India aims to decarbonise energy production with 40-50 SMR nuclear reactors
India intends to install 40-50 small modular nuclear reactors ( SMRs ), mostly to replace thermal power plants tied to industrial uses, to reach its goal of net zero emissions by 2070.
A senior industry official said the 220 MW pressurized heavy water reactor ( PHWR ) was redesigned using 3D design platforms, with the aim of achieving a high degree of standardization that would allow for easy deployment, even in older thermal power plants used by the steel, aluminium, copper and cement industries.
The Department of Atomic Energy and Tata Consulting Engineers are redesigning PHWRs to develop the Bharat Small Modular Reactor.
“We will take the old PHWR design and reconfigure and redesign it to make it modular, scalable and aligned with post-Fukushima safety standards,” Amit Sharma, managing director and CEO of Tata Consulting Engineer s, the largest Engineering firm, told PTI Indiana.
Sharma said that in the case of small modular reactors (SMRs), the plan is to build 40-50 reactors in less than seven to eight years, but added that a high degree of standardisation, safety and modularity is needed.
Presenting the Union Budget last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government would collaborate with the private sector for setting up Bharat Small Reactors and research and development of SMRs.
The minister said the government will also collaborate with the private sector on research and development of new nuclear energy technologies.
Sharma said engineers will redesign the PHWRs using 3D design platforms that were not available 40 years ago, when these reactors were first designed.
The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited has so far built 16 220 MWe PHWRs, two 540 MWe PHWRs and two 700 MWe PHWRs.
Fourteen more PHWRs of 700 MWe each are in various stages of construction and are expected to be progressively commissioned by 2031-32.
Tata Consulting Engineers has been associated with the Department of Atomic Energy for several decades and has an 85% market share in engineering services in the nuclear sector and is implementing several power projects.
Sharma said the mention of SMRs by the Finance Minister in his budget speech clearly shows the strong commitment to energy transition.
“To be honest, the only viable long-term solution to net zero is nuclear. I think nuclear is the bet; globally, everyone recognizes this,” he added.
SMRs can be built in a factory, unlike conventional nuclear reactors which are built on site. The fact that it is possible to foresee the construction of at least 50 units means that production can be almost standard, significantly reducing the production costs per single piece. If we reach 70 we will probably have extremely competitive costs.
They have a power capacity of up to 300 MWe per unit. As a mobile and agile technology, SMRs can be installed in locations not suitable for larger systems.
SMRs are considered a significant contribution to the energy transition phase as part of efforts to address the effects of climate change.
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The article India aims to decarbonise energy production with 40-50 SMR nuclear reactors comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/lindia-punta-a-decarbonizzare-la-produzione-energetica-con-40-50-reattori-nucleari-smr/ on Sun, 25 Aug 2024 13:43:49 +0000.