Union minister Jitendra Singh (file photo)

NEW DELHI: To boost the commercial use of civil nuclear energy in the country, the Modi government has decided to commission a nuclear reactor every year.

A 700-MW pressurised heavy water reactor at the Kakrapar nuclear plant in Gujarat is likely to be commissioned by April, Shrikrishna Gupta, a senior official of the Jitendra Singh-led department of atomic energy announced in front of the Union minister here on Tuesday. “Kakrapar-3 is likely to be commissioned in mid-2020. Kakrapar-4 by mid-2021 and RAPP-7 by mid-2022 in Rajasthan ’s Rawatbhata,” he said. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd’s (NPCIL’s) 22 reactors with an installed capacity of 6780 MW are operational, he said.

The DAE official said, “In nuclear energy programmes, Kaiga-1 (KGS-1) reactor has set 962 days of continuous and non-interrupted operation, which is a world record.” He said the Tarapur atomic power reactors — units 1 and 2 — completed 50 years of operation this year. The two boiling water reactors — the first in the country — were commissioned in October 1969.

“We have also facilitated the use of atomic energy in non-power sectors like agriculture, healthcare, water and environment. In the health sector, Gupta said, “Seven cancer hospitals are being set up across the country. Of the seven, two —in Varanasi and Guwahati — are already operational. We are also making use of spin-off technologies for tuberculosis and oral cancer detection,” Shrikrishna Gupta said. Around 46 varieties of seeds have also been developed and distributed among farmers, he said.

