India's Third Home-built 700 MWe Nuclear Reactor Achieves Criticality

New Delhi: India's third home-built 700 MWe nuclear power reactor has achieved criticality and is expected to start commercial electricity generation soon, operator NPCIL said on Friday.

The nuclear power reactor that achieved criticality on Thursday night is the first of a new series of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) to be built at Rajasthan Atomic Power Project in Rawatbhata.

Earlier, two 700 MWe PHWRs started commercial operation at Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat .

"The Unit 7 of the 2 X 700 MW Rajasthan Atomic Power Project 7&8 (RAPP 7&8) at Rawatbhata, achieved the important milestone of criticality (start of controlled fission chain reaction) on September 19, 2024, at 22:42 hrs," the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) said in a statement on Friday.

The milestone was achieved after clearance of first approach to criticality by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).

The NCPIL said RAPP-7 was the third in the series of 16 indigenous PHWRs of 700 MWe each being set up in the country.

The successful achievement of criticality of RAPP-7, after the smooth operation of KAPS 3&4, the first two 700 MWe PHWRs, demonstrates the maturity achieved by NPCIL in the design, construction and operation of the indigenous reactors.

First criticality marks the completion of the construction phase and commencement of the operation phase of a nuclear power plant.

Various experiments and tests will now be conducted before connecting it to the grid.

Thereafter, the level will be raised in steps to full power, in line with the clearances of the AERB.

The RAPP 7&8 project is being set up in Rawatbhata, where six units with a total capacity of 1,180 MWe are already in operation.

NPCIL currently operates 24 reactors with a total capacity of 8,180 MWe and has eight units (including RAPP-7) with a capacity of 6,800 MWe under construction.

In addition, 10 more reactors with a total capacity of 7,000 MWe are in pre-project phase and are expected to be completed progressively by 2031-32.