(a) whether presently the country is setting up nuclear power stations of 500 MW capacity instead of 200 MW as had been done in the past;
(b) if so, the reasons therefor;
(c) whether the Government have taken any step to enter into international joint collaboration in respect of nuclear energy projects; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY(SMT. VASUNDHARA RAJE)
(a) Presently, setting up of both 500 MWe and 220 MWe
capacity Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors(PHWRs)
type nuclear power stations is envisaged.
(b) The setting up of 500 MWe units is in line with the
policy of going in for larger unit sizes that the
national grid can accept and unit sizes adopted for
conventional thermal power plants.
(c) The 500 MWe and 220 MWe PHWR projects are set up
& indigenously. An Inter Government Agreement(IGA)
(d) was signed between the Governmentof India and
erstwhile Soviet Union in November 1988, which
provided for the construction of 2x1000 MWe which
belongs to the category of Light Water Reactors.
A `Supplement` to the Inter Government co-operation
Agreement has been signed by the Government of India
and the Government of Russian Federation in June
1998. Subsequently, preparation of Detailed Project
Report(DPR) for the project has been taken up and
is expected to be completed by mid 2001. Final
decision on implementation of the Project depends on
the result of its techno-economics viability on the
DPR.