Nuclear Power Plants In India

What Is A Nuclear Power Plant? 

Nuclear power plants are kind of power plant that generates energy via the process of nuclear fission. These plants do this by combining nuclear reactors with the Rankine cycle, in which the heat created by the reactor transforms water into steam, which powers a turbine and generator. Nuclear power generates around 11% of the world’s total energy and the United States and France are the main producers.

Nuclear power plants, except for the source of heat, are remarkably similar to coal-fired power plants. They do, however, need extra safety precautions due to the fact that nuclear fuel has drastically different characteristics than coal or other fossil fuels. They generate thermal energy by breaking the nuclei of atoms in their reactor core, with uranium being the most commonly used fuel in the world today. Thorium has the potential to be used in nuclear power generation, although it is not presently in use.

History

On December 20, 1951, at the Experimental Breeder Reactor I, heat from a nuclear reactor was utilised to create electricity for the first time which gives power to four light bulbs and that’s the day history was created.

The Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant became the world’s first nuclear power plant to produce energy for a power grid and began its operations in Obninsk, Soviet Union, on June 27, 1954.

Calder Hall in the United Kingdom became the world’s first full-scale power plant on October 17, 1956 after two year of Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant and after one year the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, United States, became the world’s first full-scale power station purely dedicated to electricity production—Calder Hall was also designed to create plutonium—on December 18, 1957.

Nuclear Power Plants In India

As part of its infrastructure development agenda, the Indian government is committed to developing nuclear power plants in India. In order to do this, the Centre has set numerous lofty goals for the future years.

Nuclear power is an essential element of India’s energy mix, and the nation plans to expand an additional 5.4GW to existing nuclear power reactors during the next decade. Nuclear power in India has a total capacity of 6.7GW, accounting for a little less than 2% of the country’s electrical production. Nuclear Power Council of India (NPCIL), a state-owned corporation created in 1987, is in charge of India’s nuclear facilities. India has a fleet of seven nuclear power reactors, which are featured below in order of output capacity from greatest to smallest.

Because of the weapons program, India is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and was mainly barred from trading in nuclear facilities and materials for 34 years, hampering its civil nuclear energy growth until 2009.

Furthermore, a conflict between India’s civil liability legislation and international treaties has hindered the availability of foreign technology in nuclear research since 2010. The 48-nation Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) offered India access to civilian nuclear technology and fuel from other nations on September 6, 2008.

Here are some  nuclear plants of India:-

Tamil Nadu’s Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

The Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant is situated in Tamil Nadu, India’s southernmost state. It is India’s largest nuclear facility, with an installed output of 2,000MW now built and another 2,000MW under development.

Kudankulam is India’s first nuclear power station that employs pressurised water reactors (PWR) instead of boiling water reactors (BHWR) or pressurised heavy-water reactors (PHWR). Atomstroyexport delivered the PWRs, which are based on Russian technology.

Maharashtra’s Tarapur Nuclear Reactor

The Tarapur Nuclear Reactor in Maharashtra, is the oldest and first nuclear power plant in India, with commercial operations beginning in 1969. The reactor is now the second most powerful in India, with two 160MW BHWR reactors and two 540MW PHWR reactors totaling 1,400MW. Both BHWR reactors were established in 1969, and the PHWR reactors were installed in 2005 and 2006.

Rajasthan Atomic Power Plant

The Rajasthan Power Plant is situated in Rajasthan, and has a total capacity of 1180MW. The first reactor, comprising six PHWR reactors, was commissioned in December 1973, with two additional reactors planned.

Karnataka’s Kaiga Atomic Power Plant

The Kaiga Atomic Power Plant in Karnataka consists of four 220MW PHWR reactors, with a total capacity of 880MW. The reactors started to work in various years like, in December 1999, October 2000, April 2007, and January 2011.

In December 2018, Unit 1 of the Kaiga plant achieved a world record for continuous operation. From 13 May 2016 to 31 December 2018, it worked non-stop for 962 days, breaking the previous record set by Heysham 2 in the UK by the gap of 22 days.

Conclusion

Nuclear power plants are one of the major producers of electricity in the world. Its work is on the principle of nuclear fission. The USA and France are the leaders in the nuclear power sector. To operate this nuclear reactor Uranium is required and a very small amount of uranium produces a very large amount of electricity. These plants are very safe but they act very dangerously if any accident happens.