A fuel bundle is placed on a guide plate for loading into RAPP 7 (Image: NPCIL)

Fuel loading began at the Rajasthan Nuclear Power Project unit 7 (also known as RAPP-7) on 1 August after permission was granted by India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board following stringent safety and security reviews, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) said. A total of 4704 fuel bundles will be loaded in the reactor's 392 coolant channels.

"Initial Fuel Loading will be followed by First Approach to Criticality (start of fission chain reaction) and subsequent start of power generation. The unit is expected to commence commercial operation in the current year," the company said. A second unit under construction at the same site, RAPP-8, is expected to come online next year, it added.

The unit is the third in a series of 16 pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) which India has said it plans to build: the first two units - at Kakrapar, in Gujurat, began commercial operation in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Site works are also under way for the construction of two 700 MW units at Gorakhpur in Haryana, and ten further 700 MW PHWRs have received administrative approval and financial sanction: Kaiga units 5 and 6 in Karnataka; Gorakhpur units 3 and 4 in Haryana; Chutka units 1 and 2 in Madhya Pradesh; and Mahi Banswara units 1 and 2 and units 3 and 4 in Rajasthan.

NPCIL's announcement of the start of fuel loading came the day after Minister of State Jitendra Singh told the Indian parliament, in separate written answers, that India's nuclear share is currently 2.8% and its installed nuclear capacity is expected to expand from its present 8180 MWe to 22480 MW by 2031-2032.

Over the period to 2030, capacity is set to increase to 14,080 MWe, Singh told the Lok Sabha, as units that are already under construction or undergoing commissioning come online. As well as the two Rajasthan units, these include four Russian-designed and supplied VVER-1000 reactors currently under construction at Kudankulam and the 500 MWe Indian-designed Kalpakkam prototype fast breeder, which is preparing for first criticality.

Singh said the government has accorded in-principle approval for thirty further units: six 1650 MWe reactors, in cooperation with France, at Jaitapur in Maharashtra; six 1208 MWe reactors in at Kovvada in Andhra Pradesh and six 1000 MWe reactors at Mithi Virdi in Gujarat, in cooperation with the USA; six 1000 MWe reactors in cooperation with Russia at Haripur in West Bengal; and four 700 MWe indigenous PHWR units at Bhimpur in Madhya Pradesh.

RAPP 3 returns to service

NPCIL announced the return to service of RAPP 3 on 29 July, five days after the 220 MWe PHWR was reconnected to the grid after "major renovation and modernisation" to enable the plant to continue operating for the next 30 years.

The unit had completed over 22 years of operation when it was taken offline for the renovation work in October 2022. The work - which included replacement of coolant channels and feeders, as well as other upgrades - was completed using indigenously developed technologies "in the shortest time among Indian reactors where similar activities were taken up," NPCIL said. The work was completed "within budget" and at a cost "much lower than incurred internationally in PHWRs," it added.