India’s Union Minister of State for Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh

The “concept design” stage of India’s planned Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR) has been completed and is in the process of being approved, Union Minister of State for Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh has told the Lok Sabha (parliament). Once the project is sanctioned, it will take 60-72 months for the reactor to be constructed.

BSMRs are modified versions of India’s existing 200 MWe pressurised heavy water reactor (PWHR). They will be fuelled with “slightly enriched uranium” and are being jointly designed and developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).

Manufacturing and delivery of equipment and components developed by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) will be undertaken by various indigenous nuclear vendors. “Critical items”, such as low alloy steel forgings required for manufacturing the reactor pressure vessel and reactivity control drive mechanisms, will be procured by domestic private vendors.

BSMRs will be used by energy intensive industries such as steel, aluminium, and cement and can be set up by repurposing thermal power plants that are to be decommissioned. They can also provide electricity in remote places. The BSMR pressurised water reactor technology will have passive safety features as well as several engineered safety systems to ensure nuclear safety during accidents. Systems are planned to handle used fuel and its storage in-situ, Dr Singh said in a written response to a parliamentary question.

In her budget speech in July 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government would be partnering with the private sector for setting up Bharat Small Reactors (BSRs), research and development of BSMRs, and research & development of newer technologies for nuclear energy. The 2025 budget includes an allocation of INR200bn ($2.5bn) for the design and deployment of SMRs.

BSRs are smaller (55 MWe) reactors and are in a nascent stage of design and are targeted at deployment in remote locations. The first two lead units of a 55 MWe BSR will be built at a DAE site by 2033, Dr Singh said.

Earlier this year, NPCIL issued a Request for Proposals from “visionary Indian industries” to finance and build a proposed fleet of 220 MWe Bharat Small Reactors. Currently, India has 8 GWe of operating nuclear capacity, operated by NPCIL. The 2025 budget announced measures to promote private sector participation, and accelerate the deployment of advanced nuclear technologies such as SMRs.

Recently, India’s biggest power company state-run NTPC (formerly the National Thermal Power Corporation revealed plans to invest $62bn over the next two decades to construct 30 GWe of nuclear generation capacity. Other private companies that have expressed interest in developing nuclear power include Naveen Jindal Group, which has launched a wholly-owned subsidiary, Jindal Nuclear Power, with plans to deploy up to 18 GW of nuclear.

India’s Tata Power Co says it is looking for opportunities in the small modular reactors space, following the government’s nuclear expansion plans. “As the Government is looking for active partnerships with private players and the amendment to the Nuclear Power Act to set up nuclear energy capacity, we will take up the opportunities to set up small modular nuclear reactors,” Tata Power said in a filing with the Indian stock exchange earlier in February.

by neimagazine