Work on 2 Units of 700 MW each at Rajasthan Atomic Power Station inaugurated

Construction work on two more units of 700 MW each at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) was inaugurated by Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Srikumar Banerjee on 18 July 2011.

During the inauguration, Banerjee mentioned that exploratory works unveiled uranium deposits at another site, Tummalapalle spread over 35 km. At present, the country is estimated to have a total reserve of about 175000 tonnes of uranium. The findings are deemed as a major development. 

Nuclear power is considered to be absolutely essential to meet the growing energy needs of the country. If the economy has to grow by 9 per cent per annum, 10 per cent growth in electricity production will be required.

The two new nuclear units at Rawatbhata being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 12000 crore and scheduled to be ready in five years are on the lines of the two 700 MW reactors under construction at Kakrapar in Gujarat.

The reactors were designed by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited by scaling up the 540 MW reactors operating at Tarapur in Maharashtra since 2005.

The reactors are known to have advanced safety features, including passive safety systems that work on natural principles such as gravity, and natural convection and do not need operator intervention or motive power to ensure reactor safety under any state of operations. There are two independent and diverse systems to shut down the reactor, a passive decay heat removal system to ensure cooling of the reactor core even in case of total loss of power and steel-lined containment to contain the entire radioactivity within the reactor building even in a severe accident scenario.