Govt sets up new nuclear mission, Rs 20k crore for small modular reactors R&D

Sitharaman had expressed such an intention in last year’s budget itself, but she had not revealed the details of the government’s plan on nuclear power generation. Her announcements this year are more substantial and concrete.

She said the government would set up a Nuclear Energy Mission worth ₹20,000 crore for research and development of small modular reactors (SMRs), and promised that at least five such indigenously developed SMRs would be operationalised by 2033. SMRs, as the name suggests, are small nuclear reactors that typically produce less than 300 MW of electricity. Conventional nuclear reactors, the kind which are currently installed in India and elsewhere, usually have capacities to produce 500 MW of electricity or more.

However, it is their relatively simpler and modular design — enabling their components to be assembled in a factory instead of being constructed on-site — lower costs, and flexible deployment that has made SMRs a much more attractive proposition in recent years.

MRs are mostly still under development and have not been deployed commercially anywhere in the world. Just a couple of experimental SMRs are operational right now. But more than 80 different designs are under development, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and several such reactors are being constructed in countries like the United States, China, Russia and South Korea.

The government is pushing for indigenous development of SMRs — sometimes even referring to them as Bharat SMRs — and this is where the new ₹20,000 crore mission is supposed to make a difference.

Sitharaman said India’s energy transition would require at least 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047, reiterating an ambitious target that was revealed by the Department of Atomic Energy last year. Right now, India’s installed nuclear energy capacity is 7,480 MW, comprising of 23 nuclear reactors. The government plans to triple this capacity to 22,800 MW by 2031-32, once the ten new indigenously developed reactors, approved in 2017 and currently under construction, come onboard.

Unlike renewables like solar or wind, nuclear energy offers a reliable source of on demand electricity generation, and is not susceptible to weather-related interruptions.

However, reaching the 100 GW target means a five-fold expansion in the 15 years between 2032 and 2047. That is an addition of about 5-6 GW of nuclear energy every year.

This cannot happen without the involvement of the private sector. Nuclear power plants have so far been owned and operated by the Nuclear Energy Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), and its fully-owned subsidiary Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam (BHAVINI). In the last few years, a policy change has allowed public sector units like the NTPC or NHPC to enter into joint ventures with NPCIL to own and operate nuclear plants.

Sitharaman said the government would amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1962 to facilitate the entry of private sector in nuclear energy. The provisions of Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Act, which holds plant operators responsible for paying any damages arising out of a nuclear accident, would also be amended to ensure that private companies are not entirely deterred to enter the sector.