Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) is a Public Sector Enterprise under the

administrative control of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India. The
Company was registered as a Public Limited Company under the Companies Act, 1956 in
September 1987 with the objectives of operating atomic power plants and implementing
atomic power projects for generation of electricity in pursuance of the schemes and
programmes of the Government of India under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962. NPCIL also has
equity participation in BHAVINI, another PSU of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) which
implements Fast Breeder Reactors programme in the country.

NPCIL was created in September 1987 under the Companies Act 1956, "with the objective of
undertaking the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the atomic power stations
for generation of electricity in pursuance of the schemes and programmes of the Government
of India under the provision of the Atomic Energy Act 1962." All nuclear power plants operated
by the company are certified for ISO-14001 (Environment Management System).

NPCIL has the highest level of credit rating (AAA rating by CRISIL and CARE). The reactor fleet
comprises two Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) and 18 Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors
(PHWRs) including one 100 MW PHWR at Rajasthan which is owned by DAE, Government of
India and two 1000 MW VVER reactor KKNPS-1&2, in this, latest addition to the fleet is the unit-
2 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Station, a 1000 MW VVER (Pressurized Water Reactor type),
which has started its commercial operation on March 31, 2017.

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 • NPCIL was the sole body
responsible for constructing and
operating India's commercial
nuclear power plants till setting up
of BHAVINI Vidyut Nigam) in
October 2003.

• NPCIL has 22 nuclear reactors in

operation at seven locations, a total
installed capacity of 6780 MW.

• Subsequent to the government's

decision to allow private companies
to provide nuclear power.

• Currently NPCIL has Eight reactors

under various stages of
construction totaling 6200 MW
capacity.

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Vision

“To be globally proficient in nuclear power technology, contributing towards long

term energy security of the country.”

Mission

‘To develop nuclear power technology and to produce nuclear power as a safe,
environmentally benign and economically viable source of electrical energy to
meet the increasing electricity needs of the country'.

Objectives

• To maximize the power generation and profitability from nuclear power

stations with the motto ‘safety first and production next’.

• To increase nuclear power generation capacity in the country, consistent

with available resources in a safe, economical and rapid manner, in keeping
with the growth of energy demand in the country.

• To develop personnel at all levels through an appropriate Human Resources

Development (HRD) programme in the organisation with a view to further
improve their skills and performance consistent with the high technology.

• To continue and strengthen the environmental protection measures

relating to nuclear power generation.

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Operating Units

• Tarapur Atomic Power Station Units-1&2 (2x160 MW BWRs),

• Tarapur Atomic Power Station Units-3&4 (2x540 MW PHWRs),

• Rajasthan Atomic Power Station Units 1to6 (RAPS-1 100 MW, RAPS-2 200
MW and RAPS-3to6,4x220 MW PHWRs),

• Madras Atomic Power Station Units-1&2 (2x220 MW PHWRs),

• Narora Atomic Power Station Units-1&2 (2x220 MW PHWRs),

• Kakrapar Atomic Power Station Units-1&2 (2x220 MW PHWRs),

• Kaiga Generating Station Unit-1 to 4 (4x220 MW PHWRs) and

• Kudankulam Nuclear Power Station Unit-1&2 (2x1000 MW VVER)

In addition, NPCIL also has a 10 MW Wind Power Plant at Kudankulam site.

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The units under construction

• Kakrapar Atomic Power Project Unit-3&4 (2x700 MW PHWRs)

• Rajasthan Atomic Power Project Units-7&8 (2x700 MW PHWRs)

• Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidhyut Pariyojna Units-1&2 (2x700 MW PHWRs)

• Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project Unit-3&4 (2x1000 MW VVER)

Operating Performance

Generation by all units of NPCIL in the financial year (FY) 2019-20 was 46472 MUs.
NPCIL has set several records in the safe operation of nuclear power plants. So far
NPCIL has consistently maintained overall availability factor of reactors above
80% for several years.

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Safety Performance

NPCIL has about 50 years of experience in safe operation of nuclear power plants,
with motto of ‘Safety first and Production next'. The Environmental Management
System (EMS) and Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS)
as per ISO-14001: 2004 and IS-18001: 2007 respectively are maintained at all the
stations. By following the principle of ALARA (As Low as Reasonably Achievable)
and maintaining the highest standards of safety within the Nuclear Power Plants
(NPPs), the occupational exposures of employees of the company at various NPPs
are maintained well below the values specified by the regulator, Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board (AERB).

The environmental releases of radioactive effluents from NPPs are maintained

significantly low (average less than 1% of the limits specified by AERB). NPCIL
contributed in enhancing safety & reliability of nuclear power plants globally
through its active participants in World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO),
CANDU Owners Group (COG), IAEA and other international organizations.

Biodiversity Conservation

NPCIL has voluntarily taken up Environment Stewardship Programme (ESP),

besides fulfilling regulatory and statutory requirements. The programme focuses
on the scientific study of bio-diversity, particularly avifauna, within and around
Exclusion Zones (EZs) of Indian nuclear power plants for the conservation and
improvement of habitat in association with nature conservation institutions.

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Nuclear power in India
Nuclear power is the fifth-largest source of electricity in India after coal, gas,
hydroelectricity and wind power. As of November 2020, India has 22 nuclear
reactors in operation in 7 nuclear power plants, with a total installed capacity of
6,780 MW. Nuclear power produced a total of 35 TWh and supplied 3.22% of
Indian electricity in 2017. 7 more reactors are under construction with a
combined generation capacity of 4,300 MW.

In October 2010, India drew up a plan to reach a nuclear power capacity of 63 GW

in 2032. However, following the 2011 Fukushima (Japan) nuclear disaster there
have been numerous anti-nuclear protests at proposed nuclear power plant sites.
There have been mass protests against the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in
Maharashtra and the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu, and a
proposed large nuclear power plant near Haripur was refused permission by the
Government of West Bengal. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has also been filed
against the government’s civil nuclear programme at the Supreme Court.

Low-Capacity Factor

Nuclear power in India has suffered from generally low-capacity factors. As of

2017, the lifetime weighted energy availability factor of the Indian fleet is 63.5%.
However, capacity factors have been improving in recent years. The availability
factor of Indian reactors was 69.4% in the years 2015-2017. One of the main
reasons for the low-capacity factors is lack of nuclear fuel.
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India has been making advances in the field of thorium-based fuels, working to
design and develop a prototype for an atomic reactor using thorium and low-
enriched uranium, a key part of India's three stage nuclear power programme.

The Capacity Factor & Availability Factor

It basically measures how often a plant is running at maximum power. A plant

with a capacity factor of 100% means it's producing power all of the time. Nuclear
has the highest capacity factor of any other energy source—producing reliable,
carbon-free power more than 92% of the time in 2016.

The net capacity factor is the unitless ratio of an actual electrical energy output
over a given period of time to the maximum possible electrical energy output
over that period. The capacity factor is defined for any electricity producing
installation, such as a fuel consuming power plant or one using renewable energy,
such as wind or the sun.

The average capacity factor can also be defined for any class of such installations,
and can be used to compare different types of electricity production.

The maximum possible energy output of a given installation assumes its

continuous operation at full nameplate capacity over the relevant period. The
actual energy output during that period and the capacity factor vary greatly
depending on a range of factors.

The capacity factor can never exceed the availability factor, or uptime during the
period. Uptime can be reduced due to, for example, reliability issues and
maintenance, scheduled or unscheduled. Other factors include the design of the
installation, its location, the type of electricity production and with it either the
fuel being used or, for renewable energy, the local weather conditions.
Additionally, the capacity factor can be subject to regulatory constraints and
market forces, potentially affecting both its fuel purchase and its electricity sale.
Nuclear power plants are at the high end of the range of capacity factors, ideally
reduced only by the availability factor, i.e. maintenance and refueling.

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PHWR
A pressurized heavy-water reactor (PHWR) is a nuclear reactor that uses heavy
water (deuterium oxide D2O) as its coolant and neutron moderator. PHWRs
frequently use natural uranium as fuel, but sometimes also use very low enriched
uranium. The heavy water coolant is kept under pressure to avoid boiling,
allowing it to reach higher temperature (mostly) without forming steam bubbles,
exactly as for pressurized water reactor. While heavy water is very expensive to
isolate from ordinary water (often referred to as light water in contrast to heavy
water), its low absorption of neutrons greatly increases the neutron economy of
the reactor, avoiding the need for enriched fuel. The high cost of the heavy water
is offset by the lowered cost of using natural uranium and/or alternative fuel
cycles. As of the beginning of 2001, 31 PHWRs were in operation, having a total
capacity of 16.5 GW(e), representing roughly 7.76% by number and 4.7% by
generating capacity of all current operating reactors.

BWR

A boiling water reactor (BWR) is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the
generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-
generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor (PWR), which is
also a type of light water nuclear reactor. The main difference between a BWR

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and PWR is that in a BWR, the reactor core heats water, which turns to steam and
then drives a steam turbine. In a PWR, the reactor core heats water, which does
not boil. This hot water then exchanges heat with a lower pressure water system,
which turns to steam and drives the turbine. The BWR was developed by the
Argonne National Laboratory and General Electric (GE) in the mid-1950s. The
main present manufacturer is GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, which specializes in the
design and construction of this type of reactor.

Nuclear Fuel

Nuclear fuel is the fuel that is used in a nuclear reactor to sustain a nuclear chain
reaction. These fuels are fissile, and the most common nuclear fuels are the
radioactive metals uranium-235 and plutonium-239. All processes involved in
obtaining, refining, and using this fuel make up a cycle known as the nuclear fuel
cycle.

Uranium-235 is used as a fuel in different concentrations. Some reactors, such as

the CANDU reactor, can use natural uranium with uranium-235 concentrations of
only 0.7%, while other reactors require the uranium to be slightly enriched to
levels of 3% to 5%. Plutonium-239 is produced and used in reactors (specifically
fast breeder reactors) that contain significant amounts of uranium-238. It can also
be recycled and used as a fuel in thermal reactors. Current research is being done
to investigate how thorium-232 can be used as a fuel.

Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of
undergoing and sustaining nuclear fission. The three most relevant fissile isotopes
are uranium-233, uranium-235 and plutonium-239. When the unstable nuclei of
these atoms are hit by a slow-moving neutron, they split, creating two daughter
nuclei and two or three more neutrons. These neutrons then go on to split more
nuclei. This creates a self-sustaining chain reaction that is controlled in a nuclear
reactor, or uncontrolled in a nuclear weapon.

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Current News

NTPC and NPCIL sign Agreement for joint development of Nuclear Power Plants

Joint Venture company to develop Chutka Madhya Pradesh Atomic Power Project of 2x700 MW
and Mahi Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Project of 4x700 MW

NTPC Ltd. signed a Supplementary Joint Venture Agreement with Nuclear Power Corporation of
India Ltd. (NPCIL) in New Delhi today for development of Nuclear Power Projects. The
agreement was signed by Mr. Ujjwal Kanti Bhattacharya, Director Projects, NTPC Ltd. and Mr.
Ranjay Sharan, Director Projects, NPCIL in the presence of Shri R.K. Singh, Minister of Power,
New & Renewable Energy, Shri K.N. Vyas, Secretary DAE & Chairman Atomic Energy
Commission, Shri Alok Kumar, Secretary,Ministry of Power, Shri Gurdeep Singh, CMD NTPC, Shri
B C Pathak, CMD NPCIL and senior officials of Ministry of Power and Department of Atomic
Energy.

India working on small modular reactors: Jitendra Singh

We are open to these new technologies and we are also adapting to them very fast, Singh said.
The minister said for the first time, the Modi government had approved a proposal to build 10
nuclear reactors under fleet mode. The state-run Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited
NPCIL builds and operates almost all of the atomic power plants in the country. In 2015, the
government amended the Atomic Energy Act to enable joint ventures between the NPCIL and
public sector companies to build nuclear power projects. Earlier, they were not partnering with
anybody. India is working on new technologies such as the small modular reactors that can be
factory-built and help make clean energy transition, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra
Singh said here.

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Nuclear Power Plants

A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source
is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to
generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that
produces electricity. As of September 2023, the International Atomic Energy
Agency reported there were 410 nuclear power reactors in operation in 32
countries around the world, and 57 nuclear power reactors under construction.

Nuclear plants are very often used for base load since their operations,
maintenance, and fuel costs are at the lower end of the spectrum of costs.
However, building a nuclear power plant often spans five to ten years, which can
accrue to significant financial costs, depending on how the initial investments are
financed.

Nuclear power plants have a carbon footprint comparable to that of renewable

energy such as solar farms and wind farms, and much lower than fossil fuels such
as natural gas and coal. Nuclear power plants are among the safest mode of
electricity generation, comparable to solar and wind power plants.

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In a nuclear reactor, firstly we have a concrete chamber inside the chamber we
have a steel vessel. It is inside this steel vessel where the nuclear reaction actually
takes place. Then we have the fuel rods inside it. These rods are the fissionable
materials used for the reactions. Generally, we use uranium-235, plutonium,
thorium etc.

In between the fuel rods we have the control rods. They are generally made of
cadmium. They are used to control the nuclear reactions.

When the reaction takes place a large amount of heat is produced. Thus, heat is
transferred to the heat exchanger by means of a pump. Inside the heat exchanger
we have liquid sodium as coolant. The heat exchanger is again connected to the
steel vessel.

The high-pressure steam from the heat exchanger is passed on to the turbine.
Turbine is a mechanical component which is coupled to the generator. When the
high-pressure steam reaches the turbine, the turbine rotates due to the high
pressure.
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Due to the rotation of the turbine the generator will produce electricity.

The steam from the turbine should be converted back into water, so that it can be
reused for the reaction. For that the steam from the turbine is passed on to a
condenser. The condenser converts the steam into water.

Then by means of a pump the water is pumped back into the heat exchanger.

Inside a nuclear reactor the heat produced by nuclear reaction is converted into
electricity by the means of a generator.

The main components of a nuclear reactor are:

• Fuel: the fissionable material used in the reaction.

• Moderator: to decrease the speed of the fast-moving neutrons formed

during the fission.

• Control rods: used to control the reaction or to stop the chain reaction.

• Coolant: to absorb the heat produced by fission.

• Turbine: the turbine rotates due to the heat. Therefore, the heat energy is
converted into mechanical energy in a turbine.

• Generator: it converts the mechanical energy into electrical energy.

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Functioning

• The conversion to electrical energy takes place indirectly, as in conventional

thermal power stations.

• The fission in a nuclear reactor heats the reactor coolant. The coolant may
be water or gas, or even liquid metal, depending on the type of reactor.

• The reactor coolant then goes to a steam generator and heats water to
produce steam.

• The pressurized steam is then usually fed to a multi-stage steam turbine.

• After the steam turbine has expanded and partially condensed the steam,
the remaining vapor is condensed in a condenser. The condenser is a heat
exchanger which is connected to a secondary side such as a river or a
cooling tower.

• The water is then pumped back into the steam generator and the cycle
begins again. The water-steam cycle corresponds to the Rankine cycle.

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• The nuclear reactor is the heart of the station. In its central part, the
reactor's core produces heat due to nuclear fission. With this heat, a
coolant is heated as it is pumped through the reactor and thereby removes
the energy from the reactor. The heat from nuclear fission is used to raise
steam, which runs through turbines, which in turn power the electrical
generators.

• Nuclear reactors usually rely on uranium to fuel the chain reaction.

Uranium is a very heavy metal that is abundant on Earth and is found in sea
water as well as most rocks.

• Naturally occurring uranium is found in two different isotopes: uranium-

238 (U-238), accounting for 99.3% and uranium-235 (U-235) accounting for
about 0.7%. U-238 has 146 neutrons and U-235 has 143 neutrons.

• Different isotopes have different behaviors. For instance, U-235 is fissile

which means that it is easily split and gives off a lot of energy making it
ideal for nuclear energy. On the other hand, U-238 does not have that
property despite it being the same element. Different isotopes also have
different half-lives. U-238 has a longer half-life than U-235, so it takes
longer to decay over time. This also means that U-238 is less radioactive
than U-235.

• Since nuclear fission creates radioactivity, the reactor core is surrounded by

a protective shield. This containment absorbs radiation and prevents
radioactive material from being released into the environment. In addition,
many reactors are equipped with a dome of concrete to protect the reactor
against both internal casualties and external impacts.

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