Unit is third in planned series of 16 indigenous plants
Unit 7 at the Rajasthan nuclear power station in northwest India has achieved first criticality after receiving clearance from the regulator.
First criticality for the indigenous pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) marks the completion of the construction phase and the start of the operational phase, state nuclear plant owner and operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) said.
The unit will now undergo various tests before it is connected to the grid. Its power will then be raised, in steps, until it reaches full power, with clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board at each step.
Rajasthan-7 is expected to begin commercial operation this year, NPCIL said.
A second unit under construction at the same site, Rajasthan-8, is expected to come online in 2025.
Construction of Rajasthan-7 began in July 2011 and Rajasthan-8 in September 2011.
The Rajasthan plant is already home to five operational earlier generation PHWRs with a total net capacity of 995 MW. A six unit, Rajasthan1, has been shut down.
Rajasthan-7 is the third in a series of 16 indigenous PHWRs which India has said it plans to build. The first two units, Kakarapar-3 and Kakrapar-4 in Gujurat state, western India, began commercial operation in 2023 and 2024.
Site works have begun for the construction of two PHWR units at Gorakhpur in Haryana state. Ten further 700 MW PHWRs have received administrative approval and financial sanction. They are: Kaiga-5 and Kaiga-6 in Karnataka state; Gorakhpur-3 and -4 in Haryana state; Chutka-1 and -2 in Madhya Pradesh state and Mahi Banswara-1, -2, -3 and -4 in Rajasthan.
The NPCIL-designed Generation III PHWR was developed from earlier 220 MW and 540 MW Canadian Candu designs.
