POWER April 2023 - 6

India Eyes Major Expansion of
Nuclear Power
India's government is pushing for construction
of more nuclear power plants
as the country looks to increase its
supply of cleaner energy. Officials have
made some ambitious pronouncements,
calling for as many as 20 new
nuclear power facilities to be brought
online over the next decade, more
than doubling the number of operating
nuclear power plants in the country. Officials
in February announced that Haryana
state in northern India will be home
to that region's first nuclear plant, as a
1,400-MW facility already is under construction
near Gorakhpur village, about
90 miles northwest of New Delhi. That
plant will feature two 700-MW pressurized
heavy-water reactors (PHWR) of
Indian design.
The U.S. and India in 2019 signed a
deal in which the U.S. pledged to support
construction of at least six nuclear
power plants in India, and the two
countries in February revisited previous
agreements from as long ago as 2008
that could facilitate U.S. backing of India's
nuclear power program. Officials
in India also have signed civil nuclear
cooperation agreements with another
dozen countries, including Russia, Canada,
and France, that would support the
deployment of additional reactors. The
Nuclear Power Corp. of India (NPCI) has
received government backing to build a
series of 700-MW PHWR reactors as
part of the country's domestic nuclear
power program. Westinghouse and the
NPCI in 2016 had a broad agreement for
the U.S. company to build as many as
six reactors in India, but the deal collapsed
after
Westinghouse
declared
bankruptcy in 2017.
Jitendra Singh, India's Union Minister
of State for Atomic Energy, said the agency
is working with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's regime on the installation of
nuclear power plants in new areas. Most
of India's operating reactors are located
in the southern and western parts of the
country (Figure 1). Singh earlier this year
said the government is seeking investment
from companies in the public sector
to help advance India's nuclear power
and other energy goals. Modi's government
has talked about a goal of having
500 GW of energy from non-fossil fuel
sources by 2030, which would require a
rapid ramp-up of nuclear and renewable
energy generation capacity. Singh said
Modi's government already has given approval
for construction of at least 10 new
nuclear reactors.
Fast additions of nuclear power likely
would require changes to India's historical
construction timelines of new
reactors. An analysis of data from the
International Atomic Energy Agency released
earlier this year shows the median
construction time for nuclear plants
in India historically has been just more
than 14 years, from the start of construction
until connection to the power grid.
Officials have said the country must improve
that mark to achieve its nuclear
power goals, citing the same analysis
that shows China has been building and
commissioning nuclear reactors in fewer
than six years.
" India is looking to reduce its fossil
1. India's Narora Atomic Power Station features two of the 22 operating nuclear reactors in the
country, which has about 6.8 GW of installed nuclear power capacity. The Narora station has 440
MW of generation capacity. Courtesy: Government of India
6
www.powermag.com
fuels by half by 2032; building nuclear
plants is seen as a central part of that
strategy, " said Irina Tsukerman, a geopolitical
analyst and president of Scarab
Rising, a Connecticut-based business
advisory group. " From a safety perspective,
it is not a significant risk given that
India is already a nuclear power. Civilian
plants would not necessarily introduce
any greater risk; the key would be cooperation
with reputable companies and
Western states toward building safe and
well-maintained facilities. "
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for
Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt met
with Indian officials in Delhi in mid-February,
and described India as a " very crucial "
partner for supporting global energy
security as the world continues to face
issues stemming from Russia's invasion
of Ukraine. Pyatt told local media, " The
business model of the civil nuclear industry
is changing. In the U.S., we made a
huge commitment to small and marginal
reactors which could be particularly suitable
to the Indian environment as well. "
Pyatt, who was an official at the U.S.
Embassy in New Delhi for several years
and worked on a nuclear cooperation
agreement between the U.S. and India
that was approved by Congress in 2008,
said, " The U.S.-India energy and climate
agenda is one of the most important that
we have anywhere in the world. When I
look at where our strategic relationship is
going, I see the issues that I am now responsible
for as being right at the center
of the picture because there is so much
potential to build on the strong foundation
to do even more, " he said.
Pyatt said his visit was designed to
strengthen a bilateral energy partnership
between the U.S. and India. He noted
that partnership also would include projects
under the " Quad " framework, a
working group that includes Japan and
Australia, and is focused on cooperation
of the countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken,
along with India's External Affairs MinPOWER
| April 2023

http://www.powermag.com

POWER April 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER April 2023