With the first pour of cement for a 700 MW nuclear power plant in Karnataka's Kaiga planned in 2023, India is expected to put rolling development activities for 10 'fleet mode' atomic reactors throughout the following three years.

The first pour of cement (FPC) signals the start of the development of atomic power reactors from the pre-project stage which incorporates exhuming exercises at the undertaking site.

“The FPC of Kaiga units 5&6 is expected in 2023; FPC of Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Praiyonjan units 3 & 4 and Mahi Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Projects units 1 to 4 is expected in 2024; and that of Chutka Madhya Pradesh Atomic Power Project Units 1 & 2 in 2025,” officials of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) told the Parliamentary panel on science and technology.

Originally approved in June 2017, the 10 reactors of India’s pressurised heavy water variety are estimated to cost $13.8bn (1.05 lakh crore rupees) to build.

DAE officials said bulk procurement of components for the new fleet was underway.

Twenty-two reactors with a combined generating capacity of 6780MW are currently operating in India.

Bulk procurement was underway for the fleet mode projects with purchase orders placed for forgings for steam generators, SS 304L lattice tubes and plates for end shields, pressuriser forgings, bleed condensers forgings, Incoloy-800 tubes for 40 steam generators, reactor headers, DAE officials said. Engineering, procurement and construction package for turbine island has been awarded for Gorakhpur units three and four and Kaiga units five and six, they added.

Under the fleet mode, a nuclear-thermal energy station is supposed to be built over a time of 5 years from the first pour of cement.

The PHWRs, which utilise natural uranium as fuel and heavy water as a mediator, have arisen as the pillar of India's atomic power program.

India's first sets of PHWRs of 220 MW each were set up at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan during the 1960s with Canadian help. The subsequent reactor must be worked with huge homegrown parts as Canada pulled out help following India's quiet atomic tests in 1974.

As many as 14 PHWRS of 220 MW each with the normalised plan and further developed security measures were built by India throughout the period. Indian engineers further improvised the plan to build the generation capacity to 540 MWe, and two such reactors were made functional at Tarapur in Maharashtra.

Further optimisations were carried out to upgrade the capacity to 700 MWe.

India also entered into a uranium Purchase Agreement with Canada, Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan, Singh said.

India will be importing 100 tonnes of natural uranium and 133 units of fuel assemblies next fiscal, the government said.