india/363745/http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/india_plans_massive_nuclear_energy_boost_999.htmlhttp://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/india_plans_massive_nuclear_energy_boost_999.htmlhttp://www.npcil.nic.in/press_27aug09.pdfhttp://www.businessstandards.com/india.news/areva_planning_major_investments_in_india/363745/http://www.businessstandards.com/india.news/areva_planning_major_investments_in_india/363745/

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