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The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is developing small modular reactors (SMRs) for repurposing of retiring thermal power plants (TPPs) and captive power plants (CPPs), Parliament was informed on Wednesday. “Bharat Small Modular Reactors (BSMR-200) for repurposing of retiring thermal power plants & captive power plants for energy intensive industry such as aluminium, steel, metal,” Minister of State for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh said in a written response to a query in Lok Sabha. Small Modular Reactors (SMR-55) for providing energy for remote as well as off-grid locations with the objective to decarbonise the energy sector, he added.
High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor of capacity 5 MWth (Megawatt thermal) for hydrogen generation for decarbonisation of transport sector and process industries, the Minister explained. “Lead units of these reactors are planned to be set up at Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) sites. The subsequent units are to be located at the sites of the end-user industry in case of captive power plants and at brownfields sites of retiring thermal power plants,” Singh said.
On safety standards for the reactors, the Minister said committees have been constituted in the Department with Members from DAE, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), NITI Aayog and Ministry of Law & Justice (MOLJ). This is to discuss and propose amendments in the acts (Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act) so as to allow participation of private parties in respect of the nuclear sector, he added. The committee also has to look into the aspect of waste management, fuel sourcing & handling, decommissioning, implementation of security and safeguards.
The activities related to the amendment in the Acts involve various stages of inter- ministerial consultations as well as scientific solutions. These activities may require time and in view of this it is not feasible to give a timeline, Singh said. The nuclear energy mission announced in the budget for FY26 envisages deployment of 100 GWe (gigawatt electric) of nuclear energy by 2047.
Fund of Rs 20,000 crore has been allocated in the budget for deployment of five SMRs by 2033. With the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (RAPP) at Rawatbhata getting connected to the grid on March 17, 2025, India now has a total of 25 nuclear reactors in operation with a total installed capacity to 8,880 megawatts (MW). Besides, 13,600 MW capacity addition is under implementation, on progressive completion of which the capacity will reach 22,480 MW by 2031-32.
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