Interim Nuclear Solutions: The Indian System

I finally teased out how much it cost the Indians to build small Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors. A March 6, 2005 press release from the Indian Department of Atomic Energy stated:

India’s largest and first 540 MWe nuclear power plant (TAPP-4) achieved criticality today morning. . . . The 2x540 MWe Tarapur Atomic Power Project (TAPP-3&4) is adjacent to TAPS – 1&2, the first nuclear power plant to be set up in India. Tarapur, is about 100 kms north of Mumbai. . . . TAPP-3&4 has an approved cost of Rs. 6525 crores, but it is anticipated that the Project would be completed in about Rs.6000 crores. . .,

6000 6000 crores of Rupees is about $1.2 billion. At about 1.1 GW rated output, the cost of the Indian reactors is a little more than a dollar per watt. Smaller Indian 220 MW PHWR probably cost about $260 million per example. These reactors are build without factory manufacture of parts, so Indian PHWR construction costs are nor as low as they could potentially go.

Indian PHWRs burn natural Uranium and do not produce Nuclear waste. Instead they produce fuel for Indian FBRs. The first 500 MW Prototype Indian FBR is slated to go critical in two years will end up costing the Indians Rs.5,000 crores, or about $1 billion, about two dollars a watt. Prototypes often prove to be more expensive than subsequent units, Several unexpected events added to the Indian construction cost. These included the 2004 tsunami. Recovery from the tsunami increased Indian construction costs. Construction costs for an undersea tunnel increased due to unanticipated soil conditions. Subsequent Indian FBRs are expected to cost about 3000 crores per unit or $600 million, about $1.20 per watt of generating capacity. Even at the $2 per wat cost figure for the prototype, the India fast breeder will cost far less that the 22,000 crores to Rs. 46,000 crores $4.4 billion to $9.2 billion) figure forecast by anti nuclear fanatic Arjun Makhijani.

Critics charge that the Indian fast breeder design is not safe. Eventually in a decade the Indians play to begin manufacturing AHWR to be powered by U-233 produced in Indian FBRs.

Meanwhile the Indians are moving forward with plans to expand nuclear production capacity. The Indians anticipate $10 billion in new reactor orders between now and 2012. Indian businesses are now planning to begin exporting the ssmall 220 MW PHWR. i
f they can sell the PHWR to underdeveloped countries at similar cost to those enjoyed byIndian, the Indians should make quite a lot of money.

The Indian nuclear plan although envisioned as long term, has characteristics of an interim nuclear approach. It uses older nuclear technology, manufactured at low cost, and seeks to couple the older technology with a more advanced class of nuclear breeders. Problems with the Indian plan include safety concerns with the Indian sodium cooled fast breeders, and the cost of reprocessing nuclear fuel;. The Indian system is quite complex and involves the use of three distinct reactor technologies as well as two or three reprocessing technologies.
In contrast, the LFTR holds the promise of accomplishing everything the Indian system does with one simple elegant reactor design. Thus the LFTR would promises even lower costs than the now low costs of the Indian nuclear system.

India pushes Small Reactor Sales to Asian, African Countries

Earlier this week, Rod Adams interviews ANS President Tom Sanders on the Atomic Show. The interview is well worth the time you spend listening to it. Tom lays out a vision of the future of the nuclear economy based on small, factory produced reactors. Although he does not refer to the LFTR, the LFTR definitely fits into his concept. Tom's vision is international, because he sees a huge market in developing nations for small reactors. Tom's interview is encouraging, because it suggests that my thinking is on the right track.

David Walters recent post on large verses small reactors also triggered a Brian Wang post on the small reactor business model. It is not simply that bloggers are talking about small reactors, but an increasingnumber of potential or actual manufacturers are announcing their intent to build small reactors. None of these reactors will be available until sometime in the next decade.

Small factory built reactors clearly are an idea whose time has come.

But in India that time came a generation ago and never left. Indian small reactors have been completely overlooked in the small reactor discussion, even though only India currently builds and markets advanced small reactors for electrical production. If you want to order a small reactor today, and be assured delivery before 2015, you will need to talk to the Indians. According to Hindu Business Line, NPCIL plans to market its small and mid size reactors to Kazakhstan, South-East Asian countries and African nations.

A proposal for reactor sales to Kazakhstan is already on the anvil, with discussions between NPCIL and the central Asian nation’s nuclear utility Kazatomprom at an advanced stage. According to Government sources, while feelers have also been received from South-East Asian countries, Kazakhstan is likely to be the first breakthrough.

India has been proactively exploring the possibility of exporting indigenous PHWRs to developing nations that are eyeing nuclear power generation but are constrained by small-sized electricity grids. . . . small size nuclear reactors are apt for countries that have small grids of around 10,000 MW. Use of large reactor units in case of countries having small grids could potentially lead to grid failures if even a single large unit shuts down at any point in time.

Besides, assembling clusters of 220 MWe reactors is projected to be more cost-effective than large-sized reactors from the US or Europe, officials said. Several Asean countries are reported to be eyeing the nuclear option, with Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand among those having announced plans to tap atomic energy in the future.

An unnamed official of NPCIL told Hindu Business Line,

“Currently, India is perhaps the only country to have an actively working technology, design and infrastructure for manufacture of small reactors with a unit capacity of 220 MWe. These units have a great potential for exports, particularly to nations with small grids that are planning nuclear forays with relatively lower investment levels.”

NPCIL has an expanding Internet presence. A downloadable brochure advertises the two reactors. Reportedly capital costs of small Indian Reactors may run as low as $0.90 per watt, but such cost estimates are based on prevailing Indian wage rates.