Knowledge Nugget: How is Nuclear Energy Mission and Small Modular Reactors relevant for UPSC Exam?

4. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an international body that advises governments on the transition to clean energy, says nuclear energy has to more than double by 2050 if the world has any chance of reaching net zero. The problem with nuclear power currently is that it is big and expensive, takes too long to build and could cause civilisation-ending disasters if something were to go wrong.

Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

1. The Government of India is promoting the indigenous development of SMRs, occasionally calling them Bharat SMRs, with the new ₹20,000 crore mission aimed at making a significant impact in this regard. India is pushing for a leadership slot in this small reactor space, both as a way of fulfilling its commitment to clean energy transition, and bundling SMRs as a technology-led foreign policy pitch.

2. SMRs are essentially advanced small nuclear reactors that have a power capacity of 30MWe to 300 MWe (megawatt electrical) per unit. Conventional nuclear reactors, the kind which are currently installed in India and elsewhere, usually have capacities to produce 500 MW of electricity or more.

3. The relatively simpler and modular design of SMRs—enabling their components to be assembled in a factory instead of being constructed on-site—lowers costs and allows flexible deployment, making them a much more attractive proposition in recent years.

4. While lots of different types of SMRs are being developed, there are currently four main types, each using a different coolant to manage the extreme heat of a nuclear fission reaction — light water, high temperature gas, liquid metal, and molten salt.

5. The most common type, though, are light water reactors, which are very similar to traditional nuclear power plants being built in Russia, France and the US that are all water-cooled. That makes light water SMRs much easier to design and get approved, as today’s nuclear regulations are mostly based on water-cooled reactors.

6. As of now, two SMR projects have reached the operational stage globally. One is an SMR named Akademik Lomonosov, a floating power unit in Russia that has two-modules of 35 MWe (megawatt electric). This started commercial operation in May 2020. The other is a demonstration SMR project called HTR-PM in China that was grid-connected in December 2021 and is reported to have started commercial operations in December 2023.

BEYOND THE NUGGET:  India’s SMR Push and Private Participation

1. India’s ambitions to enter the global manufacturing value chain of SMRs are receiving the institutional backing needed to promote private participation, with key policy enablers highlighted in the budget.

2. The first enabler is the creation of a separate vertical within the Department of Atomic Energy with the explicit objective of fostering private participation in what is now an overwhelmingly state-controlled Indian nuclear establishment. This would be on the lines of what was tried out in the space sector, which is now proving to be a resounding success.

3. The second enabler is a proposed amendment to the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, which currently allows only limited participation for the Indian private sector players in the country’s nuclear energy sector and limits this to private companies coming in only as suppliers of equipment.

4. The proposed changes are aimed at opening the door wider for the private sector for an entry into nuclear power plant operations and enabling them to enter the SMR sector as operators, which is currently allowed under the Act to state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) and a couple of joint ventures that NPCIL has with state-owned companies such as NTPC Ltd and NALCO.

5. The third enabler is likely changes being moved to the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010. The original legislation sought to create a mechanism for compensating victims from potential damages caused by a nuclear accident, and allocating liability and specifying procedures for compensation.

6. These provisions have been cited as an impediment by foreign players such as GE-Hitachi, Westinghouse and French nuclear company Areva to investing in India, primarily on the grounds that the legislation channelised operators’ liability to equipment suppliers. Foreign vendors have cited this as a disincentive when it comes to investing in India’s nuclear sector amid apprehensions of incurring future liability.

(Sources: Govt sets up new nuclear mission, Rs 20k crore for small modular reactors R&D, Nuclear energy, India’s ambitions to break into the SMR value chain – the three big enablers in the Budget)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.

Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – Indian Express UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.