NPCIL set to operate small nuclear plants for private players

New Delhi: For the first time, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) will operate 220 MW capacity small nuclear plants for private players. These private players will provide the funding and land for the project. A senior government official has stated that a development on this front is likely by the end of this year or early 2025.

The private player will make the funding and land available for the nuclear plant, but NPCIL will manage the plant.

With the NPCIL, a public sector enterprise under the Department of Atomic Energy, managing and operating the plant, the need to amend the Atomic Energy Act will not arise. Under the Atomic Energy Act, the nuclear energy sector is open only for government PSUs, another official said.

These 220 MW reactors will be known as 'Bharat Small Reactors' for which research is already in progress at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the official said.

The Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) technology, which India has mastered over a while, is likely to be used for building small reactors, the official said. With small reactors, the exclusion zone can be brought down to 500 meters, the official said. Currently, the exclusion zone varies from 1 to 1.5 kilometres.

The focus initially will be on energy-intensive industries like steel. Many of the private players have their own captive plants and small reactors could in future replace them, the official said.

During the presentation of the Union Budget in July, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government would collaborate with the private sector to establish Bharat Small Reactors and to conduct research and development on small modular reactors.