2020: A year of challenge and achievement for Indian nuclear sector

By Venkatachari Jagannathan Chennai, Dec 31 : The year 2020 was a challenging year for the Indian atomic sector due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it still performed remarkably well attaining a major milestone and also taking steps towards setting up of a medical research reactor in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode, a top sector official said.
“A significant milestone achieved during the year was the achievement of first criticality of KAPP-3 (Kakrapar Atomic Power Project-3), the first of a kind indigenous 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR), which is the first in a series of 16 such reactors being set up in the country,” Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman K.N. Vyas told IANS.
The KAPP-3 attained first criticality (controlled self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction) in July despite the handicap of the Covid-19 lockdown.
“All efforts are being made to start commercial operation of the first 700 MW unit at Kakrapar, KAPP-3 by March 2021. Work on the KAPP-4 and RAPP 7&8 (Rajasthan Atomic Power Project) is being expedited. In KAPP-4 and RAPP-7, main plant civil construction and erection of major equipment has been completed and balance activities are in progress. In RAPP-8, various construction and erection activities are in progress,” Vyas said.
According to him, the nuclear power stations operated at the highest standards of safety and generated 40,718 Million Units of electricity in 11 months of this year (January to November 2020).
“Continuing with the trend of setting records in long continuous operation by Indian nuclear power reactors, NAPS-2 (Narora Atomic Power Station-2) continued to operate during the year, registering 851 days of continuous operation as on December 23, 2020,” Vyas added.