India’s Most Powerful Nuclear Reactor Reaches Full Capacity

The third and most powerful reactor at the Indian Kakrapar nuclear power plant is operating at full capacity. This was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “India has reached a new milestone. India’s first 700-megawatt electric reactor is running at 100 percent capacity,” Modi tweeted on his official X (formerly Twitter) page.
The reactor was put into operation on June 30, but for safety reasons, the first two months of “running in” it worked at 90% of maximum capacity. It became the first Indian pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) of this type ever built. Meanwhile, the construction of a second reactor of the same type at the Kakrapar nuclear power plant is almost completed. Its commissioning is scheduled for 2024 and will allow to increase multifold the power supply to the Kakrapar nuclear power plant that previously had two much less powerful reactors.
The Kakrapar nuclear power plant is located in the Surat district of Gujarat in west central India. The Indian Atomic Energy Corporation (NPCIL), the operator of all nuclear power plants in the country, is developing two more similar projects in the states of Rajasthan and Haryana. The government advocates the construction of nuclear power plants throughout the country. According to the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board of India, Indian Atomic Energy Agency, the total electricity production from the country’s nuclear power plants is currently 6,780 megawatts. The implementation of the NPCIL corporation’s strategic program will allow to gradually increase the generation of electricity to 16.7 thousand megawatts.