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‘Nuclear Power in India — The Fourth RevolutionS.K. Jain

Chairman and Managing Director, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited andBharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam, India

INTRODUCTION

We owe a lot to our forefathers. Theirrelentless efforts and sacrificeshave made not only our survival

possible but also provided us a decent livingstandard. It is to the hard toil of the pastgenerations – the farmers, entrepreneurs,scientists and engineers, writers and poets,philosophers and all kinds of artists – whichmade living comfortable today. In retrospect,one can imagine that survival in the 21st

century was only a remote chance given thepopulation growth alone. It was feared thatthe low yield of the farming sector and highpopulation growth would lead to anunprecedented human catastrophe. But sucha doomsday forecast was successfullyaverted.

It is unfortunate that in spite of numeroussmall and big achievements, a large portionof the humanity today does not have accessto even the basic amenities so essential forsurvival, a satisfactory living standard andself-respect. Today, we live in a world ofdisturbing contrasts characterised byaffluence and poverty, opulence and scarcity.But even more disturbing fact is theincreasing chasm between “the haves andhave-nots”. Today we have global, nationaland regional programmes for sustainabledevelopment, literacy, health for all, waterfor everyone and so on and so forth. Theseprogrammes are a mixed bag of success andfailures, depending on a large number offactors from financial, organisational toinstitutional ones.

The crucial role of energy can not be over-emphasised considering its strong couplingwith economic growth, quality of life,mortality rates etc. It is no surprise that even

in the area of energy we have energy-richand energy-poor countries. Just considerthat of the world’s population of about 6.7billion, over 5 billion people live in theeconomically poor countries and about 3billion in rural areas. While these people onone hand face natural calamities l ikedroughts and floods, making them even morepoor and socially unstable, on the other hand

these people face high oil and gas prices. Infact, one-third of this population still doesnot have access to modern energy services(World Energy Council, 2001: Living in OneWorld). The energy policies deployed byvarious countries have been basically planneddepending upon the availability of the energyresources, and hence, each country has itsown energy policy. In India, where the percapita energy consumption is abysmally low,all resources of energy are required to bedeveloped to bridge this huge gap.

Nuclear power is just one of the options ofproviding safe, environmentally benign,

reliable and economically competitive energyservices. Nuclear power world over providesabout 16% of electricity through 440 nuclearpower plants with a total installed capacityof 361.582 GW (as of January 2004). Itgenerates about 2574 TWh (IAEA PRIS Data).Today, twenty-two of the last 31 nuclearpower plants connected to the world energygrid have been built in Asia. According toIAEA, economic growth, national resourcescarcity and increasing population are themajor factors in this tilt from the developedto the developing countries. The potentialgrowth of nuclear power is seen more in thedeveloping countries, especially in the Asianregions. While it is a new-found realisationin these countries, our elders envisaged theinevitability of nuclear power in India morethan 50 years ago.

Today, India has a sound R&D base, well-developed industry and a fast-expandingnuclear power programme. We owe muchof it to the foresight of our forefathers.

NUCLEAR POWER IN INDIA — THE 1ST

REVOLUTION

In the year 1944, Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha(1909–1966) said, “when nuclear energy hasbeen successfully applied for powerproduction, in say a couple of decades fromnow, India will not have to look abroad forits experts but will find them ready at home”.Six decades later, India has the largestnumber of nuclear power plants underconstruction in the world. She has a veryoptimistic and ambitious nuclear powerprogramme, perhaps the largest and uniqueamong all the developing countries.

The uniqueness of this programme is derivedfrom the concept of the 3-stage nuclear powerprogramme propounded by Dr. Bhabha. He

“ The uniqueness of thisprogramme is derived from theconcept of the 3-stage nuclearpower programme propoundedby Dr. Bhabha...

... Utilisation of abundant thoriumresources in combination withmoderate uranium resourcesthrough a 3-stage nuclear powerprogramme for India was alsooutlined. The 3-stage nuclearpower programme essentiallylinks the fuel cycles of eachstage in a manner that multipliesthe potential of nuclear fuelseveral-hundred folds.”

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presented a paper, “the need for atomicenergy in the under-developed countries” atthe Second International Conference on thePeaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Genevain September 1958. Dr. Bhabha and Dr. N.B.Prasad presented another paper, “a study ofthe contribution of atomic energy to a powerprogramme in India”. These papers arguedthe importance of nuclear power in thedeveloping countries – a fact being realisedby these countries today. Utilisation ofabundant thorium resources in combinationwith moderate uranium resources through a3-stage nuclear power programme for Indiawas also outlined. The 3-stage nuclear powerprogramme essentially links the fuel cyclesof each stage in a manner that multiplies thepotential of nuclear fuel several-hundredfolds.

The research in nuclear sciences wasinitiated even before India’s independencewith the establishment of Tata Institute ofFundamental Research (TIFR), which wasinaugurated way back in December 1945.

Atomic Energy Establishment Trombay(AEET) was set up in 1954 as the nodal in-house R&D facility for India’s nuclear powerprogramme. The AEET was renamed BhabhaAtomic Research Centre (BARC) in January1967 after Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, the father ofIndian nuclear power programme. Today,these facilities have grown manifold intohighly successful multi-disciplinary centresof technology within the Department ofAtomic Energy (DAE) such as Bhabha AtomicResearch Centre (BARC), Indira GandhiCentre for Atomic Research (IGCAR),Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. (UCIL),Atomic Minerals Division (AMD), Indian Rare

Earths Ltd. (IRE), Nuclear Fuels Complex(NFC), Heavy Water Board (HWB),Electronics Corporation of India Ltd. (ECIL),to name just a few. A total mastery of all thetechnologies involved in the entire nuclearfuel cycle has been one of our country’s majorachievements.

As a first step to establish the techno-economicfeasibility of nuclear power plants in India andto operate and maintain the nuclear powerstations in regional grid system, two reactorswere imported from the USA. These boilingwater reactors (BWRs) were supplied byGeneral Electric Company, USA on turnkeybasis and were commissioned at Tarapur, abouta hundred kilometres away from Mumbai.These reactors have served their intendedpurpose well and continue to be in operationafter about 35 years of their commissioning.These reactors are also source of cheapelectricity at 83 paise per unit.

NUCLEAR POWER IN INDIA — THE 2ND

REVOLUTION

A major milestone towards the long-termnuclear power programme in India wasachieved with the commissioning of India’sfirst PHWRs at Rajasthan (RAPS-1&2). Infact, work on these two units was taken upin parallel with the commissioning of thetwo units at Tarapur (TAPS-1&2). TheDouglas Point in Canada was a prototypePHWR on which the design of RAPS-1 wasbased upon. The Rajasthan plant was set upin technical collaboration with AtomicEnergy Canada Limited (AECL). Indianengineers and scientists made significantcontributions in the construction andcommissioning of this plant. Even in unit-1(RAPS-1) some equipment and componentswere manufactured in India. In the secondunit, the fabrication of large, critical nuclearcomponents l ike end-shields, steamgenerators, calandria etc. was taken upindigenously.

It may be noted that when nuclear powerprogramme was shaping up in India in 1960s

and early 1970s, the Indian industry wasnascent. Some small and medium-sizethermal power stations, some fertiliser andcement kilns, boiler drums and simplechemical reactors were the kind ofmanufacturing and fabrication jobsundertaken by the Indian industry at that time.The industry was new to the fabricationtechniques and exacting code standardsrequirements for nuclear components likecalandria, end-shields, steam generators,etc. Even on the conventional side,equipment like turbines, generators, pumpsetc. required in nuclear power plants wereof much larger size than those beingmanufactured in India then. It may be recalledthat India had missed the industrialrevolution that swept over the West. Theindustry in the West was reaping the benefitsof industrial revolution when a newlyindependent India was struggling hard toovercome the problems of illiteracy andpoverty. It will not be out of place to pointout that in the West, the manufacturingindustry had already been well developed bythe defence and aero-space projects. In fact,the earliest development of nuclear power inthe US was of PWRs for the propulsion ofsubmarines or the ‘war machines’ as theycalled them. On the contrary, in India, it wasthe technical specif ications, qualityrequirements, as also the computational andanalytical needs of nuclear powerprogramme that have been instrumental inthe development of manufacturers, designconsultants, constructors and to some extenteven academic institutions. Thecommissioning of RAPS-2 was entirely bythe Indian scientists and engineers when theCanadian cooperation was discontinued in1974.

Propelled by the goal of self-reliance anddriven by the need for self-sufficiency, wehave always endeavoured to establish long-term partnerships with Indian industry tomeet our requirements for nuclear equipment

“ A major challenge before thenuclear establishment in India inthe early days was to developan indigenous industry capableof meeting the requirements ofthe nuclear power industry.”

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and components. From the very beginning,our efforts have been directed at building anindustrial base, which can support thestringent requirements of quality demandedby the nuclear industry. Relentless pursuitof excellence in quality, reliability and safetyhas been the hallmark of our strategy. Thishas conditioned all our interactions withindustrial partners in developing a workculture which sustains and promotes thiseffort.

Also, Research and Development facilitieswere established in the various atomicenergy establishments and these were freelyaccessible to our industrial partners in theirefforts to meet nuclear requirements. In manycases, the initial design and developmentactivity was started in our laboratories andlater passed on to the Indian industry. Specialtest facilities were created for qualifyingproducts manufactured indigenously. Testingof large primary heat transport (PHT) pumpsand motors is a case in point. Facilitiesavailable for the qualification of electroniccomponents, reliability analysis, etc. areextensively used. There has beenconsiderable interaction in the field ofmetallurgy for material evaluation andqualification also.

Large reactor components like calandria andend-shield were required to be fabricatedand precision-machined. Engineers fromIndian industries, the erstwhile PowerProject Engineering Division (now NPCIL)and BARC jointly took up this challengingtask. Handling and precision-machining ofsuch large components was a newexperience.

Developing manufacturing facilities forcoolant channel components made fromzirconium alloys was one of the mostchallenging tasks. DAE decided to developin-house facilities for this purpose and thetask was entrusted to Nuclear Fuel Complex(NFC), Hyderabad. The quality requirementsfor these products are very stringent. The

chemical composition is required to becontrolled at various stages. The materialproperties of the end products are influencedby the manufacturing processes and thuscontrol of manufacturing processes at eachstage is important. NFC has successfully metthe challenge and supplied these coolantchannel components for all the PHWR unitsexcept the first one at RAPS. The completemanufacturing cycle of these tubes has beenevolved at NFC.

A major challenge before the nuclearestablishment in India in the early days was todevelop an indigenous industry capable ofmeeting the requirements of the nuclear power

industry. The indigenous content in RAPS-1was only about 55%, which increased to about75% in RAPS-2. The construction work onthe twin-unit PHWR station at Kalpakkamcommenced in early 1970. This plant, MadrasAtomic Power Station (unit-1&2), had majormodifications and upgradations over itspredecessor at Rajasthan (RAPS-1&2).However for MAPS, the design, manufactureof components and equipment, constructionof plant and its commissioning was entirelyby the indigenous efforts. RAPS-1&2 andMAPS-1&2 laid the foundation of the first thestage of India’s 3-stage programme. Theseunits provided a very valuable experience andfeedback in almost all fields of design,manufacturing, construction, commissioningand operation. Several teething problems wereencountered and overcome successfully.

NUCLEAR POWER IN INDIA — THE 3RD

REVOLUTION

A decision was taken in the mid-1970s tostandardise all future 220 MWe stations. Thedesign of the nuclear components requiredmajor modifications in line with then latestcode requirements, to improve the reliabilityand safety. This design also required a higherorder of quality, inspection andmanufacturing of the components ascompared to Rajasthan-1&2 or Madras-1&2.Industry faced several technical problemswhile manufacturing these components forIndia’s first standardised design. Narora inUP was selected for setting up the first of thestandardised units. A significant number ofdevelopmental works were carried out tomeet the design requirements. With severalcomplex technical problems, equipment forthis design were finally made, establishingIndia’s design and manufacturingcapabilities. It was found that with carefulplanning and resource mobilisation, it waspossible to contain delays. This experiencewas fully utilised at KAPS, which was set upin Gujarat State in 1980s. The design maturityat Kakrapar, short manufacturing cycles andthe use of better construction techniques andproject management helped in cutting downthe gestation period of the project. Thecommissioning of Kakrapar was a majormilestone in terms of consolidation of theexperience gained at the previous units.

It was for the first time in the history ofnuclear power in India that the constructionof four units was taken up concurrently, twoat Rajasthan (units-1&2) and two at Kaiga(unit-1&2). Additional modifications in thedesign were incorporated to keep pace withthe evolving safety standards and practices,reliability and a speedy construction of theseprojects. The commissioning of theseprojects was completed in the year 2000 in arecord time though there were some glitchesin the beginning. The total installed nuclearcapacity now stood at 2720 MWe (currently

“ Looking ahead, it appears thatwe need to further fine-tune ourproject management strategiesand upgrade them further toachieve a gestation period of 4½to 4 years for 220 MWe units and5 years for 540 / 700 MWe units.This will require meticulousplanning, fail-proof strategies anddedicated efforts by one and all.”

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at 2770 after EMCCR at MAPS-2). This phasemarked the maturity of Indian nuclear powerprogrmme.

We have come a long way since the turnkeyproject at Tarapur was set up in 1960s and atechnology collaboration project at Rajasthanin 1970s. PHWRs of 220 MWe capacity have

continually evolved and today we have 12units operating at Rajasthan (RAPS 1-4),Madras (MAPS-1&2), Narora (NAPS 1&2),Kakrapar (KAPS-1&2) and Kaiga (KGS-1&2) besides the two BWRs at TAPS. Eightmore units, two at Tarapur (TAPP-3&4) of540 MWe each, two at Kaiga (Kaiga-3&4) of220 MWe each, two at Kudankulam of 1000MWe each and two at Rajasthan (RAPP-5&6) of 220 MWe each are at various stagesof construction.

The design of 220 MWe PHWRs has nowtechnologically, industrial ly andeconomically matured. We have launched theconstruction of the next generation of PHWRreactors of 540 MWe capacity at Tarapur(TAPP-3&4). The design has further beenupgraded to 700 MWe capacity and in futuresuch large-sized plants will be set up,providing economy of scales. In parellel, theKudankulam nuclear power project (KKNPP),

comprising of two units of VVER, or PWRin Western terms, of 1000 MWe each, is beingset up in collaboration with the RussianFederation as a nuclear capacity add-onventure. However, the entire construction,including that of the main plant buildingsand erection of equipment is being carriedout by the Indian industry. All this wouldnot have been possible but for our inherentstrength in R&D and a mastery of PHWRtechnology achieved through indigenousefforts and a very strong support of the Indianindustry.

The 14 nuclear power units have beenoperating safely and economically with PLS/availability factor having peaked to 90%without any incident of radiation release withpublic domain. While operating thesereactors, a number of challenging problemshave been satisfactorily tackled with thesupport of R&D and industrial organisations.In 1981, a light water leak developed in oneof the end-shields of RAPS-1. The repair ofthis leak in a highly radioactive area anddifficult location was a major challenge.Later, the leak was successfully repaired. AtMAPS, a very unique problem surfacedduring 1989-90 when its inlet-manifold wasdamaged. It was a challenge to keep the unitoperating. As a short-term rehabilitationmeasure, the moderator lines and its flowwere re-routed. The plant could operate withthis arrangement at 75% full power. Recently,a new innovative design modification usingsparger channels has been implemented atMAPS-2 for the first time in the world, andthe power has been brought back to itsoriginal rated capacity of 220 MWe.

The first unit of Rajasthan (RAPS-1) wasshut down in 1994 after detecting a leak ofheavy water and helium cover gas emanatingfrom the reactor cover called over pressurerelief device (OPRD). It was decided afterthorough evaluation that a technique to forma cast-in-situ metal seal using a special metalhaving low melting point should be tried.

Several experiments were then carried outand the OPRD was successfully repaired in1997 using indigenously developed andtested remote tools.

In 1990, cracks in the core shroud of theboiling water reactor (BWR) were detectedin the USA. In view of this, it was decided tocarry out core shroud inspection of BWRs atTAPS using specially developed remote toolslike Grapple Operated Manipulator (GOM),under water CCTV system etc. This job wassuccessfully accomplished.

In the earlier design of PHWRs used at RAPS-1&2, MAPS-1&2, NAPS-1&2 and KAPS-1 azirconium alloy was used for coolant channels.It was considered the best available materialat that time. However, it requires replacementevery 8½ to 12 effective full power years. Thesecoolant channels constitute the core of anuclear reactor and their replacement is akinto heart transplantation in human beings. Thejob of EMCCR at RAPS-2 was completed in arecord time and all the coolant channels werereplaced by a better material with zirconiumand niobium. This was for the first time in adeveloping country and only the second timein the world that such a highly complextechnical project was completed. Taking theadvantage of the long shutdown of RAPS-2for EMCCR, safety up-gradation was alsocarried out to upgrade the plant to higher safetylevels. Similar EMCCR work has recently beenaccomplished at the second unit of MAPS.The experience gained at RAPS-2 has helpedin cutting down the project period and cost.The other unit (MAPS-2) is under shutdownfor EMCCR and the same will be taken up forthe remaining PHWR units that employzirconium alloy tubes, namely, NAPS andKAPS-1.

NUCLEAR POWER IN INDIA — THE 4th

REVOLUTION

Now the time has come when we startrepaying the debt that we owe. It is the timeto meet the expectations of more than a billion

“ Nuclear power is alreadyeconomically competitive withcoal-thermal away from coalpitheads. But with increase inunit-capacity size, reduction inproject gestation periods andsafe and higher operation levels,it is our endeavour to make itcompetitive with coal-thermaleven at coal pithead. This willopen new business avenues atnew locations for NPCIL. It alsoimplies that nuclear power willemerge as one of the cheapestsources of electricity in theregions, which are away fromcoal-belts.”

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pulsating Indian hearts, who look towardsus for safe, reliable and economical energyservices. Considering the stel larperformance of NPCIL during the last severalyears, we are confident that we are capableof living up to these expectations in spite ofnew challenges. One of the major challengesbefore us is the newly evolving businessenvironment of competition. This shouldfurther invigorate our efforts and resolve tosupply quality, dependable, affordable, safeand environment-friendly power to theteeming millions of our countrymen. Thecompulsions of a buyer’s market are throwingnew challenges at us. NPCIL, no doubt, is ata very trying juncture, but I am sure, withthe multi-disciplinary inputs available withinthe Department of Atomic Energy, we will beable to tide over this transient phase.

The shift of electricity market from a seller’smarket to a buyer’s market not only meansthe need for economic competitiveness butalso a reliable, and safe operation of NPPs.Several measures have already been taken todecrease the nuclear electricity tariff, whichhave resulted in the reduction of tariff by 15to 20 per cent.

However, to ensure economiccompetitiveness of nuclear power, theforemost requirement is to compress projectgestation periods. In the past it took a muchlonger time to set up a nuclear power plant,mainly because of initial design problems,nascent industry base, financial crunch etc.We have set a target of 6 years for India’sfirst 540 MWe units at Tarapur and 5 yearsfor 220 MWe PHWRs at Kaiga-3&4 andRajasthan-5&6. The project gestation periodof two VVER units of 1000 MWe each beingset up at Kudankulam has also been reducedsubstantially to about 6 Years. Looking atthe progress achieved at these units, whichare already ahead of schedule or on schedule,we are confident to achieve these targets.Looking ahead, it appears that we need tofurther fine-tune our project management

strategies and upgrade them further toachieve a gestation period of 4½ to 4 yearsfor 220 MWe units and 5 years for 540 / 700MWe units. This will require meticulousplanning, fail-proof strategies and dedicatedefforts by one and all. We have also taken adecision that all future coastal nuclear powerplants will be of 700 MWe capacity. We willbe able to get the benefits of economy ofscales with this approach. However, inlandnuclear plants will continue to be of 220MWe, until transportation infrastructure isadequately developed to transport heavy andover-dimensional consignments to theselocations.

Indian nuclear power plants haveprogressively attained excellent operationperformance. Some of our plants have beenamong the best performing units in the worldin terms of capacity utilisation. In the year2002, Kakrapar Atomic Power Station(KAPS) was the world’s best operatingnuclear power plant among the PHWRs. Theweighted availability factor of our plants was91% during the financial year 2003-04.Reduction in the number and the duration ofoutages play a very critical role in achievingperformance targets. Recently, Narora-2(NAPS-2) completed its annual shutdownin just 19 days, which is a record. This unithas also set a new record of continuousoperation for 271 days. It should be ourendeavour to reduce the annual shutdownperiod to about 15 days and achievecontinuous operation for 365 days.

It is said that the safest plants are also thebest operating plants. It must be borne inour minds that safety comes first in all ouractions, targets and achievements. A veryproactive management, meticulousplanning, efficient working, adherence tospecifications, transparency and inculcationof safety culture are the main factors toachieve these targets.

All the Indian nuclear power plantshave become ISO 14001 (environment

management system) compliant, which showthe importance and thrust we put on theenvironmental management. The radiationdoses to the environment from our operatingnuclear power plants are less than 5% of thepermissible limits. In future, these weightedenvironmental doses could further bereduced with the start of new plants andevolving technology.

Nuclear power is already economicallycompetitive with coal-thermal away fromcoal pitheads. But with increase in unit-capacity size, reduction in project gestationperiods and safe and higher operation levels,it is our endeavour to make it competitivewith coal-thermal even at coal pithead. Thiswill open new business avenues at newlocations for NPCIL. It also implies thatnuclear power will emerge as one of the

cheapest sources of electricity in the regions,which are away from coal-belts. Improvedeconomics, environmental benefits and saferecord of nuclear will help it to reinforce itsposition as the number one choice forelectricity generation.

The fourth revolution is about how do wenavigate through the changing businessenvironment and provide the benefits ofnuclear power to the society. The first steptowards this larger goal is “integration ofsupply chain”. As discussed above, theIndian nuclear power programme has comea long way since the establishment of the

“ Another equally impor tantaspect of achieving this goal is“integration of businesspartners”, which will lead tostandardisation and lower costsof nuclear power...

...In fact, standardisation goesbeyond just the standardisationof design and includesconsistency in supply ofequipment and components.”

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Department of Atomic Energy some 50 yearsago. We have already achieved excellence inseveral areas of front-end and back-end offuel cycle, and in the areas of design,construction, manufacture, operation andmaintenance of nuclear power plants. Thebenefits of these achievements can bemaximised only with the integration of allthe areas to achieve the above goals it isevident that an incongruous growth invarious areas belonging to this supply chaincan lead to retardation of the programme inspite of technical and operational excellencethat we have achieved. Integration of thesupply chain is the key to realisation of thegoal of providing economical and reliableservices of nuclear power.

Another equally important aspect ofachieving this goal is “integration ofbusiness partners”, which will lead tostandardisation and lower costs of nuclearpower. So far our operations have been basedon procurement and work strategies, whichsuited best for a protected market and mostlyprototype development. These procurementand construction strategies remainedflexible to accommodate design change andseveral other constraints. In fact,standardisation goes beyond just thestandardisation of design and includesconsistency in supply of equipment andcomponents. In the West, where large-scalenuclear power programme was deployedduring 1970s and 1980s, nuclear powercompanies followed this policy of integrationof supply chain. This strategy leads to a win-win situation, where both NPCIL and thevendors know each other’s requirements andjoin hand as partners. This avoids surprisesand modifications at a later stage, whichcause delays and cost over-runs.

Finally, “integration of employees andsociety” is the next logical step. In thepreceding paragraphs, it has been shownhow this safe and environmentally benignenergy option can further be improved and

how its share could be increasedexponentially in the country’s energy-mix.To achieve the goal of integration of societywith country’s nuclear power programme,the first step towards achieveing this wouldbe to make company’s employees itsshareholders. A salary structure could evolvewhere each employee gets a portion of hissalary in the form company’s shares. Thiswill be a substantial step towards theownership of the company by the employees.Another important step will be to allow themembers of the society to becomeshareholders of the Company. This, in a truesense, will make India’s nuclear powerprogramme to be the programme of thecountry and countrymen. Integration itselfis not the ultimate objective, and therevolutions will go on, generation aftergeneration.__________________________________________________________________________________■

S.K. Jain, aDistinguishedScientist, is presentlyChairman andManaging Director,Nuclear PowerCorporation of India

Limited (NPCIL) and Bharatiya NabhikiyaVidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI). During hisillustrious career spanning 34 years, he hascontributed immensely to the nuclear powerprogramme. His work ranges from theresponsibilities in the fields of design,construction and commissioning of NPPs tobeing instrumental in various policydecisions regarding project implementation,technology collaborations and indigenoustechnology development for the IndianNPPs.