New Delhi: India’s nuclear watchdog, the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), has granted a five-year operational license to two homegrown 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station in Gujarat.

The board, in an official press release, said, “The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) has concluded the Design and Commissioning Safety Reviews and issued the License for Operation of Units 3 and 4 of Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS-3&4), the country’s first 700 MWe indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs).”

“Being the first reactor of its kind, the licensing process involved rigorous multi-tiered safety reviews and assessment of the reactor design, covering the entire lifecycle in multiple stages — from siting and construction to commissioning at full power. Besides AERB, several reactor safety experts from the Technical Support Organizations made significant contributions toward the review of the Design & Commissioning results, which spanned almost 15 years.”

“As a part of Phase-C Commissioning, KAPS-3 received permission for full-power operation in August 2023, followed by KAPS-4 in August 2024. After further review of plant performance close to rated power, AERB has now granted the License for Operation to NPCIL for a period of five years,” the note added.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), which leads India’s PHWR programme, received the license on July 3. This development is seen as a major boost for NPCIL’s plan to construct ten more 700 MWe PHWRs under fleet mode.

India currently operates 15 PHWRs with 220 MWe capacity and two units with 540 MWe capacity. The newer 700 MWe design is an upgrade of the 540 MWe version, with Kakrapar housing the first two such reactors. Another 700 MWe unit recently began commercial operations in Rawatbhata, Rajasthan. DeshGujarat