India’s efforts to commercialize its smaller N-reactors – the 220 MWe Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PWHR) – could take off soon, and the first customer is likely to be Kazakhstan. In this regard, discussions between Nuclear Power Corp of India and Kazatomprom are at an advanced stage.
It is pertinent to note that India and Kazhak already are co-operating in the field of nuclear – India has plans to purchase K’s uranium. Indian imports of uranium could happen from other countries as well – see here and here.
But the prospective deal with Kazakhstan portends well for the Indian energy industry. India’s 220 MWe has competitive advantages – most developed countries use nuclear reactors that are of much larger capacities – 1000 MWe and above. While many countries having much smaller grid capacities (say about 10,000 MW) will require smaller reactors, like the ones India has developed. Besides, there could be other operational and logistical advantages with smaller feet nuclear reactors.
If you leave out the constant nagging fear one has about the safety of nuclear power (before, during and after the operations), this looks like an excellent product from the Indian nuclear stable, and probably at the right time too. All the best!
