TAPP-3 goes critical, commercial by July

India’s 16th nuclear power reactor, the 540-MW Tarapur Atomic Power Plant-3 120 km to the north of Mumbai, attained criticality this morning at 10.44.

India’s 16th nuclear power reactor, the 540-MW Tarapur Atomic Power Plant-3 (TAPP-3) 120 km to the north of Mumbai, attained criticality this morning at 10.44. India’s top nuclear scientists were crowding the control room of TAPP-3

when it achieved its sustained nuclear fission chain reaction.

‘‘Good job,’’ a jubilant Anil Kakodkar, chairman, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), told the team that pulled off the mega project seven months ahead of schedule at a cost-saving of Rs 400 crore.

Kakodkar later said that with the possibility of ‘‘opening up’’ of civil nuclear cooperation, the demand and expectation of nuclear power would go up. ‘‘We will continue to work on domestic demand, but how much more depends on the civil nuclear cooperation.’’

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Fuelled by bundles of natural uranium, the twin TAPP-3 and 4 are India’s largest nuclear reactors in terms of size, cost and power generation. Together, they will generate 1,080 MW, and 38 per cent or 430 MW will go to power-starved Maharashtra—currently facing a 4,500 MW shortfall. TAPP-4 started generating power last year.

‘‘We will start producing power at TAPP-3 by next month,’’ said chairman and managing director of the Nuclear Power Corporation India Limited (NPCIL) S K Jain. ‘‘Commercial production will start by July. By early August, the total power production of all four Tarapur units will be 1,400 MW at the site.’’

Power from TAPP-3 and 4 will also be distributed across Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Daman, Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

The Tarapur site has the capacity to house two more plants, but the issue of TAPP-5 and TAPP-6 remains undecided, said Kakodkar. The design of TAPP-3 and TAPP-4 will be upgraded for the two 700-MW units to come up at Kakrapar in Gujarat, and two at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan.

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Meanwhile, Kakodkar reiterated the Centre’s plans to double the targeted nuclear power generation by 2030. ‘‘We are trying to realise the target of 20,000 MW and scale it up to 40,000 MW by 2030 with the possibility of international cooperation,’’ he said.

Asked whether TAPP-3 and 4 will be under civilian classification when the Indo-US deal comes through, Kakodkar said: ‘‘These two units will not be under civilian in the separation plan.’’

Regarding the nuclear research reactors at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Cirus and Apsara, he said: ‘‘The details are already in the public domain and we will be making use of the facilities up to 2010.’’